Dinner last night was two days in the making, Craig Claiborne’s “Boeuf Bourguignon I” from Amanda Hesser’s The Essential New York Times Cook Book. Mike did the honors, lovingly prepping slices of bacon and Aquidneck Farm chuck, with bits of carrots, onions, shallots, mushrooms, and garlic, layering them in our Le Creuset, then anointing them with Cognac and rich red Burgundy wine. The whole thing cooked over high heat, then low, then it cooled and sat overnight before Mike brought the pot and its contents back up to temperature while I traveled home from work, also preparing some buttered and parsley-ed egg noodles to serve as a base for the rich stew.
We’ve cooked plenty of versions of this dish, but this was pretty spectacular, the meat coming apart in shreds beneath the tines of our forks, the sauce both light and concentrated. Buy the book, go to page 516, and make this dish, preferably a day before you plan to serve it. You’ll be happy you did.
Last Night’s Dinner® 
I just got my copy in today! I’ll be sure to bookmark that page. 🙂
Dennis will eat beef about twice a year. One of those times, I’m making this dish. OMG it looks gorgeous. And the addition of the parsleyed buttered egg noodles is swoonworthy.
Looks yummy, and so does that salad peaking out from the corner…Love BB. And the next day IS so much better.
This looks amazing. Maybe I’ll make this for Christmas dinner this year!
I made my first Boeuf a few nights ago after seeing this post! Oh my goodness, so delicious. Perfect winter comfort food. Thank you for the inspiration!
I highly encourage those of you who are thinking about trying this to do so. We’ve made Julia’s version and others, and the technique here seemed so odd we were sure it wouldn’t compare, but it was really, really fabulous.