Party Food: Boeuf Bourguignon

The months of late winter in my house are full of parties: from Christmas on, it seems, we are in a constant whirl from New Years to the first week of spring in late March: there is Epiphany, many birthday parties, Valentine's Day, school festivals, sometimes even Easter!

Everyone needs a recipe to feed a hungry crowd of people--something incredibly easy, but also gorgeously impressive and deeply satisfying. This is a recipe that will never cease to draw oohs and ahhs from the hungry guests gathered around your dining room table, and leave plates and bowls scraped clean.

While the last posts have been consumed with the sweeter side of these many celebrations, really, you can't have dessert before you have had a long, leisurely, delicious meal. As a hostess of many, many parties, I have realized the importance of having a store of recipes that are almost indestructible, and most can be made ahead and even served room temeperature. That, a really great black dress, and champagne, and you have a party.

This week, we are making a riff on Boeuf Bourguignon, the classic French beef stew. Delicious, with layers of rich, wine laced broth and chunks of tender, silken beef and sweet carrot, earthy, plump mushrooms and smoky bacon. Nicely complex, but not too muddled with different flavors, and nicely balanced by some plain buttered egg noodles or even mashed potatoes.

*The recipe is really very easy, but it does take time. Do it the day before if you can, and let it cook all afternoon on the back of the stove or in the oven. Cool it to room temperature and then refrigerate before going to bed. Overnight, any fat in the stew will rise to the top and solidify and you can simply lift it off and toss it before heating it about an hour before your guests arrive. Easy! Also, the stew really improves in taste overnight. But don't worry if you can't do this step, it will still be amazing!

Serves at least 10 hungry big people

Recipe:

• 5 pounds beef chuck roast, as local as possible, diced into about 1-1 1/2 inch cubes
• vegetable oil
• salt and pepper
• 4 strips smoky bacon, cut into lardons (1/4 inch strips) 
• 5 celery ribs, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 8 ounces baby carrots (about 1 cup)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 liter red wine (1 1/2 bottles)
• 3 cups beef stock
• bay leaf
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 12 ounce package white mushrooms, quartered
• 1 package frozen pearl onions (you can use fresh if you have the time and inclination. I would rather use that time to vacuum the floor or get a pedicure, frankly.)

1. In a large, heavy, deep dutch oven or daube (as the French say) over medium-high heat, add a bit of vegetable oil and brown the cubes of meat well. This is the hardest part of the recipe, because it will take a few batches, and the urge to crowd the pan is strong. RESIST THIS URGE! Too many pieces in at once means that the meat will poach and turn gray and not gorgeously golden brown, sealing in all those lovely juices that will make your stew so delicious your guests will swoon. It will take three or four batches, but be strong. All the other ingredients can just be dumped in soon enough. Keep adding vegetable oil if needed to make certain the beef doesn't stick. As the cubes are finished, scoop them out and put them in a nice deep bowl and season them well with salt and pepper and continue until all the pieces are finished. 
2. If the bottom of your daube is looking unappetizingly blackened and tar-like, give it a quick wipe with a paper towel, but really, don't worry about it too much. Dark brown is simply tasty waiting to happen. Return to medium high heat and add the bacon. Once the bacon begins to render its fat add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic and cook over medium heat until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. 
3. Once the veggies are on their way, add the meat back in, glug in almost all the wine, add the beef stock and the bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil. Once a nice, steady bubbling has been reached, crack the lid to about half way, turn the heat down so that the stew is at a bare simmer, and go do something else for a few hours. 
4. After about 2 hours, in general, my stew is just about ready for the last steps.  In a large sauté pan, melt butter over high heat. When the butter has fully melted add mushrooms and pearl onions and cook, stirring often. Add a bit of salt (mushrooms need to exude their liquid to get the proper sear and mushroomy taste) and keep cooking until the mushrooms are golden brown and the pearl onions have lost some of their frozen chill and add them to the stew. 
5. Check the stew periodically--add the rest of the wine if you haven't already, and taste to check the seasoning. My stews tend to be ready after about three hours of barely there simmering, but could probably go longer, and if I turned up the heat could be ready more quickly. But figure about 2-3 hours. If you are doing the overnight trick, you are done. Simply put your pot in a sink of ice water until it is cool and then refrigerate overnight. 
6. Right as your guests are arriving, put your pasta water on to boil. The water should come to a boil just as you are pouring a second round of drinks and getting everyone to the table for the first course, which is perfect. Toss in a large bag off egg noodles. They cook in about 8 minutes, so by the time everyone has come to the table and you have plated the first course and gotten it to the table, it is time to drain the pasta and return it to the pot with some butter. Turn up the heat on the stew--it should be piping hot before being ladled out.

Simple. Delicious.