The Oscars are on this Sunday! This year, one of the nominees for best picture, Julie and Julia, is about a young female blogger who chronicles her kitchen experiences as she attempts to cook her way through Julia Child’s cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” 

As Julie blogs her experiences, the movie cleverly reflects back upon the life of Julia Child, who is undoubtedly one of the of the greatest and most influential chefs of our time. We witness Julia’s struggles as the only female student at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. It was so humbling and comforting to me that even Julia Child had to practice, practice, practice at her perfecting her cutting skills! Her strength and perseverance throughout her culinary school experience helped her to achieve an unsurpassed level of success and notoriety as wonderful chef. Julia Child is a wonderful example of someone who succeeded as a result of hard work and that is why I love her!

So in honor of Julia, I also attempted to recreate one of her most popular dishes, Beef Bourguignon. I chose to use a recipe for this dish from Relish Magazine because it scaled back the fat and calorie content without sacrificing the flavor. The result: one of the most comforting, flavorful, and guilt-free dishes I have ever made! The best part? It was EASY! You will notice that this posting is similar to my previous posting about the Gumbo – but let me tell you, this recipe was less involved and a little bit easier. (The hard work for the gumbo paid off though and I die for that smokey flavor -)

I highly recommend trying this for your Oscar viewing party in honor of Julia! Your friends will be impressed and your taste buds will be thankful! Enjoy ! 🙂

Beef Bourguignon

To put a healthy spin on Julia Child’s original bourguignon (boor-gee-NYON), we’ve used lean beef and increased the veggies. The recipe uses a beurre manié, a mixture of butter and flour that thickens the sauce so that it, in Child’s words, “enrobes” the other ingredients. Boy, did it.
Ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds lean beef stew meat
2 cups vertically sliced onions
2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup diced green or red bell pepper
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (12-ounce) package button mushrooms, quartered
1 (14-ounce) can reduced-sodium beef broth
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional) 

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef in batches and cook until brown. Remove to a plate.

2. Add onion, carrot, mushrooms and bell pepper to pan; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Return beef and any juices to pan. Add tomatoes and next 8 ingredients (tomatoes through black pepper). Cover and bring to a simmer. Cook 2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf.

3. Combine flour and butter in a small bowl. Mix with your fingers or a fork until mixture becomes a paste. Ladle about 1/2 cup pan juices into flour mixture. Whisk until very smooth. Add to pan. Stir well.

4. To serve, ladle into soup plates and sprinkle with parsley if using.

Relish Magazine, “Lightened Classics,” Jan. 2010. Recipe by Jean Kressy.

Nutritional Information

Per serving: 250 calories, 8g fat, 55mg chol., 22g prot., 14g carbs., 3g fiber, 340mg sodium.