Dinner Tonight – Ina’s Boeuf Bourguignon with Cauliflower “Mashed Potatoes” with Roasted Garlic and Parmesan

   

Yesterday I mentioned that after I returned from the grocery store, I really wanted to make either Ina Garten’s Beef Bourguignon or Coq au Vin for dinner.  My friend, Maria was supposed to come for dinner tonight and I thought this would  have been great to get done ahead.  Well, since it was snowing quite hard, I decided not to go out again.  Today, however, I got the needed supplies and went to work.

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON – adapted from Ina Garten – this is really Ina’s recipe with a few minor changes

2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

8 oz D’Artagnan applewood smoked bacon, diced

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 lbs beef chuck roast cut into large cubes (don’t buy stew meat – the pieces are too small)

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks

1 large yellow onion, sliced

3 cloves minced garlic

1/4- 1/3 cup Cognac

3/4 bottle dry red wine, I used Italian

1 14.5 oz can low sodium beef broth

1 tblsp tomato paste

5 sprigs fresh thyme

1 1 lb bag frozen pearl onions

8 oz fresh Crimini (baby Bella) mushrooms, sliced and rough chopped

1/3 cup dried porcini mushrooms, hydrated in boiling water

Preheat oven to 250F.  Cook bacon in olive oil over medium heat in a dutch oven until lightly browned.  Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and reserve.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over the beef cubes.  Brown on all sides in batches and remove from pan onto plate with the bacon.  Add onions and carrots to the pot, add 1 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tsp black pepper and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add the cognac, stand back and ignite to burn off the alcohol.  Put meat and bacon back into the pot with all the drippings.  Add the wine, the can of beef broth, the thyme and the tomato paste.  Stir. Bring to a simmer.  Remove the dutch oven to the oven.  Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Remove the pot from the oven.  In a large sauté pan, add 2 tblsp butter and the Crimini mushrooms.  Saute for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, re-hydrate the porcini mushrooms in a small bowl with boiling water.  Soak for 10 minutes.  Remove the mushrooms and chop.  Add to the sauté pan and cook for a few minutes.  Add all the mushrooms to the pot. Depending on how you feel, you can thicken the stew with a combination of butter and flour.  (Since I am currently trying to stay gluten-free, I am not doing this step.  You should know that you can use Cup 4 Cup gluten-free flour for this purpose, if you like.  I may add a little of this to the mixture just before I serve the stew to have more body, depending on how it looks just then.  Just use a 4:3 ratio for butter: flour for this, and mash it together with a fork before adding it.  Stir well. If you can, use the “brew” from the porcinis in your stew – this is potent flavor!

CAULIFLOWER “MASHED POTATOES” WITH ROASTED GARLIC AND PARMESAN

Roast 4 good sized cloves of garlic in the oven in a few drizzles of olive oil until soft and lightly browned. (about 40 minutes at 375F).  

Steam one head of cauliflower florets until tender.  Remove to the bowl of a food processor.  Add the roasted garlic and 1/2-1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper.  Pulse until well broken up.  With the processor running, begin to stream extra virgin olive oil into the bowl until the mixture begins to resemble mashed potatoes.  You can leave this somewhat chunky if you like.  You can add a splash of heavy cream or a nice rounded tablespoon of mascarpone if you like.  Add 1 tblsp parmesan and mix in.  Add a dash of freshly grated nutmeg if you like.  You’ll never miss your mashed potatoes!   (Well, unless you are Ryan). You can top with a dab of butter if you like.  

Forgot these this morning:

Red Barn in Snow:

   

 

and until tomorrow, again:

 image courtesy The New Yorker