Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon

I've read that preparing this dish is really difficult. For those of you who have made it, is it really difficult or simply time consuming? (I'm thinking about making it in the near future.) And yes, I think it's an effect of the movie/book, Julie and Julia.

Jon,

It has been a while since I have made her BB but I definitely do not recall it being difficult. Quite a few steps IIRC but nothing difficult. I can think of many dishes much, much harder to make. I'm actually rather surprised someone said it was difficult to make.

I've read that preparing this dish is really difficult. For those of you who have made it, is it really difficult or simply time consuming? (I'm thinking about making it in the near future.) And yes, I think it's an effect of the movie/book, Julie and Julia.

Not difficult. Been making it on a regular basis since about 1970.

[Jenise]

Right, Chef. It's just that for some anything more time-consuming than a frozen pizza is hard.

Speaking of Julie Powell, I heard her interviewed the other day on Canadian radio. It was interesting to hear her because many of us, familiar with her blog, found Amy Adams' portrayal of her to be a bit more flibbertygibbit than we'd perceived her in print. The voice on the radio was re-assuring, deeper and strong and sassy, just as I, for one, imagined her. She was talking about her new book, of course, Cleaving. Have to say that I don't feel compelled to read it. In it, and though she and her husband are back together now, she goes into some serious detail apparently about an affair she had with way TMI about the kinky physical aspects of said affair. I'm no prude, it's just merely the kind of thing I regard as a waste of my time to read about.

But back to the dish--do try it. Nothing scary about it.

Beef Bourguignon is a straightforward braise in wine with a few extra side steps--the browned pearl onions and braised mushrooms--and some frills--such as flambeeing. None of the steps is tricky or fussy. Together they can be time consuming, though. For me, removing the peels from all those little onions is the most tedious bit.

-Paul W.

Beef Bourguignon is a straightforward braise in wine with a few extra side steps--the browned pearl onions and braised mushrooms--and some frills--such as flambeeing. None of the steps is tricky or fussy. Together they can be time consuming, though. For me, removing the peels from all those little onions is the most tedious bit.

-Paul W.

Aren't those little onions available frozen?

[Jenise]

Sure, Karen, and they'll do in a pinch but because they're pre-cooked and mechanically peeled they're pretty soggy and nowhere close to the flavor and texture of fresh. In fact, I might go so far as to say I'd leave the onions out before I'd use frozen.

I'm actually rather surprised someone said it was difficult to make.

Dave - I got the 'difficult' from Good Morning America. I guess anything's difficult when you get up as early as they do.

Thank you all for your comments/encouragement. I'm putting it on the 'to do' list for whem my son is home from college next week.
JP

Beef Bourguignon is a straightforward braise in wine with a few extra side steps--the browned pearl onions and braised mushrooms--and some frills--such as flambeeing. None of the steps is tricky or fussy. Together they can be time consuming, though. For me, removing the peels from all those little onions is the most tedious bit.

-Paul W.

Aren't those little onions available frozen?

I've not tried them, just heard they were available. When recipes call for them, I usually just use regular onion cut into larger chunks. I think I tried peeling them one time, but I put them in boiling water for a few minutes. Can't remember the outcome. It must not have been good, because I never have used them again. Is there an easy way to peel them?

For peeling pearl onions, Julia Child suggests putting them in boiling water for a minute, then draining them. Then once you cut off the root end the skin slips off pretty easily. But it's still pretty tedious when you have 20 or 30 of them to do.

-Paul W.

Jon -

DO IT!!! It's not all that hard and the results are wonderful. Do it soon, too, as it's a definite cold weather dish.

What everybody else says - Julia Child's recipe isn't hard at all. Cooking the onions and mushrooms separately uses a couple more pans, but the results are worth the dishwashing.
I made it last month, AAMOF.

John

[Jenise]

For peeling pearl onions, Julia Child suggests putting them in boiling water for a minute, then draining them. Then once you cut off the root end the skin slips off pretty easily. But it's still pretty tedious when you have 20 or 30 of them to do.

-Paul W.

Isn't it? I prepped just 10 of them last week for a blanquette de veau I was making for dinner, and it might have been somewhere between the 7th and 8th one that I thought "tommorrow I'll post a poll about kitchen tasks that bore you to tears".

By coincidence a young friend (my TA) said he made it recently and found it salty.

That reminded me that I penciled in a reminder -- if you use commercial broth DO NOT use the amount of salt she specifies.

Not a very hard recipe. DO blanch the onions

Jon -

DO IT!!! It's not all that hard and the results are wonderful. Do it soon, too, as it's a definite cold weather dish.

OK Mike - I will.

Sure, Karen, and they'll do in a pinch but because they're pre-cooked and mechanically peeled they're pretty soggy and nowhere close to the flavor and texture of fresh. In fact, I might go so far as to say I'd leave the onions out before I'd use frozen.

Despite the tedium of peeling the fresh pearl onions, I, also, would leave them out rather than use the pre-cooked ones. Again, once you par-boil them for a minute, peeling the pearl onions is not difficult--just time-consuming. But it's part of what distinguishes Boeuf Bourguignon from an ordinary beef stew.

-Paul W.

I prefer the "boiling" onions to the pearl. Slightly larger.