Archive Page 11

Moroccan-Style Pork Tenderloin

Published December 9, 2007 Pork , Recipe 10 Comments
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I can’t be the only person who has to stop and think every time they see a recipe specifying either pork loin or pork tenderloin. I always have to stop and think which is which. For us, pork tenderloin is just the right size for two people whereas a pork loin is bigger than we could ever conceivably eat.

We eat a lot of pork tenderloin because Angela always asks for it (I think she likes the tenderness). I like pork so I’m pretty happy with it. So I’m always on the lookout for a new method to cook it.

I had purchased San Francisco Flavors from the Barnes & Noble discount shelf when we were in San Francisco. I didn’t know much about it but figured it would, at worst, be provide good memories of the trip. I picked it up while looking for something to make with the pork tenderloin. The ingredients for the Moroccan-Style Pork Tenderloin looked good so I figured I’d give it a try.

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I had to change the recipe a little bit. I didn’t have any oranges so I substituted lemon zest. I also only had ground cumin so I used that in place of cumin seeds. The only problem I had with the recipe were that it called for twice as long a cooking time as I ended up using. I had put the thermometer in to test it as it hadn’t been working properly before (it was reading 180ºF in the air) and it read 145ºF. I had to use another thermometer to check it as I didn’t believe the first one.

The pork tastes pretty good, particularly if not overcooked. It is, however, quite a bit spicy. Angela cut off the edges of her’s because it was too spicy. If you don’t like it spicy, decrease the amount of red pepper flakes.

Also, Moroccan is hard to spell (one r and two c’s).

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Moroccan-Style Pork Tenderloin
Adapted from San Francisco Flavors

1 1-lbs pork tenderloin
salt and pepper
1 large garlic clove
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

  1. Preheat the oven to 475ºF.
  2. In a small food processor, combine the garlic, lemon zest, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Process until it forms a paste.
  3. Dry the tenderloin with paper towels. Salt and pepper all sides of the pork. Rub the paste on all sides of the pork, as evenly as possible.
  4. Place the pork on a roasting tray and place in the middle of the preheated oven. Cook for 20 minutes or until the pork reaches 145ºF internal temperature. Remove the pork from the oven, cover with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes.
  5. Slice the pork and serve with jasmine rice and sautéed spinach.

Serves 2.

Spaghetti all’Amatriciana

Published December 6, 2007 Italian , Pasta , Recipe 8 Comments
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As I’ve said before, simple pasta dishes appeal to me. There’s something infinitely satisfying about taking a few good ingredients and turning them into something spectacularly good. And while Dr. Atkins may not approve of a meal like this, it’s one of my favorites. It’s actually good enough that we served it as a course for Christmas last year (we served a meal in the Italian style).

This dish is becoming increasingly popular on Italian restaurant menus. Particularly, those that want to appear more authentically Italian (as opposed to Italian-American). The sad thing is that they seldom have an authenticity nor are they particularly good. Angela ordered one a few weeks ago that wasn’t spicy at all.

And, really, this is such a simple and fast dish that a restaurant should be able to do a very good rendition of it without too much effort. I would be fine if it wasn’t this most authentic but at least make it taste good. There’s no real excuse.

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The recipe itself takes about 40 to 45 minutes to make. For me, that’s a pretty quick dinner (but not Rachel Ray speed). I usually prepare the ingredients and then start cooking the sauce. Once the tomatoes are added and they begin to simmer, I start boiling the water for the pasta. When the pasta’s done, I add it to the sauce and go from there.

I don’t know exactly how authentic this recipe is. It does use pancetta in place of guanciale (I would try to make some if I could find a local source for pork jowl). It also uses spaghetti in place of bucatini (bucati was available at Trader Joe’s for a month or so but was nearly impossible to actually eat). The taste seems pretty close to what I had in Rome but I don’t know how memory has influenced that. Either way, it’s still pretty tasty.

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Spaghetti all’Amatriciana
Adapted from Roma: Authentic Recipes from In and Around the Eternal City
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1 tbsp olive oil
2 oz. pancetta, diced
1/4 cup diced onion
a pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
salt
2 tbsp Pecorino Romano, grated
1/2 lbs. spaghetti

  1. Place the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the pancetta and onion. Cook until the pancetta is browned.
  2. Add the red pepper flakes (add more or less depending on your taste) and the tomato paste. Stir well and allow to cook for one more minute.
  3. Add the tomatoes and their juices to the skillet. Scrap up any browned bits. Simmer the tomato sauce for 30 minutes.
  4. Bring salted water to a boil and add the spaghetti. Cook for one minute less than indicated on the package, about 7 minutes. Drain the spaghetti.
  5. Stir in half the Pecorino Romano into the sauce. Add the spaghetti and mix well. Cook for one minute more or until the pasta is al dente. Add the remaining Pecorino Romano.
  6. Serve with additional Pecorino Romano to sprinkle on top.

Serves 2 to 3.

Poulet Sauté aux Herbes (Sautéed Chicken with Herbs)

Published December 5, 2007 Chicken , French , Recipe 7 Comments
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Julia Child said that in France the chicken tasted more chickeny. I like to think that she was talking about this dish.

The problem with a lot of chicken dishes is that they really don’t taste like much. How many times have I had a grilled chicken breast or chicken caesar salad that didn’t really taste like much of anything? And yet chicken is the most popular form of protein in the United States.

When I first made this recipe, it was refreshing to find a chicken recipe that actually tasted like, you know, chicken. It quickly became one of my wife’s favorite meals.

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And, it’s not only good, it’s also pretty easy. It takes about 45 minutes including preparation time. It’s even faster if you quarter the chicken the night before (or as soon as you get it home from the store). It’s easiest enough for a weeknight but tastes good enough for a special occasion. I’ve even made it when visiting family on the other side of the country.

The dish is decent with a mass produced whole chicken but even better with an all-natural or organic bird. This is the dish that made me switch my change my chicken buying habits.

When I quarter my chicken, I don’t use the wings (we never eat them). I also bone and skin the chicken breasts (Angela prefers them that way). If the breast halves are large, I cut them in half again. I usually save the chicken carcass for making stock later on.

The pan sauce made is really for topping the chicken. In our household, we usually dip bread into it. Usually I serve this with a potato gratin and green beans or peas. A light white wine also goes well. Last night, we had a Lucas & Lewellen Chardonnay (it wasn’t overly oaked or buttery so it worked well with this dish).

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Poulet Sauté aux Herbes (Sautéed Chicken with Herbs)
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1 3-4 lbs. chicken, quartered
salt
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried basil
pepper
1 tbsp shallots, minced
1 cup chicken stock

  1. Preferably the night before, salt the chicken on both sides and refrigerate until the next day (if not salting the night before, salt immediately before cooking).
  2. Dry the chicken with paper towels thoroughly. Heat 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in the skillet on both sides, in batches if necessary. Remove the chicken to a plate and reduce the heat to medium.
  3. Sprinkle the herbs on each side of the chicken. Season the chicken with pepper.
  4. Add the dark meat (thigh and leg) pieces back into the skillet and cover. Cook over medium heat for 8 minutes.
  5. Turn the dark meat chicken and add the remaining chicken to the skillet. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, turning once.
  6. Remove the chicken from the skillet and cover with aluminum foil. Add the shallots to the skillet and cook until softened, about 1 minute.
  7. Add the chicken stock and increase the heat to high. Boil the sauce until its slightly reduced, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in the remaining butter.
  8. Serve the chicken with the pan sauce.

Serves 4 to 5.

Thanksgiving 2007

Published December 3, 2007 Uncategorized 2 Comments
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Don’t worry, I’m not dead. Family was in town for Thanksgiving and I was on travel for work so I didn’t have time post anything. I do, however, have a story about our Thanksgiving for you.

Imagine, if you will, that you are a recently married and hosting the family Thanksgiving for the very first time. You also tend to take food a little bit too seriously. Now imagine what’s one of the worst things that could happen to you?

If you guessed the oven breaking the day before Thanksgiving, you are correct. I was baking a green tomato mince pie Wednesday afternoon at which point the oven failed. It’s a gas oven with an electric igniter. While the igniter was on, there was no gas coming out (I checked with an electric stick lighter). And, most unfortunately, it failed too late to call our apartment maintenance staff to come and fix it (I tried calling the after-hours number but nothing came of it).

What to do at this point? I tried to come up with a way to cook a turkey on the stove top but I pretty quickly realized my largest pan wouldn’t hold it and my only real option there was to quarter it (and, really, it’s Thanksgiving and roast turkey is traditional). How to make Thanksgiving dinner under such conditions?

We did the only thing we could: we loaded all our supplies into the car and drove to my 8-month pregnant cousin’s house. I took just about everything I could imagine needing as I had no idea what she had. I brought all the food I needed as well as pots, knives, and even a few specialty items like my food mill.

And while I hate to be a braggart, it turned out really well. There was more than enough food (I think we could’ve easily fed at least double the amount of people). And we really did have a good time even if it wasn’t how we expected.

I do need to call special attention to the turkey. Normally, for me, turkey is something you eat on Thanksgiving because it’s what you eat on Thanksgiving. It’s never particularly good but it’s at least edible. Not this year. This was, by far, the best turkey I’ve ever had. I don’t know if it was because we got an all-natural free range turkey I ordered from our local butcher shop (and, yes, I think the name is silly too) or if it was the brine I used (from Charcuterie).  Either way, it was really good.  Eventually I’ll post the recipe.

Gamberi alla Cannavota (The Shrimp of Trattoria Cannavota)

Published November 20, 2007 Italian , Seafood , Shrimp 2 Comments
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When I first tasted these shrimp, my response was “best shrimp ever.” To be honest, I’m prone to hyperbole. However, this time I wasn’t exaggerating. These were the most exquisite shrimp I’ve ever tasted. The quality of the shrimp themselves wasn’t particularly high: they were frozen farmed shrimp from Trader Joe’s.

The blessing and the curse of shrimp is that they have a relatively mild flavor. Shrimp just don’t taste particularly much like shrimp. And, frankly, most shrimp applications are lacking. I wish I had the idea of making a shrimp stock to use in the sauce to go with the shrimp. It makes perfect sense: it’s similar to using chicken stock for pan sauce for chicken.

But, because shrimp are so small, the flavoring of the stock goes even further. The shrimp manage to absorb a lot of the flavor from the shrimp stock even though they’re only cooked in it briefly. With apologies to Julia Child, the shrimp tasted more shrimpy.

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The recipe itself is pretty straightforward. You make a shrimp stock with the shrimp shells. Then the shrimp are pan-fried in olive oil and a reduction is made with some garlic and the shrimp stock. The only modification I made to the recipe were to use dry vermouth instead of white wine and to brine the shrimp.

If you think that brining poultry makes a difference, wait until you try it on shrimp. It improves the texture immensely and it also means that there’s a larger window for cooking the shrimp in. It also doesn’t take very long which is nice.

If you like shrimp, I implore you to try this recipe. It really is that good.

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Gamberi alla Cannavota (The Shrimp of Trattoria Cannavota)
Adapted from Trattoria Cooking

For the Shrimp Stock:
1 lbs. shrimp shells
1 small carrot, cut into three pieces
1/2 onion, peeled and cut in half
1 stalk celery, cut into three pieces
2/3 cup dry vermouth
4 cup water

For the Shrimp:
1 cup water
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
6 ice cubes

1 lbs. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1 tbsp softened butter
2 tbsp parsley, diced

  1. Combine all the ingredients for the shrimp stock in a sauce pan. Cook at a high simmer over medium-low to medium heat for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the shrimp stock is reduced to 1 cup. Drain the stock through a strainer and reserve the stock. This can be prepared in advance and the shrimp stock refrigerated until used.
  2. Put 1 cup of water, the kosher salt, and the sugar in a sauce pan over high heat. Stir the contents until the salt and sugar are desolved in the water. Remove from the heat and pour into a heatproof bowl. Add the ice cubes. When the brine is cool, add the shrimp for 15 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the brine and pat dry.
  3. In a large sautée pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until just before smoking. Add the shrimp and cooked until they are lightly golden on both sides, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove the shrimp to a plate.
  4. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until the garlic is golden, about 1 minute. Add the vermouth and the shrimp stock. Increase the heat to high and reduce the stock until it is a medium consistency. Taste for seasoning.
  5. Reduce the heat to medium and add the shrimp, butter, and parsley. Mix the contents well and cook for 1 minute more.
  6. Serve the shrimp in bowls with good bread.

Serves 2 to 3.

Costine al Vino Rosso (Pork Spareribs with Red Wine)

Published November 19, 2007 Italian , Pork 1 Comment
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There’s a regular fight in our house about what to have for dinner. Angela wants me to make something I’ve made before. I find that boring and want to make something new. Sometimes she wins, sometimes I win.

Last night, Angela wanted me to make Slow cooker “BBQ” Spareribs again. I wanted to make something new. This time I won.

Because we don’t have a grill (one of the downsides of apartment living), I decided to indulge my love of braises. And, really, how can pork braised in red wine and tomato sauce be bad?

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And it wasn’t to me. Sadly, Angela didn’t particularly care for it. I’m not entirely sure why. I know she just disliked the taste of the Jerusalem artichokes that I served with it. So, this recipe is not Angela approved (I’m thinking about making a graphic of Angela Approved Seal for recipes she likes; sort of an indicator as to whether or not a picky eater would like it).

As written, the recipe results in ribs that aren’t fall-off-the-bone tender. If I were to make them again, I’d braise them for longer. There’s also no salt involved in the recipe as written. I think Mario Batali was phoning it in on this recipe. I’ve updated the recipe to make it better.

Otherwise, I liked it. There’s room for improvement but it was still tasty.

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Costine al Vino Rosso (Pork Spareribs with Red Wine)
Adapted from Molto Italiano

1 1/2 lbs. pork spare ribs, cut into 2 inch pieces
3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, coarsely diced
1 carrot, peeled and cut into 2″ pieces
1 celery stalk, cut into 1″ pieces
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup basic tomato sauce
1 anchovy fillet, rinsed and patted dry
4 sprigs of rosemary
Salt

  1. Place the spareribs in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes. Drain the spareribs and then rinse them. Season the spareribs with salt
  2. Add the olive oil to a dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat until the oil is just about smoking. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
  3. Deglaze the dutch oven with the red wine, scrapping up any browned bits. Add the chicken stock, the tomato sauce, and the anchovy fillet. Season the sauce with salt. Add the pork and stir together.
  4. Bring the sauce to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until the pork is fork tender. Serve in small bowls.

Serves 2 to 3.

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Basic Tomato Sauce
Adapted from Molto Italiano

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1/4 carrot, finely diced
1 1/2 tbsp fresh thyme, diced
1 28-oz. can of whole tomatoes

  1. Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.
  2. Add the carrot and thyme and cook until the carrot is soft, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the tomatoes and the tomato juice to the skillet. Break up the tomatoes with a spoon. Simmer the tomato sauce for 30 minutes. Season the sauce with salt.

Makes 2 cups (yes, that’s twice what you need for above, use the rest for pasta or something).

Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Homemade Pancetta

Published November 15, 2007 Uncategorized 1 Comment
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I was correct: Spaghetti alla Carbonara is much better with homemade pancetta.

Gratin Dauphinois Madame Cartet (Madame Cartet’s Potato Gratin)

Published November 13, 2007 Potatoes , Recipe , Vegetarian 9 Comments
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The first time I bought crême fraîche (at Trader Joe’s) I was asked by the cashier what I used it for. I had to admit that I had never used it before but that I was hoping to use it for some kind of gratin.

I had tried several different gratin recipes from a simple scalloped potatoes to Julia Child’s Gratin Dauphinois among others. And, most of the time, they ended up good but either the potatoes fell apart because of being parboiled or they didn’t get cooked all the way or were sitting in a sea of cream. It was just hard to be satisfied with them.

Because crême fraîche is initially a solid, it’s easier to get it to cover all the potatoes without it settling to the bottom of the dish. It also means you don’t need to parboil the potatoes so they don’t fall apart when you put them in the dish.

I appreciate this dish because it’s simple. I can throw it together in 10 minutes and put it in the oven and not worry about it until dinner is done. And cheese is always good.

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Gratin Dauphinois Madame Cartet (Madame Cartet’s Potato Gratin)
Adapted from Bistro Cooking

1 garlic clove, cut in half
2 lbs. baking potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
1 cup crême fraîche
salt

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Rub the inside of a 6-cup gratin dish with the cut side of the garlic clove. Rub until the gratin dish is well lubricated with the garlic
  3. Layer half the potatoes in the bottom of the gratin dish. Spread half the crême fraîche over top. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the potatoes and season with salt.
  4. Repeat the previous step with the remaining potatoes, crême fraîche, cheese, and salt.
  5. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
  6. Serve immediately.

Serves 4 to 6.

Homemade Pancetta

Published November 12, 2007 Charcuterie , Italian , Pork , Recipe 13 Comments
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One of my best memories of pancetta is it in a very American context. I had been through a 4 week study abroad in Italy and was then traveling around Europe. My mom had joined me for a week and we were in Riomaggiore in Le Cinque Terre. Staying in a small apartment, we decided to make breakfast for ourselves to save money. The best breakfast I can remember was simply fried eggs with pancetta cooked in a manner similar to bacon. And it’s not that the product was particularly good (it was), but it was simply such a comforting change from the Italian food I’d been eating for months.

I actually tried to recreate that breakfast back at home but the pancetta I got was too salty and was practically inedible. The main problem with pancetta here is just how expensive it is. It’s really hard to justify paying the equivalent of $16 a pound for pork belly (or more!). Trader Joe’s sells it for a fairly reasonable price but, anymore, they only sell the pre-diced version which isn’t bad, it just doesn’t do well for things that requiring stuffing (such as braciale).

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Ever since I bought the cookbook Charcuterie, I had wanted to make pancetta. It’s probably the inner engineer in me, but there’s something particularly exciting about the chemical changes necessary to cure meat. That, and it tastes good (after all, it’s pretty much bacon).

I was particularly proud of making the pancetta. It’s not that it took a lot of work (it just took awhile to cure and then dry). Similar to the bratwurst, it was the act of making something that was far different than I’d ever made before (I act like I was personally changing the chemical bonds to cure the meat).

The recipe is pretty easy as long as you have the proper materials. Measuring by weight is important as otherwise you run the risk of changing the ratio of kosher salt to pink salt. Pink salt is not the pink Himalayan salt but is instead salt with 6.25% sodium nitrate. It’s colored pink so that you don’t mistake it for regular salt (sodium nitrate is toxic in large quantities but the sodium nitrate will chance composition as the meat cures so there’s no risk).

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The drying step is optional but makes for a more authentic product. I used a small refrigerator that I had left over from college for the curing and drying portions as it had plenty of room and my normal refrigerator is pretty full (I also use it to cool down chicken stock and to brine a Thanksgiving turkey).

As for the flavor? It was good. Really good. It was almost so flavorful that it was too flavorful to eat. I can’t wait to try it in Pasta with Corn, Pancetta, and Sage or Spaghetti alla Carbonara (of course if I could find some pork jowl I’d try and make guanciale).

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Homemade Pancetta
Adapted from Charcuterie

One 4-pound (1.8 kg) pork belly, skin removed
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 grams (1.5 tsp) pink salt
35 grams kosher salt
18 grams (1.5 tbsp) dark brown sugar
28 grams (3 tbsp) ground black pepper
7 grams (1.5 tbsp) juniper berries, crushed
3 bay leaves, crumbled
3 grams (.75 tsp) grated nutmeg
3 or 4 sprigs of thyme

  1. Trim the pork belly to be rectangular and remove the skin if present.
  2. Combine all the ingredients except the pork belly and half of the black pepper in a bowl. Rub the mixture onto all sides of the pork belly.
  3. Place the pork belly in a large 2-gallon zip top bag and refrigerate for one week, turning over every other day. When the pork belly is done curing, it will be firm in the middle. If it’s not firm, refrigerate for one to two more days.
  4. Remove the pork belly from the zip top bag and rinse under running water thoroughly. Dry completely with paper towels. Spread the remaining black pepper over the meat side of the pork belly. Roll the pork belly tightly (there should be no air pockets) and secure with butcher’s twine. Make sure to loop both around the circumference of the roll and around the length of the roll.
  5. Place the pork belly in a spare refrigerator set to its lowest setting on a middle shelf. Place a tray of water combined with 2 tbsp kosher salt in the bottom. This will allow the pancetta to dry. Leave in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
  6. After drying, the pancetta will keep in a refrigerator for 3 weeks and a freezer for 4 months.

Yields 3 lbs. pancetta

Boeuf Bourguignon

Published November 9, 2007 Beef , French 13 Comments
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It’s finally getting cold in our area (cold is a relative concept here but bear with me). I had to light the pilot light in our heater last weekend (no surprise that it was Angela who was cold). With the weather turning, there was an opportunity to make all those dishes that it was too hot to make during the summer.

Specifically, I’m referring to braised dishes. There’s something magical about taking a cheap (relatively) piece of meat and turning it into a great meal. It seems closer to real cooking.

And when it comes to things like braises, I think the rustic style classics are the best. Things like Coq au Vin (which was my original choice for this meal but we decided on beef instead). Or, in this case, Boeuf Bourguignon. And, while it was codified by Escoffier, I still think it’s rustic at heart. And that appeals to me. Particularly on a cold day.

However, I’d not recommend doing what I did: starting cooking at 4:30 PM thinking that it would only take two hours to braise. The recipe specifies from 3 to 4 hours but, luckily, mine was fork tender after two and a half hours so we were able to eat right around 8:00 PM (the prep work and browning takes time). Good things are worth waiting for.

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Bouef Bourguignon
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

3 oz. bacon, cut into lardons
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 lbs. lean stewing beef (such as chuck pot roast or top round), cut into 2-inch cubes
salt and pepper
1 small sliced carrot
1 small sliced onion
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups red wine
2 to 3 cups beef stock
1/2 tbsp tomato paste
a bouquet garni consisting of 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 bay leaf, and 4 sprigs of thyme
9 to 12 brown braised white onions
1/2 lbs. sautéed mushrooms

  1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
  2. Blanch the bacon in boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove from the boiling water and dry.
  3. In a large dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. When the vegetable oil is hot, cook the bacon in it until the bacon is browned. Remove the bacon from the dutch oven and reserve the bacon.
  4. Dry the beef in paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. Brown the beef in the dutch oven on all sides, in batches if necessary. Remove the beef and place it with the bacon.
  5. Brown the sliced carrots and onions in the dutch oven. Pour out the fat.
  6. Return the beef and bacon to the dutch oven. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the flour and stir. Put the dutch oven in the oven for 4 minutes. Stir the contents and return to the oven for 4 more minutes. Remove from the oven and change the temperature to 325ºF.
  7. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Add enough beef stock until the beef is barely covered. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Add the bouquet garni and bring to a simmer on the stove top. Cover the dutch oven and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 2 to 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender.
  8. While the beef is cooking prepare the onions and mushrooms. They will be reheated in the boeuf bourguignon before serving.
  9. When the meat has finished cooking, remove the dutch oven from the oven. Taste the sauce for seasoning. Simmer the sauce over medium-high heat if it’s not thick enough. If it’s too thick, add more beef stock. Add the mushrooms and onions and simmer for several minutes, until the contents are equally warm.
  10. Serve with boiled potatoes or egg noodles.

Serves 3 to 4.

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Brown-braised Onions

9 to 12 pearl onions
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup beef stock
salt and pepper
a bouquet garni consisting of 2 parsley sprigs, 1/2 bay leaf, and 2 sprigs of thyme

  1. Peel the onions and cut off the root and stem ends. On the root end, cut an x into the base.
  2. In a sauce pan, heat the butter and oil over medium heat. When hot, add the onions and brown for 10 minutes, shaking the pan or stirring regularly.
  3. Add the beef stock and bouquet garni and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes.


Sautéed Mushrooms

1/2 lbs. button mushrooms
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil

  1. Scrub the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Cut off the bottom of the stem and cut the mushrooms into halves if small or quarters if large.
  2. Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over high heat. When the butter stops foaming, add the mushrooms and cook until browned, about 6 minutes.

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