I just came back from a trip
in Europe. This post is about travel and food, and the inspiration that comes from
it.
I had a conference in Warwick University
(http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/people/staff_index/daniel_branch/empireloyalists/conference/)
which was brilliant. I met really interesting people and re-remembered the joy
of being a historian (yes, I know, I’m a nerd). Before Coventry, where Warwick
is located, I spend a couple of days in London. The mandatory day in Kew
Gardens for the archives (best archives ever! Yes, nerd). Then a day around
London. Fish and chips is just not exciting food. But wondering around, with a
crazy friend who walks into people’s offices and asks what locals eat (who
needs yelp?), we discovered a wonderful Bangladeshi restaurant with the suspicion-arousing
name, Thames
Indian (http://thamesindian.com/), near Waterloo bridge. I had Goan Fish Curry that
was amazing!
Then Paris. I can’t believe it took me so long
to get there. I know I’m going back soon. What an amazing city! Three days of
wondering around, two by bike, a couple of museums and lots of good food and
wine! Of course, Moroccan was top choice and I tried two. One, Riad Nejma (http://www.riadnejma.com/),
near the Pompidou, had my favorite Moroccan dish, Chicken Bastilla (speaking of
inspiration, this is on my list to try!) But the last night, I went to an
amazing French restaurant, and had beef Bourguignon,
which was so amazing, that it inspired the cooking spree yesterday!
(The Gates of Hell - Rodin Museum)
But before getting there, I
want to talk about my next leg on the trip (yes, I was a regular Ibn Battuta!)
I left Paris by train to
Frankfurt, to visit my lovely sister Janan, who lives in Wurzburg. It was so
great to see her, and she spoiled me so much. Eating out in Germany was not
that exciting (other than Fontana, http://www.eiscafe-fontana.com/,
Janan and Bahaa’s favorite restaurant, where I had a great steak!). BUT, who
needs to eat out when Janan cooks! She is so talented, and she made great food
for me, including Sfieha (http://leenaskitchens.blogspot.com/2014/01/sfieha-meat-pies.html,)
which kicked my sfieha’s ass. I loved being there, and I
already miss her so dearly!
So, now for the Beef
Bourguignon!
My awesome friend Asma was
here for a visit, and a feast was in order. Paris inspired, I embarked on the
hard task of reproducing that yummy dish!
Those who’ve followed this
blog know that I don’t follow exact recipes, so this is really a reconstruction
of what I did. What I usually do is see a few recipes and take what I like from
them. The core was Julia Child’s recipe: http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/julia-childs-beef-bourguignon/f7e0a6c5-710d-4c83-89a6-2a4936fec81a/.
There was one major change: NO
pork products were there. The preparation was also modified.
Ingredients
Olive
oil
3 pounds
lean stew beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 onion,
sliced
3
Carrots, peeled and sliced
Salt
and pepper
2 tablespoons
flour
3 cups
red wine, Cote Du Rhone
3 cups
beef stock
2 tablespoon
tomato paste
Thyme
3 bay
leaf2
30
frozen pearl onions
5 tablespoons
butter
1 pound
fresh mushrooms, peeled and sliced
Dried Porcini
Mushrooms (soaked in boiling water, just enough to cover them)
Parsley,
few stocks.
Boiled
potatoes
Process
I might have mentioned that I love LOVE pressure
cookers, so this recipe modified the process by integrating pressure cooker to
cut time.
1.
Heat olive oil thoroughly. Dry the beef
cubes and brown then in the pressure cooker. (I will admit that to make up for
the lack of pork fat I tried to combine butter with olive oil, but better leave
butter for other steps, it burns quickly). Browning should be done in
batches, to give space for the cubes to fully brown from all sides.
2.
Take beef out and use the same oil, add
some butter, and sauté the sliced onions, then add carrots and
brown them.
3.
Return the beef into the put, add salt and
pepper and the flour and toss around. Then let cook for a little while
on each side.
·
Quite frankly, although I followed this
step, I don’t understand it. I know that you coat beef (or chicken) with flour
before browning to seal in the taste etc. but why after? I guess it’s just to
help thicken then sauce but not sure!
4.
Add the wine and 2 to 3 cups of stock,
just enough to barely cover the beef. Add the porcini mushrooms with their
liquid, tomato paste, thyme and 2 bay
leafs. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.
5.
Cover the pressure cooker, after it boils,
cook for 15 minutes
·
if you've never used pressure
cooker: you close the lid, and once it starts making loud noise you turn
down the heat and time it from that point. Once the time is over, release
air.
6.
In the meantime, prepare the mushrooms:
heat a few teaspoons of butter in a pan (butter in this recipe is making up for
the pork fat, so you can be generous as your heart allows you!) Sauté the mushrooms
until soft and take them out.
7.
The frozen pearl onions were
tricky. Julia Child’s uses unfrozen ones. I still decided to follow what she
did for flavor: add a bit more butter to the pan, and when heated add the pearl
onions and brown them (not easy as they are frozen, but if you persist, they
get there). Add a cup of the beef stock, salt, pepper, parsley, thyme and 1 bay
leaf and let simmer for a while.
8.
Preheat the oven to 325F. Transfer the ingredient
of the pressure cooker to a casserole and place low in the oven. Cook
for another hour or so (I mostly don’t think you can overcook these things).
9.
After about 45 minutes, add the pearly
onions and sautéed mushrooms.
10.
If the sauce is still then, boil down for
a bot on the stovetop (Child’s has a complicated process of taking met out,
straining etc). I didn't bother and just simmered it down.
è Et, voilà, rich tasty
beef Bourguignon
I
served over the boiled potatoes, but that had more to do with gluten allergies that
crazy creativity!
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