Let there be beouf bourguignon!

You’re looking at one former vegetarian (still “mostly vegetarian”) who whipped up a bubbling pot of beouf bourguignon yesterday. It was bound to happen: the constant rain, my brand new dutch oven (a gift from Joel–extravagant* yet practical), and a whispering inclination to handle some beef clinched it.

We used Ina Garten’s recipe, and while shoveling spoonfuls into our gullets, we murmured that we must try other beef bourguignon recipes. (I have since retracted that brilliant idea. The stew is terribly rich; my arteries, young as they are, couldn’t handle it I’m sure.)

Setting the cognac alight proved most exciting.

As Ina’s recipe suggested, we spooned the stew over thick slices of toasted, rustic bread smeared with garlic. And as I suggested, we opened a bottle of the fantastic 2006 HALL Jack’s Masterpiece Cabernet Sauvignon. (I am no wine expert, but my inexpert palate says this is a lovely, well-balanced wine and the rest of me is inclined to agree. I would love to stash away a case of this!)

And now we have leftovers. Lots and lots of leftovers. Joel is sharing them with his East bay people, and I am … well, I’m hoarding my leftovers for me and my arteries. Too bad there isn’t any of that HALL left, though.

*Extravagant because I don’t have the space for the hunk of iron!