As some of you may have heard, I am now in Seattle…Bellevue specifically.  From downtown Seattle, I am about a 20 minute drive across beautiful Lake Washington into the heart of this east side city of 125,00 souls.  As one of my friends told me, “You will like it better in Bellevue because the name is at least French.”

I do like where I live quite a bit.  My quaint 2 bedroom, 1 fireplace apartment has a walkout to a hot tub – which I have used twice so far with my plastic wine glasses! I am also within walking distance to many great – and dangerous – amenities:  the grocery store, my bank, a warehouse-sized wine shop and the 180 store Bellevue Square shopping mall (think Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Kate Spade and Sephora).  My white tennis shoes have been happy to come out of exile to explore this new city. They had remained hidden while I was in Paris as to keep my nationality incognito – only Americans wear white tennies in Europe!

 Seattle…the city next door!

Now that I am back to a fully supplied kitchen – in fact it is so well supplied that I even have onion cutting goggles – I decided to dust-off my culinary skills with a recipe that I have been anxious to try, Boeuf Bourguignon. But, of course, I didn’t want to make any Boeuf Bourguignon recipe. Nope! I wanted to make the meticulously researched and thoughtfully created recipe from the famous American chef who introduced French cooking to the American public, Madame Julia Child.  The added bonus was that I had just the friends coming over for dinner to appreciate my attempt at this braised beef stew originally from France’s Burgundy region.

Let the cooking begin!

Julia starts the recipe with, “As is the case with most famous dishes, there are more ways than one to arrive at a good boeuf bourguignon.” 

To which I replied, “That may be true, Julia, but I am certain your way will be the best!” 

This was the beginning of the talking-with-Julia-phenomenon that took place while I prepped and cooked her recipe.  It was interesting to me.  I have prepared the recipes of Mario, Giada and Ina many times before, but never once felt compelled to acknowledge them or call out to them during the process. But with this recipe, Julia’s recipe, I acted as if she was with me in the kitchen. Thank goodness there were no recording devices around.

What, Julia!? There are around 44 steps to the recipe? Egads!

A dutch oven (a pretty red one will do!) and a lazy, rainy day are two of my recommendations to get through all the chopping, sauteing, braising, straining and stewing.

As clear and as easy to follow the recipe was, I did notice she forgot to add one step: marinating the chef.  A glass of wine around step 35 is definitely warranted and needs to be written in! (Note: Julia doesn’t write the recipe as a step by step guide…but I have seen her recipe rewritten in steps and, viola, there are 44 of them!)

The intensity of my concentration and perhaps non-stop chattering with Julia made me forget my camera during the pre-oven prep.  But the above pic shows how she looked going into her 3 hour braising bath!  Please notice how I had just enough beef stock and wine to cover the sauteed and seared meat! Gives you goose bumps, non?!

Ho la la! Ants in my kitchen!?

NO, Silly! These are just little handmade metal representations of my favorite insect, leaf cutter ants.  I picked them up in Costa Rica while I lived there.  For some reason I have always kept them in my kitchen….

While the meat stewed, the mini-onions cheerfully simmered…for 50 minutes, mind you!

With all the oil, butter, bacon or all three I was adding throughout the recipe, I couldn’t help to think of one of  Julia’s famous quotes, “Fat gives things flavor.”  This dish should create fireworks on the taste buds!

Wine Club break! This is how I “marinated the chef!”

While my chopped chuck roast soaked up red wine in the oven, I did it with a few friends 🙂 (yep, there was indeed enough time)!

Back at it! Time to strain the meat from the sauce and saute the mushrooms in butter!

Okay, Julia, I will boil down the sauce now so that I only have around 2 1/2 cups…and I completely agree with your idea to skim off the fat…

Mini-onions added? Check!

Mushrooms added? Check!

Almost ready (Thank gud)!

How does it taste, Julia?

Uh, wait, is that Julia or Jen?

Both said, “Délicieux!”

Ah! There she be! Gorgeous!

The flavors were rich and layered.  A beautiful, hearty winter meal that gives you as much satisfaction preparing it as enjoying it. I served it with a simple arugula salad as an entrée and side of mashed potatoes (from Idaho!). We paired it with a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon…we are in America after all.  All of it was splendid!

But the best part was….

….being able to share it all with my dear friends, Rich and Grace.

Happy bellies, happy hearts, a wonderful day with Julia* and perfect evening with friends…the power of Boeuf Bourguignon!  Take note!

Now I need to plan my next culinary adventure…one that involves those onion goggles. In the meantime, I am contemplating one of Julia’s suggestions, “I think every woman should have a blowtorch.”

Hmmmm, could be very, very interesting….

*I did prepare the BB a day in advance