I made this for my Dad's 80th birthday (eve). My Mom, Dad and I had a nice, cozy evening before the next day's big festivities. Jillian's last Christmas Ballet, and then a Birthday Party with friends and family. So we needed something easy, but delicious and filling. It was a good kind of thing, when you want to be able to start something, and then not really mess with it.
Last year, I made Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon. It has many of the same techniques (though fussier), but here's the one that I tend to think about - dry the meat before you fry it! Which is excellent advice - but my mind wanders to - what did all of those French people do before there were paper towels? If you've ever seen an early video of Julia Child on TV, she'd practically use an entire roll when making a recipe!! So before paper - who did all of that laundry??? Certainly country cooks wouldn't want to do all of that! I will likely probably never know, but it makes me wonder - all of these old French techniques that I wouldn't dream of if I had to wash all of those towels (by hand!).
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| ingredients... I had never used parsnips before, so that was something fun and new I also hadn't had brandy or cognac in a stew... |
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| mmmm.... bacon frying |
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| the first of about 4 sessions of browning the meat |
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| nicely browned beef, nicely crisped bacon |
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| my vegetables with their turn in the oil I love using the halved heads of garlic - yum! |
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| my stew ready for the oven I started fearing for it, since the pot was so full - but no worries, it wasn't a problem |
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| our finished dish served simply with some crusty French rolls I think that some mashed potatoes would have been nice, too |
I was a little worried about how full my pot got for this one as well. Glad it wasn't an issue. That is fantastic that everyone liked this so much! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is the one dish I was already plotting the return of while eating it the first time around. Loved IT.
ReplyDeleteTrevor Sis. Boom.
This wasn't my favorite dish either...and I know it was good too. I'm glad to hear it was better than Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon. Now I don't have to suffer through that one to find out! Thanks for sharing that! I'll stick with this one!
ReplyDeleteToo bad you didn't save a bit of leftovers, it was really even better the next day. Oh well, guess you'll just have to make it again. Maybe it will be more of a favorite next time!
ReplyDeleteI hope that you are another parsnip convert. I love the gnarly, sweet roots, so underestimated and neglected, but so giving.
ReplyDeleteI admire your patience in taking all the photos along the way.
We loved the daube and it will become our go-to, also:)
I really liked this daube, especially the next day. I made Dorie's boeuf a la mode the other day (very similar to the daube) and saved it to serve a day later. It was another really good recipe.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year!!