Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon Recipe

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416 Responses to “Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon Recipe”

1. seamus gallen says:

   December 13, 2011 at 6:16 am

   Pam, One result from boiling it is that it will be easier to remove most of the fat. If that can be done when it’s raw, the bacon could just be cut up small and fried. That’s my usual method.
2. Chantele says:

   December 29, 2011 at 4:51 pm

   My husband requested this for New Year’s Eve after we watched Julie/Julia for the 3rd time I’ve read thru all the tips and appreciate all the wonderful comments and encouragement given on this site. I was planning to spend NYE day preparing, but am so excited I may crack open a bottle of wine and start the night before. Will post my results after the New Year!!!
   Bon Appetit!!!!!
3. seamus gallen says:

   January 3, 2012 at 11:54 am

   Chantele, Why not open the wine right now!!! Best wishes with the BB.
4. Johnny O says:

   January 6, 2012 at 9:47 pm

   Waited to make this until I truly had the right equipment. Made it today using boneless chuck roast but only cooked for two hours. In the words of my family AMAZAZAZING…… I did remember to blanch the bacon and it made a difference. Thank you Julia!!!
5. Denise D says:

   January 18, 2012 at 9:18 pm

   Could you use salt pork in lieu of bacon? I thought the point of boiling the bacon was to remove the bacon flavor.
6. Susan M says:

   January 20, 2012 at 6:30 pm

   I made this dish using only Julia’s recipe Christmas 2010. It was, of course, heavenly!! I’m making it agan tonight for my son’s bday…so..I thought I’d go for it and use rump this time and I’m troubled to read that I should’ve stuck with chuck! Oh well. Guess I’ll just have to keep my eye on it so it doesn’t dry out. I was just so miffed using chuck the first time due to all the fat I have to remove when cutting cubes. At any rate, it’ll be good. Husband is searching for frozen pearl onions, as I don’t want to peel the fresh ones!! But I may have to settle for them. Fun to read all the comments!!
7. Randall says:

   January 23, 2012 at 1:15 pm

   Denise:

   NO! Do not use salt pork!

   The purpose of blanching the bacon was to remove the ’smoky’ flavor from American bacon. The bacon flavor and fat is vital to the dish, along with it’s texture.

   The main purpose of Julia suggesting to blanch the bacon was based upon converting a European dish into something American housewives could cook.

   In Europe, the bacon used for this dish (pancetta) is not smoked. American bacon (streaky bacon) IS smoked! Julia knew this and provided you a recipe to remove the smoky flavor by blanching.

   When she wrote the book, pancetta was not available here… but it is now, and you should use it, without the need for blanching.
8. Ed Clarke says:

   January 23, 2012 at 8:03 pm

   Denise:
   I agree with Randall, don’t use salt pork. You can use either bacon (if you like the smoky flavor) or panchetta (if you don’t). If you do use bacon I suggest that you use a thick cut if you can find it, but in any case render it very slowly at a very low heat. It will take about 40-45 minutes. This will extract the maximum of fat from the bacon and it won’t make the final dish greasy as the unrendered fat melts while cooking the dish. You don’t need any oil if you start with a cold pan, keep the heat is low, and stir the bacon frequently to prevent sticking. I usually pour myself a glass of wine before I start this process to make I more enjoyable.
9. Ed Clarke says:

   January 23, 2012 at 8:07 pm

   Susan M:
   Peeling pearl onions isn’t hard if you briefly blanch them first. Otherwise, they are impossible! But don’t blanch them too long since they may fall apart once you put them in the dish. Just enough to soften their skin and make them easy to peel. Of course, you can always try to talk your husband into peeling them for you.
10. suzuki says:

    January 24, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    I really want to make this legend dish when I watched the movie Julie/Julia. but, my husband is a Muslim,so I can not use bacon in this dish.. I know it will lose the flavor and fat without bacon …Is there anything could substitute bacon? arigato~~
11. Randall says:

    January 25, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    No problem! Duck fat RULES!
12. suzuki says:

    January 25, 2012 at 8:55 pm

    Randall：
    Thank you for your advice,I’ll try to use duck fat~~.cannot wait to taste it~~
13. Susan M says:

    January 25, 2012 at 8:56 pm

    As you can see above, I made this dish a second time on Jan. 20. I was so disappointed! Using the rump instead of the chuck I used the first time resulted in a dry, dry meat! After all that work it tasted like a “so, so” beef stew…. Still preferred the frozen pearl onions. I blanched the first go round, but the frozen ones were great and so easy. Not so, the rump roast. ;-(
14. Ed Clarke says:

    January 25, 2012 at 11:25 pm

    susuki – And if you can find goose fat, probably even better than duck fat. But you may have to cook a goose in order to get it. However, that’s well worth it since it will yield about 4 cups of goose fat.
15. Ed Clarke says:

    January 25, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    Susan M – Too bad about the rump. How long did you cook it? Since it has less fat than the chuck, you can’t cook it as long or you’ll get the dry meat that you apparently got. But next time I cook this dish I’ll try the frozen pearl onions!
16. suzuki says:

    January 26, 2012 at 1:20 am

    Ed Clarke：So happy to read your reply..I don’t know whether I can find the goose fat in Tokyo ..However,I’ll try,and report you how yummy it is. Arigato~