Beef Bourgignon: Marinade in HOW much wine? For HOW long? Then bake for HOW LONG?!

With my new lease on life, today I decided to make a roast. Not so much that roast is fun to make, but more like "We have no chicken and no pork and we have had steak the last four nights in a row." The other day (probably five days ago), my mom made a roast and was jabbing it with the knife to insert garlic. I would go "OUCH" every time she would jab it. We were laughing by the end.

Speaking of knife...I need to order a new knife sharpening set. My stones will be worn down within four blade maintenances, and I also need a really good, extremely sharp filleting knife. We have 50 chickens to slaughter, and we have 30 more on the way. Sharp knife = good knife. Really sharp knife with really pointy two-edged tip well suited for cutting the oil sac out of a chicken's rear end = really good knife.


Regardless, since we'd had steak for the last four days, and roast for the five days before that (this is what happens when my dad gets sick of chicken), I decided I wanted something a little different. I took the only-been-thawing-for-an-hour roast and began what would have been, if it were recorded, a modest reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, if it were carried out with axes and repeated cries of "THOU SWINE, BE SEVERED IN TWOETH!" I carried out the merciless battle with the bravery and purpose of Gandalf when he uttered "You shall not pass!"


The reason for this obviously unnecessary brutal savagery was a cookbook that said "Hey man, make Beef Bourgignon." It did not specifically state to commit what could figuratively be referred to as "pillaging" on the roast, only to cut it into 2" cubes, but winners can't be losers, and I obviously won that duel, as I now observe my hands, ten fingers intact.

Proudly I read the rest of the recipe. "Soak in two cups of wine." My heart dropped, wracked with indecision. If I use the wine, it will be proof to my parents that I am a closet drunk, I worried. Yes, but how can they accuse you of being a closet drunk when you choose to use the wine on a roast, not greedily drink it the moment they step outside? I reasoned. Also, I'm not a closet drunk, I reminded myself.

The final nail in the figurative hot air balloon of my indecision was that I needed to thaw the meat out. If it's soaking in wine, I can put it into hot water, and thus have a conductor for the heat to transfer to the meat.

I also need stock. I need to make stock. On top of that...uhh...it takes three hours to bake. And I have about four hours to do all of this in. So I ...well, I shouldn't be writing this post. I'll go tend to that whole process now, if you'll excuse me. Hopefully I can scrap together at least a few cups of broth.

OK, that didn't take too long. I have the "stock" going (though I found some stock, I'll need some in the future), and I'm pondering if I should make potatoes anna. I think I will. It shoulds i...it sounds interesting. Basically, if I have it right, beef bourgignon is beef with a wine gravy sauce and caramelized boiling onions and mushrooms. Best thing: it allows me to use my dutch oven, which I absolutely adore. And there's nothing wrong with caramelized onions, they are immaculate.

Potatoes Anna is thinly sliced potatoes layered in a pan with thyme and rosemary, weighted down with something, and cooked for about an hour making a sort of cake. That sounds great and easily ruined! I'll make a side of steamed carrots.


And I'll post in the comment field how it turns out. I'll post the recipe next time, but only if it turns out good.