122 replies to this topic

[Ling]

^The Bourdain is definitely easier. I'm interested to know how it compares to Keller's recipe! Thanks for the pictures. I don't think I'm ambitious enough to attempt the Keller recipe though, and applaud your efforts! Your dish looks great.

[fifi]

Marlene, I had to go lie on the couch for a while after reading your post. You are truly a brave lady. And I thought the Cook's Illustrated version was a pain. Does anyone really think the average maman is going to do all of that? Well, probably not. I guess it is an example of applying classic technique to a traditional rustic dish. The pictures were particularly helpful. I kinda wish you had taken pictures of cleaning up.

Onward to Bourdain!

[zeitoun]

Marlene - Looking at your pictures, I guess you would have still survived in Keller's kitchen!
You may have gone 3/4 of the way but your dish does look fabulous. And in terms of the overall flavor of the dish, I guess all the hard work done at the preliminary stages paid off somehow!! Bravo!!

[chefzadi]

Marlene-

Does it help you feel better to know that Keller has a large kitchen staff behind to prepare his concoctions?

If you really prefer his Beef to other recipes, I suggest omitting the steps that are mostly for the sake of final presentation anyway. Also he has a lot of garnishes that are not traditional (hence the coq au vin jokes earlier). I'm not saying traditional is better than nouveau. What I am saying is you don't need them all or even most to enjoy your Beef a la Keller. Cutting back on the straining, the whole cheesecloth bit and the garnishes will cut your preparation time significantly.

Another way about it is to is to add to Bourdain's recipe by marinating the beef in wine or adding more wine for greater intensity of flavor. I usually add enough wine to cover the beef, which usually means at least an entire bottle of, not just a cup. Also after the beef has cooked in the wine you can remove it, strain the sauce (just once at this point if you want to) and reduce the sauce further. Another way to get a more refined finished product without all that straining is to NOT deglaze the brown bits in the pan. Throw it out.

The dish also tastes better the next day.

Edited by chefzadi, 01 February 2005 - 01:30 PM.

[stephenc]

Oh my god, Keller's a nut.

[Steve Ramsey]

Iv'e been making and selling BB at my restaurant for a few months now. It's really my own I suppose, but I think it falls somewhere Between Tony's and Julia's in technique, but I must claim it because of the less expensive...um......no ...CHEAP ingredients that I have to use to make food cost.

For one, I use chuck roll.

I use the cheapest possible Carlo Rossi Jug Burgundy.

And a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste. (batch serves 25)

It's absolutely better if chilled for 24 hrs and re-heated, and starts to peak after two or three days. Some kind of magic happens in that time.

But the result is somewhat credible, and It's my second best selling menu item.

[chefzadi]

Iv'e been making and selling BB at my restaurant for a few months now. It's really my own I suppose, but I think it falls somewhere Between Tony's and Julia's in technique, but  I must claim it because of the less expensive...um......no ...CHEAP ingredients that I have to use to make food cost.

For one, I use chuck roll.

I use the cheapest possible Carlo Rossi Jug Burgundy.

And a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste. (batch serves 25)

It's absolutely better if chilled for 24 hrs and re-heated, and starts to peak after two or three days. Some kind of magic happens in that time.

But the result is somewhat credible, and It's my second best selling menu item.

To further cut food costs "wine in a box". This is used by a lot of restaurants.

[halloweencat]

Iv'e been making and selling BB at my restaurant for a few months now. It's really my own I suppose, but I think it falls somewhere Between Tony's and Julia's in technique, but  I must claim it because of the less expensive...um......no ...CHEAP ingredients that I have to use to make food cost.

For one, I use chuck roll.

I use the cheapest possible Carlo Rossi Jug Burgundy.

And a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste. (batch serves 25)

It's absolutely better if chilled for 24 hrs and re-heated, and starts to peak after two or three days. Some kind of magic happens in that time.

But the result is somewhat credible, and It's my second best selling menu item.

i wonder if you could garner increased profits if you offered both the "jug" version as well as one that used a superior wine (dub this version with some sort of "royale," "luxe," etc. appellation). many people operate with a mindset of wanting "the best," whether or not they can taste or appreciate it. you would charge more for this "royale" version, of course. ;)


cheers :

hc

[ianeccleston]

Other wasy to get more intense flavor is to marinate the beef in red wine or using Sous vide.

I seem to remember seeing recipes where the beef is marinated in wine, as you suggest. Does this affect how you brown the meat? How long should you marinate it for? Do you marinate it with any other aromatics?

(getting chilly here in Chicago! Last weekend, chili. This weeked, boeuf)

Ian

[Marlene]

I had forgotten about this! I never did get to Bourdain's recipe, so I'm putting it on my list to make. I'll probably make it on Sunday with the intent to serve it Monday or Tuesday.

[Jean Blanchard]

This is on my list of fall recipes to make. I've used Julia's recipe forever. As far as the wine goes, I've used anything from a "cheap" wine to a moderately priced with good results. However, the last time I was at a restaurant in Yountville (Bistro Jeanty), I had a Rafanelli Zinfandel that the beef, coq au vin, and mussels in red wine sauce (I didn't eat them all myself, just shared bites) that went so well with each dish that I think that with a meal like this, it's well worth opening up a good bottle of whatever red you like to drink with it.

What's your favorite wine with this dish?

jb

[gourmande]

...I've used Julia's recipe forever...

So have I, but I did try Bourdain's easier version last year, and for a quick and easy version of BB it's quite good. (I did add braised pearl onions though)

[BarbaraY]

I made BB last week because it is finally cool enough to make longer cooking dishes.
I used beef chuck that I trimmed myself, blanched bacon lardoons, no pearl onions in the store so I used small boiling onions instead, a bit of tomato paste, and of course plenty of mushrooms and inexpensive red wine.
It was truly delicious. The little onions were so sweet and good that I wished I had added a few more.
No carrots or peppers in mine. It's a combination of Julia's recipe and that of Morrison Wood plus my own twists.
It's one of my favorite cool weather dishes.

[silverbrow]

Thankfully I've just read this post on Keller's BB. I was planning on making it for dinner a week on Saturday but it looks like I need to start planning, and cooking, now.

Has anyone with expereince of making it, any top tips for what to do or not do, or is it sufficient to carefully follow the recipe in the book and learn the lessons of others on this thread?

[ianeccleston]

Other wasy to get more intense flavor is to marinate the beef in red wine or using Sous vide.

I got started on the boeuf this morning, after marinating the beef with all the vegetables, aromatics and wine overnight. I'm looking forward to the more intense taste from the marinade but - and I shouldn't be surprised at this - marinating it overnight made browning problematic. Even though I drained and patted dry the meat very well, the meat released a lot of that extra moisture into the pan during browning. Even more so for the wet vegetables. The deed is done though - I'll see how it tastes tomorrow.

Ian

[chefzadi]

Sorry, I think there was a question addressed to me earlier as well. I'm very busy with work these days and lots of other projects.

I have noticed some cuts of meat depending on where I buy it tend to release alot of moisture.

Higher heat, fewer pieces of meat in the pan, along with the other things you did.

Have to go.

[dockhl]

I asked about wine in making this on an earlier thread, and a few people suggested Gallo Hearty Burgundy.  I will try that next time.

Oh, Pam~

I CANNOT tell you how much that warmed my heart !
When I was in undergrad at Pitt (circa 1975) I was known for having great dinner parties (exotic even !) .........one of my staples was Beef Burgundy (at it was known in Pittsburgh, PA) made with Gallo Hearty Burgundy.

I was before my time ! Who knew?

LOL~

Great memories, thanks

Kathy

[muichoi]

Best cut is cheek, second best shin. Use some port in the initial cooking-then clean the sauce very thoroughly-ie strain it then let it form a skin half off the heat-keep removing until there's no more-then add, if you have it, a glass of the very fine Burgundy you're going to drink with it. I'm afraid it makes a huge difference!

[Marlene]

I had forgotten about this!  I never did get to Bourdain's recipe, so I'm putting it on my list to make.  I'll probably make it on Sunday with the intent to serve it Monday or Tuesday.

Ah the best laid plans. I finally got around to making Bourdain's recipe today. I had this big honkin brisket flat, that I cut in half. I've got one half marinating for a recipe from Molly's book, but what to do with the other half? I figured I was way over due for this one. I used less onions, and more wine and brisket rather than chuck, but other than that I followed the recipe.


My rather large flat:


I cut that sucker in half and trimmed off most of the fat cap. The fat cap I will keep and render tomorrow:



As Tony says, this is a ridiculously easy recipe. Gathered the onions, carrots and cubed the beef:




I finally got all the beef cubes nicely browned, then removed the beef and added the onions:




When the onions cooked down, I sprinkled flour over top, mixed that in and added the wine:






Once that came to a boil, I added the beef, carrots, garlic and bouquet garni, added enough water to just cover the mix and set it to simmer. Oh I had some demi glace so I put some of that in too.


I let this simmer for most of the afternoon. At the end, I got this:




This is amazing. Rich, flavourful, and oh so easy.

[Ling]

^I love the Bourdain recipe, but it tastes so much better the next day! I also simmer it for an extra half hour than the time the recipe specifies.

[Marlene]

^I love the Bourdain recipe, but it tastes so much better the next day! I also simmer it for an extra half hour than the time the recipe specifies.

I simmered it for a lot longer than the recipe calls for as well. We did have some tonight but this will be dinner tomorow as well.

[Pille]

I wanted to make Boeuf Bourguignon as well, and finally found a link to Bourdain's recipe here. Absolutely delicious! As I write on my blog, then I simmered it in the oven for about 3 hours in total (2.5 hours on the first night, then kept it in the cold garage overnight and re-heated for half an hour in the oven before serving) and it was melt-in-your-mouth and lip-smackingly good indeed

The browned meat:


The finished dish just before serving:


On the plate, meat falling apart:

[jmcgrath]

I recently made this for a dinner at my sportsmen's club. I mostly used Julia's recipe scaled up to feed 80. 60 pounds of beef chuck tenders, a case of Ravenswood Zin, five pounds each of carrots and yellow onions, three pounds of sliced mushrooms, etc., etc.

I browned everything on hotel pans in our commercial ovens, deglazed with some of the Zin, and then moved everything into two large stock pots. I added the remaining Zin and then topped off with beef stock. I simmered everything for a few hours, moved the pots to our walk-in cooler and went home for the night. The pots went back on the range-top at three the next afternoon, for dinner at 6:30. Towards the end, I thickened with beurre manie. I served it with a mixed green salad, egg noodles, and warm rolls.

I didn't blanch the bacon, and couldn't find enough pearl onions to make it worthwhile using them. The most labor intensive part of the prep was peeling the silver skin from the chuck tenders.

Jim

[James Kessler]

Anyone ever try to make BB in a slow-cooker? Any good results? Care to share the recipe please? OR should I make sure to stay far away from my crockpot for this dish?

[dockhl]

James~
I'd probably just do what you see here but on low all day, and then taste/garnish before eating. Are you used to crock pot cooking?

[Anna N]

This is just a personal opinion so take it for what it is worth. I have made BB a la Julia in the traditional way and in the crock pot and there is no comparison. Something about that long, long time in the pot does something to the flavours and they are simply not right! It can be a crowd pleaser though for those who have not had an opportunity to try the real McCoy.

[Shalmanese]

After looking at a bunch of recipes, I'm deciding to go with a version that's even more involved than Keller's if you can believe it.

I'm using beef short ribs & I reduced the wine down into a syrup with the aromatics except at that point, I threw in only the browned beef bones into the braising liquid and topped it off with beef stock. This has been on the stove for 3 hours now. The next step is to strain out everything, brown the rib meat and then have the rib meat braise in the enriched stock at 70C overnight. From there, I'll rejoin Keller's recipe except to use glazed onions & carrots rather than just boiled. I'll report back in 2 days with how it all turns out.

[Doodad]

Anyone ever try to make BB in a slow-cooker? Any good results? Care to share the recipe please? OR should I make sure to stay far away from my crockpot for this dish?

I do it in my crock pot now everytime. I combine a little Keller with Bourdain's in that I cook the meat (no marinade) and vege until starting to get the meat tender and then strain and refresh all the vegetables and add mushrooms the only time. Makes a better, thicker sauce and tender but not mushy vegetables.

[ldubois2]

Made BB from Julia's recipe last Saturday. Read through the comments on this post first. Have the Keller recipe, the Bourdain and Julia's and followed hers adding the Beef Demi-glace as Bourdain recommended instead of the canned broth Julia's calls for. Wonderful...served the next day to a dinner party of 10. My pictures are not as artistic as Pille's. Made it in Le Creuset large dutch oven.

[qrn]

Made some using Kellers recipe...(along with bits from others),,,Put a tad of tomato paste in it ,,,that ruined it,,,Had lotsa leftovers , but threw em away,,,will try again....
Bdu