Beef Bourguignonne

This recipe comes from The Spice Cookbook, published in 1964. I got it in a used bookstore for $1. I wasn't sure I'd find it useful, but hey, for $1, I didn't have much to lose!

Turns out it was worth it, if only for this recipe. I think this may be the best thing I've ever cooked. And now that the weather's turning cooler, it's time to make it again; so this will be Sunday dinner. Here it is:

2 lbs chuck or top round
1/4c flour
1/4c (1/2 stick)plus 1T butter
1 1/2t salt (or to taste)
1 small bay leaf
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced (or run through a garlic press, or grated on a microplane grater as I do)
1/4c chopped parsley
1/2c sliced carrots (not too thin, or they'll dissolve)
2c water or beef broth
1 1/4c burgundy or other red wine
12 pearl onions (or half of a normal-sized onion, chopped, if you don't feel like messing with peeling pearl onions)
3/4t thyme leaves
1/2t black pepper
1c sliced mushrooms

Trim excess fat from the beef and cut it into 1" cubes. roll it in flour. Melt 1/2 stick of butter in a 2qt saucepan. Add meat (reserve the excess flour), stir, and cook until browned. Add reserved flour and cook 1 minute. Add the next 6 ingredients and 1c of the wine. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook 1 3/4 hours, or until meat is almost tender. Then add the onions and cook 30 minutes. Add the thyme and black pepper.

While the onions are cooking, saute the mushrooms in the remaining butter. Add them to the pot and cook 5 minutes more. Add the rest of the wine and cook 2 minutes.

Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.

Eggs in Purgatory

My husband and I stopped eating meat on Fridays altogether. I suspect this is more of a penance for him than for me; I love vegetables & fish, but he grew up very meat-and-potatoes. Here's something he really likes, called Eggs in Purgatory. The "purgatory" part is spicy gravy (non-Italians read: tomato sauce), but if you prefer gravy that isn't spicy, it's still good.

2 eggs per person
2 slices Italian bread per person
gravy to cover, at least 1c per person
butter or olive oil
grated romano cheese (or parmesan if you like that better)

Warm the gravy in a saucepot. While it's heating, lightly butter or oil the bread slices. Put them under the broiler or on a George Forman grill to brown. Fry 2 eggs per person in butter.

To plate: lay the browned bread on the plate. Top each slice with a fried egg, then ladle over the gravy. Sprinkle with grated cheese & serve.

YES. This is good. Try it!