3 lb stew beef, cubed
1 1/2 cup brandy
2 1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup butter
1/2 lb mushrooms, whole
1/2 lb pearl onion
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 each garlic cloves, chopped
1 each bay leaf
1/2 tsp thyme
1 can beef stock (10.5 oz)
1/4 cup flour
Directions
Marinate beef in 1/3 of brandy and red wine for at least 1 hour. Turn
occasionally. In large heavy skillet heat half the butter until
foamy.Mix together flour with salt and pepper to taste. Roll beef
cubes in flour, place in hot butter and brown, removing cubes as they
are done. In separate skillet, heat remaining butter; add onions;
stir, cover and simmer over low heat 2 min. Add mushrooms, turn up
heat and saute' 3 minutes. Remove from heat; add tomato paste,garlic
and 1 tbl flour. Mix until smooth. Add remaining brandy, red wine,
beef stock, bay leaf, thyme, salt + pepper to taste. Boil, reduce
heat. Simmer 15 min.Add beef and simmer 1 1/2 hours.
Servings: 6 servings
Beef Bourguignon Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Beef; Meat
The History of Recipes
Recipes as an idea can be observed back into distant history, certainly as far back as pharonic Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. Interesting though that maybe, mostly, these early cookbooks were just very basic pictorial instructions for meal preparation.
In an interesting twist, the oldest recipe discovered, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a collection of tablets in Sumerian describing the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel blissful and exhilarated. As we move into The time of the roman empire around 25BC a Roman scholar, called Apicius, assembled some scrolls describing recipes cooked by wealthy roman citizens. In his scrolls, he tells us how the meals were split into hors d`oeuvres, main meal and dessert, a style of dining still practiced today. This early Roman chef informs us how the cooks of his times made use of many aromatic flavours, including many that are still in use today like bay, fennel and parsley. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, we have a couple of interesting recipe books which were published in the fourteenth century - one book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary titled `Curye on Inglish`. Although the titles sound familiar, these books are unconnected to the indian food that is popular today, but instead recipes for the types of meals enjoyed by the rich and powerful of those days. In the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought us many foods and spices from the holy lands, including spices like coriander, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new herbs and spices caused an eruption in publications on food, many of which are kept safe in private libraries. Over the next few hundred years, the wealthy families of Europe competed with each other to lay on the most extravagent banquests, and consequentially the best chefs and their recipes were greatly in demand. Even so, it wasn`t until the 19th century that fine cookery and recipe collections became popular. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Farmer in the US, dedicated the best years of their lives to collating, trying out, and recording recipes that were common in the better off homes of the day. When we get to the 1900s, recipe books were in high demand, as a result of better eduction, people having increased free time and being a little richer. The arrival of TV brought us cooking programs and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. Which pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, allowing everyone to search through massive numbers of recipes like the ones you can find on our site. |
We hope you enjoy this Beef Bourguignon recipe.
