I am going to make Boeuf Bourguignon tomorrow.

[Lyric]

I've never made it before, but it doesn't look too hard, and we got a really good deal on a large chuck roast so this will be perfect for it. I'm going to use Julia Child's classic recipe. The only thing I need to buy "special" is the bottle of red wine.

Julia suggests either a Bordeaux, a Burgundy, or a Chianti. I don't know much about wine--which one of those do you think will work the best for flavor?

:hi:

[KamaAina]

1. Chianti goes best with fava beans

:evilgrin:

Since you're probably not going to be pouring a $50 bottle of Chateau Froufrou into this :-) , you might consider something like Gallo's Hearty Burgundy, (bourguignon = Burgundy), about which I've actually heard good things.

The idea of a meal at Chez Lyric sans cheese is making me hungry...

[Lyric]

2. It will indeed be sans cheese!

That might actually be a first. *laughs*

I'm making plenty--come on over! :D

[Lyric]

3. Look what Deb got me! It was half-price at Target. Woo!

That's a 7-quart, cast iron, porcelain-glazed casserole that transfers from stovetop to oven. Woohoo! I've wanted one of these for YEARS, they usually cost almost $100, and Deb found one that was marked at less than half the usual price. I inspected it, but there are no defects or chips in the porcelain--it just had some water damage to the box. Woohoo!

I am now ready to take on Julia Child. :D

[Heidi]

4. This is a gorgeous casserole!

Good choice! :thumbsup:

[Fleshdancer]

5. beautiful!

Great size and I love the color.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. If you chip the porcelain ...

it only adds "character" to the pot.

Chips happen.

:hi:

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. I use Lodge cookware as well - cheap on Amazon, same as Le creuset, at 1/10 the price.

[Lyric]

13. I love it. My stew turned out amazing

and the porcelain finish came completely clean with just hot water, soap, and a little light scrubbing. This seems like a really good quality piece of cookware.

[grasswire]

20. Lodge is American made, too

An old company in TN. Great stuff.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. As KamaAina wrote, bourguignon=burgundy so go with that if you can find one in your price range

but a Chianti would be my second choice among those she mentioned or maybe a Malbec.

[Demoiselle]

7. Gallo Hearty Burgundy works very nicely in that recipe.

I've made it many times, with Julia looking over my shoulder on every detail. (Well that's what it feels like, anyway.)
The salt pork makes for a magic flavor. Enjoy!

[MajorChode]

9. I typically use this one...

There's a few reasons why I like to use it for this. One is I almost always have some on hand. I also use it for making sangria and it goes down fine with a lot of different dishes. It's a moderate quality wine at a good price. It's also widely available, so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding it.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. I was going to post exactly that! That's my go-to red cooking wine -

I use it for coq au vin as well. Works great in mushrooms in wine sauce, too.

it has a wonderful winey taste that doesn't get bitter or sharp-edged flavor to it like so many other wines do (at least, to my taste) when they get cooked.

Probably something in my taste buds that doesn't react well to cooked wine, but that exact wine has never failed me!

It still tastes like wine after being cooked.

[MajorChode]

16. It's a great cooking red wine

It's a "young" red, so it does well for stewing or braising. If I'm reducing it way down to make a sauce, I'd probably use something more along the lines of a cabernet or at least a merlot. It also pairs well with stew or braising type dishes, so that's an added bonus.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. What's In It?

Kidding! Sounds good.
GAC

[Lyric]

14. Well, I made it!

And it was AMAZING. We invited over leftyclimber, mrleftyclimber, and spawn-of-climber for dinner, made a salad (from our garden) and a loaf of fresh french bread along with some noodles to put the stew over. We don't have a single scrap of leftover stew--you know it must be reeeeally good when there aren't any leftovers, lol.

So YAY for a very successful cooking venture! :hi:

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. Two thoughts ...

First, you gotta have leftovers. You just didn't make enough! :)

Second, do you have a link to the recipe?

[Lyric]

19. Absolutely.

This was the one I used:

http://www.food.com/recipe/boeuf-bourguignon-a-la-julia-child-148007

I used salt pork for the "solid chunk bacon", because it's basically the same thing. Also, when you get to the step where you add the 3 cups of wine plus 2-3 cups of beef stock--it's going to look like there's too much liquid in it. Trust me--it's not too much. Wine reduces and evaporates a lot faster than water, so what looks like "too much" actually ends up being just right. :)

Other things I noticed: I had to add more beef stock to the braised onions as they cooked. Salted butter works just as well as unsalted butter--but don't substitute margarine. I mashed the garlic cloves...but then I coarsely chopped them as well, and that worked out well. Also, you will need a VERY sharp knife for slicing up the salt pork; salt pork still has a skin "rind" on it, and it's really tough to cut without a razor-sharp knife.

As for not having leftovers...dude, that one pot fed nine people to satisfaction. If you're cooking for less than nine...you WILL have leftovers! :)

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

21. Thanks!

I'll try cooking this next week. Yeah, that's a big recipe, so there'll be leftovers.

It doesn't look like the meal uses the whole bottle of wine, so there may be some for the chef.

:hi:

[Dr Morbius]

15. I typically like to use Chianti with my pasta sauces, so I'd have some around.

Meaning, I'd try it with Chianti given my ideal choice. Classically, Boeuf Bourguignon is made with burgundy, but the reason the recipe became classic is that meat cooked in wine tends to taste damn good, period. With beef, one drinks red wine; so when one cooks beef, one cooks it with a red. As long as you stay away from the fruity reds, like Merlot, I think it will still taste quite good. Right now, I have a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, and I wouldn't hesitate to try the recipe with that.

[Lyric]

17. I used Pinot Noir.

Turned out wonderfully. :)