David Whipple has been making boeuf bourguignon for several years now.

His original recipe comes from a cookbook from the Junior League of Palo Alto and is “very similar” to Julia Child's, which ran in the Spokesman-Review Food section on Nov. 12.

As someone who’s made the dish multiple times, he wanted to share his recipe as well as offer other home cooks some additional tips.

Lately, Whipple, a retired electrical engineer, has been halving his recipe, which serves 24, calls for 10 pounds of beef and generally takes three days to prepare. Halving the size, he said, is “much more reasonable.”

Whipple, 63, also makes his own browned beef stock, based on a recipe from Emeril Lagasse. For the stock, he typically uses short ribs. Next batch, he plans to use a combination of half short ribs and half marrow bones. He never salts his stocks.

While the original JLPA recipe calls for coating the beef with flour before browning, Whipple finds the practice “really makes a mess of the browning pans.” After watching a beef stew recipe on “America’s Test Kitchen,” he made the flour a late addition.

Whipple, who lives in unincorporated Spokane Valley, also uses extra carrots, adding about 1/3 of the total amount during the last hour of cooking.  “That adds back the crunch,” he said.

He usually uses a cabernet-merlot blend from Chile, but last time tried a Côtes du Rhône based on a “Test Kitchen” recommendation and “couldn't really tell the difference. Chianti sounds like a good choice, as well.”

Boeuf Bourguignon

Adapted from Junior League of Palo Alto

½ cup butter

½ cup olive oil

10 pounds beef chuck, cut in 1½ -inch cubes, patted dry as you add to the pan

Salt and pepper

¾ cup cognac, warmed

7 cups red wine, divided

1 pound bacon, diced

6 cloves garlic, mashed

12 carrots, coarsely chopped (8 used from the start, 4 added after 2 hours of cooking)

4 leeks, coarsely chopped

4 large yellow onions, chopped

¼ cup parsley, chopped

3 bay leaves

1½ teaspoon thyme

4 tablespoons tomato paste

1¼ cups flour

6 cups (or more) beef broth (recipe below)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 recipe onions (recipe below)

1 recipe mushrooms (recipe below)

Melt the butter in the olive oil in a small pitcher or glass measuring cup. In two large, heavy skillets, over medium high heat, add a little oil and brown the meat on two sides. Using paper towels, dry the meat thoroughly, season lightly, put into the pans, spread and let sit for 1 to 2 minutes per side.  Make sure the beef pieces don’t touch each other. Don’t move the meat during this time. This will have to be done in several batches, adding butter and oil as needed. As meat is browned, transfer to a large stock pot (12 quarts). After 2 to 3 batches of meat, deglaze skillets by pouring cognac into each, lighting cognac with a match, and stirring to loosen particles.  Pour over meat. Deglaze again after all the meat has been browned with ¼ to ½ cup wine. This usually takes 5 batches in both pans.

Without cleaning skillets from the meat, add bacon, cook slowly until it browns and renders its fat. Add tomato paste, stir to cook lightly. Add garlic, carrots, leeks, onions and parsley. Cook, stirring until vegetables are softened. Add flour and stir. It will be very thick. Add bay leaves and thyme to skillets. Stir and add all to beef. Deglaze pans with another ¼ to ½ cup of wine. This may need to be done in two batches. If so, it doesn’t matter if all the spices and tomato paste are added to one batch. The bacon should be split and browned separately, though.

Add the rest of the wine and enough broth to barely cover meat and mix well. Adjust seasoning for salt and pepper. Cover and bake 2 hours at 350 degrees. Stir occasionally and add more broth if necessary to keep covered.

After the beef mixture has cooked for 2 hours, add the mushrooms and onions, and cook for another hour, until beef is tender.

Skim fat from surface of casseroles and remove bay leaves. Taste again for salt and pepper. If not serving immediately, refrigerate, removing any hardened fat before re-heating. When serving, sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve over noodles.

Serves: 24

Notes: This freezes beautifully – but only once. It can be re-frozen, but the meat will fall apart. The taste is still the same. So, freeze in small (2-cup) containers, about the right amount for two people. Thaw as much as needed.

Onions

2 packages frozen pearl onions, thawed (frozen OK)

1 stick butter

Red wine (the same as used for the stew)

Beef stock

Melt the butter in a frying pan and add onions. If frozen, allow time to thaw. Check the bottom of the onions for browning, stir only when it starts. After that, stir every minute or so until there is lots of browning on the onions. Don’t worry about even browning. Add liquids and let simmer for up to 1 hour.

Mushrooms

3 pounds mushrooms

½ cup butter and olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Sauté mushrooms over high heat in butter until lightly browned. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Browned Beef Stock

From Emeril Lagasse

7 pounds beef marrow bones

8 ounces tomato paste

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped carrot

1 cup chopped celery

2 cups dry red wine

1 bouquet garni – thyme, parsley, bay leaf

Salt and pepper

8 quarts of water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the bones in a roasting pan and roast for 1 hour. Remove the bones from the oven and brush with the tomato paste.

In a mixing bowl, combine the onions, carrots and celery. Lay the vegetables over the bones, spoon beef fat from the bottom of the pan over; return to the oven. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer solids to a large stock pot.  Drain off any fat.

Place the roasting pan over the stove and deglaze the pan with the red wine, using a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan for browned particles. Add to the stockpot.

Add the bouquet garni and season. Add the water. Bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Put in oven and cook 15 hours to dissolve all the marrow. Cook at 350 degrees for the first two hours, reduce to 250 degrees for the remaining time. Remove from the heat and strain through a China cap strainer.

Yield: about 1 gallon

---

---