Recipe: Boeuf Bourguignon

I shared this recipe on my Facebook page, but for those of you who aren't on FB....

This was in the New York Times this week - and it's really terrific. After seeing Julie & Julia the other week, I had a real hankering for BB. But the recipe in my Julia cookbook looked long and somewhat complicated. I had decided to wait until the cold weather, on a weekend day when I felt like spending time in the kitchen, and then I saw this recipe. It appears in a cookbook that the Times refers to as "the French Joy of Cooking," and has only 5 steps. It was yummy!

Boeuf Bourguignon

Adapted from “I Know How to Cook” by Ginette Mathiot

Time: About 3 hours

1 tablespoon oil

3 ounces onions or shallots, chopped

3 1/2 ounces thick-cut bacon, diced

1 1/2 pounds stewing beef, cut into 1 1/2 -inch pieces, patted dry

Scant 1/4 cup flour

1 1/4 cups any type of stock, hot

1 1/4 cups red wine

1 bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, 3 sprigs fresh thyme and 3 sprigs parsley, tied together)

Black pepper

3 1/2 ounces mushrooms, diced

Salt.

1. In a heavy pan over medium heat, heat oil. Add onions and bacon and cook, stirring, until browned. Remove them and set aside; leave fat in pan.

2. Add beef and brown on all sides (work in two batches if needed to avoid crowding).

3. Sprinkle browned beef with flour, stir until browned and add stock. Stir, scraping bottom of pan, then add reserved bacon and onions, the wine and bouquet garni. Season with pepper.

4. Simmer very gently for 2 hours.

5. Add mushrooms and cook 30 minutes more. Season with salt and serve. Or, even better, reheat and serve the next day.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

WW Points: 8 if only 4 servings; 6 for 6 servings

**6 servings would be very tiny ones. I opted for the 4, and served it with noodles. I also used the listed spices rather than making the bouquet garni.