Shannon & Ina tackle Beef Bourguignon, a la Julie & Julia!

Ever since watching Julie & Julia forever ago, I have been itching to try my hand at Beef Bourguignon.  Despite the fact that I was still in the throes of the villains that had invaded my bronchial section, I decided to make this dish on Saturday.  The girls and their boyfriends were all in town, so it was a perfect opportunity to experiment on my subjects. 

I looked at Julia Childs' recipe, but it had sooooo many steps, so I set out to find a simpler one.  Anyone who knows me, knows I'm all about short cuts.

I immediately thought of my "girl chef crush", Ina Garten.  Sure enough, google and I found Ina Garten's Beef Bourguignon recipe, so I ran with it!

Gotta start with carrots and onions

 Make sure you cut your meat into 1" cubes, no larger.

Give the meat a good sear.

Now these are the stars of the show.  You don't have to spend a fortune on your wine.  Any decent bottle of Pinot Noir

(or whatever red you like) will do. 

The veggies after hanging out a while and cooking down.

Add the meat and bacon back in with the veggies,

then add your Cognac. 

 I confess, I did not "stand back and ignite" because I was afraid of burning down the house.  Someday I'll work up the nerve to do that. 

I just let the alcohol burn off a while, then I added the bottle...

yes, the entire bottle...of Pinot Noir.

I also added a bit of Herbes de Provence, along with the thyme called for in the recipe.  I can never follow a recipe as written...sorry.  Then you just pop it in the oven.  I followed the recipe as to cooking times, then (because I had read a few reviews that said it needed to cook longer) I cranked the oven up to 350, and let it sit in there for however long it took for the oven to reach temperature.

...and this is what it looked like when it came out!

After adding the butter/flour, pearl onions and mushrooms, I let it simmer for about an hour until the rest of my meal was completed. 

Adjust your cooking time to suit your needs.

..and voila..this is the finished product.  I opted to put it over whole wheat egg noodles, but you could use mashed potatoes, rice, bread, an old tennis shoe...whatever you like.  It was reeeeaaaaallly good. 

Disclaimer:  I have never had Beef Bourguignon in my life, so for all I know it wasn't good at all, but we sure did like it.  

Tomorrow, I'll post the recipe for the bread we used to sop it up!  You do NOT want to miss that!