Boeuf Bourguignon

Bonjour!! (And herein ends my use of the French language)

So had some company come over so I decided to make Julia Childs boeuf bourguignon. Now before I got started I knew what the dish was “beef cooked in red wine with mushrooms and bacon” I told a few that I would doing this dish for my guests and they were all “well thank goodness you’re a chef! I could never do a dish like that.” BAH!
 
If you can read, you can do these dishes. The trick is to read the recipes thoroughly.
 
First we started with 2 appetizers. I mean you have to snacks before the main event. It's like popcorn at the movies it's simply a must!
 
Cucumbers with cream cheese and crab -

Along with a hot appy of sausage, mozarella cheese and green onions -

Now let’s talk cuts of beef. Julia recommends pot roast as her first choice, and chuck, sirloin tip or top round as her second. I dare say I disagree. (I can hear the gasping) I actually feel that chuck would be a better cut as a first choice. The marbling will add to the flavor and become more tender with the long cook time. The trick to good flavor with this dish is browning the meat properly.This requires that you pat the meat dry with paper towels prior to putting it in the hot oil. Then do not move it. No peeking. Just let it set for a good minute or two. You want good browning all over. It is this browning that provides a lot flavor.
 
I served this dish over hot buttered egg noodles. The dish can be heavy so choices of side dishes should not be heavy like risotto’s, or cheesy potato dishes. My choice, based on the season, was asparagus that I sauted in olive oil.
 

After a meal like this one must always serve dessert. But a cheesecake or creamy dish was out of the question. A vendor friend of mine had dropped by and given me a big bag of blood oranges.

So I knew I had to make something cool and refreshing and not heavy. The choice – blood orange sorbet, with fresh rasberries and mint.

This is such a simple dish - 3 cups of blood orange juice, 1 cup orange juice. I took just enough of the blood orange juice to dissolve 1 cup of sugar over med-high heat till dissolved. Get the remaining juice and the syrup into the fridge overnight for a good cool down. Put it all into your icecream maker for 30 minutes and put in the freezer for a couple of hours. Scoop into a beautiful wine glass, top with berries and mint.
 

Keep this sorbet recipe at the front of your brain. Folks we have some wonderful fruit seasons coming and you can do this sorbet with any of them. Did someone say peach…pear…grape? With a good icecream maker you could have a variety of sorbets always on hand.

Bon Appetit!! (ok ok so I lied..I had to use French to close)