Ever since I watched the movie "Julie & Julia", I have wanted to make Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon. My first attempt, my husband helped me since there's a lot of prep work and different components. We used our cast iron pan and a lid that loosely covers it. We decided to halve the liquid since we only had 2 pounds of stew meat, not three as it called for. The onions were perfect. The mushrooms, golden and delicious, the mashed cauliflower (in place of potatoes since they are not THM friendly) was delightfully fluffy. But the stew, well, neither of us thought to check on it during it's 3.5 hours in theoven... yep, just like the movie, it burned... we ate crunchy bitter beef stew that night with perfectly delicious side dishes. I was so bummed after working on it all day.
Fast forward one week and I had recovered enough from the disappointment to attempt again. Still with my husband helping along side me. The second time around, we used a proper dutch oven (thanks Mom!)
First, a few pieces of bacon fried up nice and crispy. Then pat the stew meat dry with a paper towel. Sear those pieces in the bacon fat just until nicely browned. Sautee the veggies, add some sprouted flour, followed by red wine, broth, tomato paste and spices.
Fast forward one week and I had recovered enough from the disappointment to attempt again. Still with my husband helping along side me. The second time around, we used a proper dutch oven (thanks Mom!)
First, a few pieces of bacon fried up nice and crispy. Then pat the stew meat dry with a paper towel. Sear those pieces in the bacon fat just until nicely browned. Sautee the veggies, add some sprouted flour, followed by red wine, broth, tomato paste and spices.
Then it goes into the oven for 3.5 hours. While this is happening you can do the onions... these little pearl onions were not the most fun thing to peel, but I boiled them for a few minutes and it was little more easy going. Sauteed in broth and spices for about 40 minutes, OMG... like onion candy! So good! You can also prep your mushrooms now but I like to sautee them right before serving.
The mushrooms in this recipe... let me tell you, I have been cooking mushrooms wrong my whole life! The trick is oil and butter in the pan on high heat, just until the foam starts to disappear... so not quite browned butter stage, but golden... sautee the mushrooms for five minutes! They get a lovely golden brown color and taste incredible. Seriously, don't overthink this... ME = MIND BLOWN! But don't do this until your bourguignon is out of the oven and ready to serve. I like the mushrooms fresh! Seroudly delicious right? I want to eat them right out of the picture!
Mashed Cauliflower is what I served this with, as the original recipe calls for mashed potatoes and we don't eat potatoes on THM. I steam my cauliflower until tender, then whip it in the blender with sour cream, parmesan cheese, chives, salt, pepper, garlic powder and butter.
This is what the stew came out looking like (the second time - oops!)
We served it with the onions and mushrooms and the rest of the red wine that was left from cooking (just a little for hubby and me) and a side of broccolinni!
Trim Healthy Mamas, this is an S - might I add the most delicious one I have ever made!