Boeuf Bourguignon a La Four Guys Cooking, Ross’s Recipe.

Happy Thanksgiving to my loyal readers.  I wish all of you a prosperous and healthy holiday.  As most of you will enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal today I will also.  But looking back over the years at memorable meals I came across my old boeuf bourguignon recipe that an old dining group I was a member of prepared one year.  It is basically Julia Childs's recipe but our group called "Four Guys Cooking" truly had fun preparing this dish.  We also had a healthy debate as to whether Bordeaux or Bourgogne Pinot Noir would be best and as an experiment used the Bordeaux a 2003 Chateau Pontet-Canet.  At the time our wine writer was, Robert Weintraub who's judgment was a Bourgogne might have been less "dissonance".   In any event, it is a classic dinner entree that is not difficult to prepare so in the near future give it a try.

This is the classic recipe.  Use a wine which you would drink--not cooking wine and most "experts" recommend Pinot Noir.   And the better the cut of beef, the better the stew. As the beef is combined with braised onions and sauteed mushrooms, all that is needed to complete your main course is a bowl of noodles and lots of good bread for the sauce. 

3 hours | 1-hour prep 

SERVES 6 to 8 

For the Stew 

· 6 slices of bacon( in other recipes known as “lardoons”) cut into smaller pieces 

· 1 tablespoon olive oil

· 2 oz butter 

· 3 lbs lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes 

· 1 carrot, peeled and sliced 

· 1 onion, peeled and sliced 

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 1/4 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground 

· 2 tablespoons flour

· 1 bottle red wine (a full bodied wine like Bordeaux or Burgundy or Chianti) 

· 1 cup beef broth or beef stock 

· 2 garlic cloves, mashed (you may choose to add more) 

· 1 sprig thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme) 

· 1 bay leaf, preferably fresh 

For the braised onions 

· 18-24 white pearl onions, peeled 

· 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

· 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

· 1/2 cup beef stock 

· salt & fresh ground pepper 

· 1 bay leaf

· 1 sprig thyme

· 2 sprigs parsley

For the Sauteed Mushrooms 

· 1 lb mushroom, quartered 

· 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

· 1 tablespoon olive oil

Step 1 

In a large cooking pot heat the butter and oil and brown the bacon(you want to cut up the bacon slices into smaller pieces) and the meat pieces. Do not “sear” the meat as this prevents the wine from being absorbed by the meat. Just lightly brown the meat by frequently stirring and rotating the meat in the pot with the bacon pieces in the pot at the same time. It will brown after 5-10 minutes. Then add a peeled and sliced carrot, a peeled and sliced onion and allow to cook until the carrots and onions are soft. After the meat is brown add and distribute the flour and pour in all of the wine and beef broth/stock. Then add salt, pepper, crushed garlic cloves, a sprig of thyme and a bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce temperature to medium to low and allow to simmer for 3 hours. The meat is done when you can prick it with a fork and it is tender and falls apart. 

Step 2 Pearl Onions 

A few minutes before serving prepare the pearl onions and mushrooms. Peel the small pearl onions and put in a pan with hot butter to be browned slightly. ½ cup of Beef broth is then added and the onions are braised with a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, and 2 sprigs of parsley until completely cooked and well caramelized. Little moisture should remain, but if it does, it should be drained off. 

Step 3 Mushrooms 

The mushrooms should be sautéed just minutes before the beef is done and are sautéed in the butter and olive oil.  Our La Chaine group has a member severely allergic to mushrooms so for those with food allergies simply leave out this ingredient.

Step 4 Serving 

The pearl onions and mushrooms are then added to the beef stew and the dish can be served in the same pot in which it was cooked or a casserole dish. For a thicker gravy, remove the beef and reduce the braising liquid before adding the onions and mushrooms but this is usually not needed. Serve over noodles for a classic presentation and serve the same wine used in cooking.

Two Places to visit in northeast Atlanta, Georgia

I am pleased to recommend to my readers two places to visit in the northeast Atlanta/Buckhead/Doraville area on your next trip to Atlanta. My wife and I were at both places this past week and were highly impressed with what we experienced. We highly recommend you visit these places if you can. 

The first place is Little Alley Steakhouse The Buckhead outpost located in One Alliance Center on Lenox Road; the same complex as Mission and Market which opened in March at Three Alliance Center. Their orginial resturarnt is in Roswell. The 9000-square-foot Little Alley Steak-Buckhead is triple the size of the original location on Canton Street in Roswell. The Buckhead steakhouse seats 250 people and includes a bar, a main dining room, a smaller dining room, a patio with an outdoor bar, and a lounge. A private dining room is located upstairs. Little Alley-Buckhead’s menu is similar to its original Roswell outpost with wet and dry-aged steaks, prime cuts, charcuterie, and a kobe beef burger among the meat choices. Oysters and chilled seafood are available for pre-steak bites, along with appetizers like duck confit spring rolls and beef tartare. Over 400 whiskeys, bourbons, and scotches are listed on the beverage menu. The wine list is extensive also and prices are reasonable.  We had a Newton unoaked Chardonnay which was outstanding.  Steak-friendly cocktails include a small selection of old fashioned's and Manhattans as well as drinks like the vodka-based lemon drop, a Moscow mule riff, and sangria. We had dinner there and we can attest that the food and service was outstanding. The bar is very impressive with more bourbon that you will ever see. Food was prepared perfectly and service was prompt and unassuming. To us, the price was reasonable for what you got.  It was a good value.  For years when visiting Atlanta we seem to always end up at Bistro Nico, a French bistro which we also still highly recommend which is about one block from Little Alley, but we were in the mood for something different so we tried Little Alley and we are glad we did. If you are in the Lenox Square area check them out.

https://littlealleysteak.com/

On a little different idea check out the Buford Highway Farmers Market at the intersection of I-295 loop north and Buford Highway Atlanta(Doraville area). Truthfully it is more of a supermarket than a farmers market per se but what makes it unique is from what we could tell there is a food section with foods and beverages and breads and pastries from every country in the world. The place is imense, close to 2 or 3 times the size of a Costco or Sam's. They advertise they are a primarily produce store and a good portion of the store is devoted to produce from around the world but each area of the world is in it's own space and within that space are multiple countries. For example there is an Asian section with Japan, China, Thialand, etc with their own rows and shelves. I was most impressed with the fact there was an Eastern Europe section that went into the Russian section where of course there was Russian Caviar. They also have the largest fish market we have ever seen and there must have been at least 100 varieties of fish again shipped in frozen from a significant number of countries. Obviously if you go here whatever you buy you would take home and prepare so if you are in a hotel it is impractical to buy any fresh produce or fish but when we travel to France or Spain as an example we usually buy canned goods, spices, local mustards for gifts. You can do that at this market without ever leaving the country. We found the same French mustards we purchase in France and found fresh saffron that we usually buy in Spain. So if this kind of facility appeals to you spend and hour or two walking the aisles to see what the rest of the world eats and drinks.

Domaine Rapet Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

Clark and I like to say our souls are in Bourgogne France and more specifically at the Montrachet vineyard. Who doesn't love Montrachet? But over the years the price of Montrachet has become very prohibited. The truth is Montrachet is not the only Grand Cru White Burgundy available as Corton-Charlemagne is just a short drive north. We have found we love Corton-Charlemagne as much as Montrachet and the price difference is huge. We usually purchase Corton-Charlemagne under $150 a bottle compared to Montrachets that are now running $1000 to $6000 a bottle. It is not even close. We have visited Domaine Rapet and met both the patriarch and his son, both of whom are members of Tastevin and they make outstanding wines from the hill of Corton and we highly recommend them. 

With the 2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, Rapet has produced his finest white since 2014. The wine opens in the glass with a classy nose of ripe lemons, green apple, white flowers and crushed chalk, framed by subtle hints of oatmeal and beeswax. On the palate, it's full-bodied, deep and layered, with excellent concentration and broad shoulders, but also promising structural tension and reserve. The long, chalky finish is penetrating and intense. This is well worth seeking out.  You can purchase it here for $125.00 a bottle and for a Grand Cru White Burgundy you simply cannot beat that price at that quality.  https://www.finewinesinternational.com/wines/2017-domaine-rapet-pere-et-fils-corton-charlemagne-grand-cru-cote-de-beaune-france-750ml

"The Rapet family can trace its roots in Pernand back to 1795, and they are both one of the largest landholders in Corton-Charlemagne, as well as one of its finest exponents, so it is a mystery why these wines aren't better known and better distributed. There's a long track record here, and I can extol the merits of the domaine's older wines from personal experience: 1979 is among the best mature examples of Corton-Charlemagne I've tasted. Under Vincent Rapet's attentive eye, the vinification is pretty classic, with the whites, the whole cluster pressed and fermented in barrels (some 20% of which are new), as well as a few concrete eggs for some cuvées that Rapet believes gives a more tensile, fresher profile to the wine. The reds, which have improved in recent years, see a brief cold soak followed by some 15 days of maceration, maturing in around 30% new wood from carefully chosen sources including Chassin and Taransaud. In addition to the flagship white grand cru, there are plenty of wines for insiders here, above all the old vine Pernand Sous Frétille. In summation, this is a fine source that deserves more attention, especially in view of its very reasonable prices." William Kelley Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 95 Points

Buying Wine at Discount

I have previously written recommendations on places to purchase wine at a discount but I have just found a new one that might be the best. I was going to purchase a very special Rioja that was advertised by one of my suppliers and the regular price was $39.99 per bottle on sale at a discount for $34.99. Before purchasing I always double-check the prices at wine-searcher.com as I have found them to be an excellent source of determining wine prices the world over as well as the USA. I really did not find any prices better at that point in time but on a lark just did a general Google search to see what I might find. What I found is 1000corks.com which lists pretty much any alcoholic beverage and it's availability anywhere in the USA and lists all the different retailers and their prices. Much to my surprise, I found the same identical wine at $27.97 per bottle with a $20 off shipping coupon that I did not find on wine-searcher.com. Just the price per bottle discount worked out to 30% off the regular price of $39.99 and an additional 20% off of the 34.99 prices. The bottom line is I saved $7.02 per bottle off of the previous "on-sale" bottle as well as $20 less for shipping. For a case of 12 that I purchased that is a total savings off of the "on-sale" price of $104.24 savings on a case. It pays to shop around.  With the internet, it does not take long to price shop and as shown above, the savings can be substantial. I want to reassure everyone buying wine on the internet and shipping to your home in most areas is legal and hassle-free and has been upheld as legal by the 6th Court of Appeals as well as a recent ruling by the Supreme Court involving Total Wine Company.  So when purchasing wine I recommend you always double-check and look the wine up on both: 

Wine-Searcher.com and 

1000corks.com