The recipe is made in several steps and it is NOT a quick recipe. I actually did it over several days, but you can do it all in a matter of a few hours (probably no more than five). There is a point where the stew is simmering for three hours and during this time you can prepare the onions and mushrooms, however I did these ahead of time. Since that was the order in which I did them, that is the order in which I will give the instructions.
Starting with the onions, you will need about two dozen small onions. I used the ones that are called pearl onions and once they were peeled, they looked like this:
This is all the preparation of the onions that needs to be done. They remain whole, just peeled, and ready to cook. Take a large frying pan and place in it 1.5 Tablespoons of unsalted butter and 1.5 Tablespoons of cooking oil. I did NOT use olive oil for this, but you can if you like the taste of it.
Also, as an aside, always use unsalted butter. There are two reasons for this; first, you can always add salt if you need it, but many ingredients already contain salt and you can't remove it from them, and second, when butter is made if it is not of the highest quality, salt is added to it so it will keep longer. Unsalted butter is better quality for the same price.
Heat the oil/butter in a pan until the butter foams, and the foam begins to subside. This indicates that the butter is hot enough to use. The reason why oil is added is because if you only used butter at this temperature it would burn. The oil allows it to heat to a higher temperature for frying. At this point, Julia and I did not agree. She uses a high heat, I use a low heat. I prefer my food to cook longer and slower, as I find that most foods burn at higher temperatures.
Saute the onions (make sure they remain whole) for about ten minutes. Keep rolling them in the pan to ensure that they brown all over, but don't burn. After ten minutes add 1/2 cup of canned beef bouillon, a little bit of black pepper (to taste), 2 Tablespoons parsley, 1/2 bay leaf and 1/4 tsp thyme. Julia ties these up in a bouquet, but I used them right in the bouillon. Heat this to a simmer, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Drain them and set aside. Don't worry if you have herbs clinging to the onions, just make sure the bay leaf is discarded.
Now for the mushrooms. Use 1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, 2 Tablespoons butter and 1 Tablespoon oil. Clean the mushrooms well and quarter them. Heat the butter and oil as above and saute the mushrooms in small batches. Do not try to cook them all at once, as they won't brown. Each batch will take about five minutes to complete and when done, you'll have beautifully browned mushrooms. Set them aside with the onions.
On to the stew. I used stewing beef for this recipe, but I don't recommend it. In the first place, I don't have any way of knowing what cut of meat it is. In the second, it wasn't the best tasting, or the best consistency. Find a three pound rump roast and cut it up yourself. You can also have a butcher cut it, but what fun would that be?
You will also need a 6-ounce piece of bacon. Since my market doesn't carry bacon in this form, I used sliced bacon (about 8 slices) and cut them into four pieces across the slices. When cut, my bacon looked like this:
Heat 1.5 quarts of water to a simmer and add the bacon. Simmer for ten minutes. Drain the bacon and set it on a paper towel to dry. Pat the top too, as the bacon must be completely dry. While the bacon is cooking, you can also dry the meat with paper towels the same way. All meat must be dry to cook properly. If you bought a rump roast, cut the pieces to be bite size.
Now you will need a large (about 5 quart) pan with a lid that will be able to cook on both the stove top and in the oven. An enamel coated cast iron pot works best. In the pot, saute the dry bacon in 1 Tablespoon olive oil (or any cooking oil, but olive oil works well here) for a few minutes until lightly browned. I did this in small batches, since there was too much to do it all at once. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the beef to the oil (which now also has bacon fat added) and brown the beef in small batches. It must be brown on all sides. Add it to the bacon.
It looks like I forgot to take a picture of the next ingredients, but they were two sliced carrots and one sliced onion (which I first cut in half and then sliced). You could use three or four carrots if you'd like. Place these in the skillet once the meat has been removed and brown these as well.
Drain the oil/fat from the pan (keep the vegetables) and return the meat to the pan on top of the vegetables. Add 1/4 teaspoon pepper and stir. Add 2 Tablespoons of flour one Tablespoon at a time. Toss the mixture with each addition of flour. Place the pan in a hot (450 degree) oven for four minutes. Remove from the oven and toss the mixture again. Return to the oven for an additional four minutes. Remove and reduce the oven to 325 degrees.
You will now add the following:
Start in three cups of a good red wine. I used a French Bordeaux since, after all, this is a French recipe but you can use any full-bodied red wine. Pick something that you really like, and if possible, get two bottles so you can serve one with the meal. Add to this three cups of beef bouillon, 1 Tablespoon tomato paste, 2 cloves mashed garlic, 1/2 teaspoon thyme and one crumbled bay leaf. Bring this to a simmer on the stove, then cover and place in the lower part of the oven. Cook for 2.5 to three hours.
At this point Julia calls for preparing the onions and mushrooms, which I did at the beginning of the recipe. When the meat is tender (a fork should pierce it easily), remove from the oven and pour the contents into a strainer over a sauce pan. Wash out the pot you cooked the stew in, and return the cooked mixture to it, without the liquid. This will be used to create a sauce. Place the onions and mushrooms over the meat mixture in the pot.
On the stove, place the saucepan with the sauce in it and skim off the fat. Cook it at a simmer until it reduces to just over two cups. It should coat a spoon thinly. Mine did not, so I mixed one Tablespoon of cornstarch in three Tablespoons of cold water and then added it to the sauce. Cook and stir for one minute to thicken it slightly. This worked well for me. Pour the sauce into the large pot and mix thoroughly. Heat to a simmer and heat for a few minutes (up to five).
I boiled noodles to serve this over, but potatoes would work as well. You could also serve it over rice, if you prefer and pair it with a full-bodied red wine.
Bon appetit!
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