Bon Appétit!

Even though we have a subscription to Netflix, during our holiday vacation, Jeff and I had the opportunity to try out Redbox. Jeff rented 7 movies from various Redboxes. I didn't watch them all because he's a history buff and I'm not really into a lot of the war movies that he enjoys. Occasionally, I get suckered into watching one, like Inglourious Basterds, which turned out to be really good! We also watched Up!, The Ugly Truth, and Julie & Julia, all of which I highly recommend.

Julie & Julia of course was probably my favorite only because I love cooking and it was inspiring. After I watched it, I told Jeff I wanted to buy Julia's original cookbook and make her beef bourguignon if nothing else. I didn't run out and buy it though, but I did find the original recipe via Barnes & Noble's take-a-peek version of the cookbook online.

Then the Saturday newspaper came and included an insert called Relish. I'd never seen it before, but it was loaded with some great classic recipes that had been slimmed down from the original versions. I flipped through it making notes of the recipes I wanted to try when lo and behold, there it was, Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon - the slimmed down version!

I made it last night with my own modifications. It was much less time consuming than the original recipe, which takes 5 hours plus an hour prep time to make. This version of the recipe only took about 3 hours. The result was AMAZING. It was so so good. Similar to a pot roast, but in the format of a beef stew (minus the beef stew flavor). I don't think I'll ever make regular pot roast again after eating this. The best part: I researched nutrition information on Julia's original recipe. Ready for this.....

913 calories per serving and 54.2 grams of fat!!!!
My version: 250 calories per serving and only 8 grams of fat. I'll take it!

So if you're feeling adventurous and still want to watch your waistline, you're in luck because I've posted the recipe below.

Beef Bourguignon (Modified)
Makes 6 Servings
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 lbs lean stew beef (don't go cheap on this, go for quality! I used premium Angus beef)
2 cups of sliced onions
2 cups of sliced carrots
1 (10-12oz) pkg of sliced portobello mushrooms
1 (14oz) can of diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (14oz) can of beef consumme plus 1/2 can of water
1 1/2 cups of dry red wine (I used a cabernet sauvignon)
2-3 cloves of garlic, pressed
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 bay leaf
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme, strip leaves from stems or 1/2 tsp of dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp coursely ground black pepper
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp butter, softened

1. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven and add beef, in batches if needed. Do not crowd it. Sear until brown on most sides. Remove to a plate and set aside.

2. Add carrots, onion, and mushrooms to the pan, stirring occasionally until starting to tenderize, about 5 minutes. Add beef and juices back to the pan. Add tomatoes and next 8 ingredients (through black pepper). Cover and allow to simmer. Cook for 2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf.

3. Before beginning this step, make sure you de-bling as your fingers will get messy!
In a small bowl, combine flour and butter with your fingers until mixture becomes a paste. Ladle about 1/2 cups of the pan juice into the flour mixture and whisk until very smooth. Add to the pan and stir well. Adjust salt/seasoning to taste.
 (NOTE: I found that a lot of the juices had cooked down, so I added about a 3/4 cup of hot water to the beef mixture before adding any liquid to the flour and butter mixture...you may need to do the same)

4. Ladle into soup plates and sprinkle with fresh parsley if desired. Enjoy!