I can't say it - but I can cook it!

On Tuesday, Mum made an impromptu visit to Chch to help me sort out some alterations on my bridesmaid's dress. When I got the text saying she was coming, I started looking through my Edmonds book for something to cook for dinnner - I don't often get a chance to cook for someone other than myself!

Eventually I setteled on boeuf bourguignon (p144), a French dish from the International Dishes chapter. No-one in the office could tell me how to pronounce it, and even checking Google had me none the wiser. Never mind, I don't have to say it, just cook it!

I popped over to Pak N Save and got some chuck steak and a fairly cheap bottle of red wine (well, I wasn't going to buy good stuff for cooking with!) To my delight, I was asked for ID at the checkout - that hasn't happened for a while!

I'd got some nice crusty rolls from Brumby's and dropped by Raeward on my way home for the veges I needed. By the time Mum turned up at my place, I was ready to start cooking.

It's not a difficult recipe: fry some little pickling onions with bacon in a flameproof casserole dish; then take these out and cook the meat in batches. Then you bung the onion and bacon back in with some beef stock and red wine, add carrots and the herbs. I was supposed to tie these together to make a boquet garni, but I didn't bother - I just stuck them in on the top.

This went in the oven for an hour and a half - actually slightly less since it was a half recipe - while Mum and I busied ourselves with other things. This was long enough to cook the chuck steak properly, though the bits that weren't cooking in the liquid weren't as tender. It would have been a good idea to take it out from time to time and stir it.

I served the boeuf bourguignon with salad and crusty bread, as per the recipe. The bread went very well with it, but it seemed weird to me to pair the boeuf bourguignon  with a salad. After all, it's really just a casserole with a flash name. I had to put it in a separate bowl so it wouldn't ooze all over the salad. Then again, I guess the salad added extra vege which is always a bonus.

The boeuf bourguignon itself was really nice. Since it's so easy to make, I'd certainly do it again. The glitch for me is needing red wine - since I don't really drink red, it's not an ingredient I'd be likely to have just sitting in the cupboard. But aside from the wine, it's not an expensive dish - just a cheap cut of meat and a few veges to make a very tasty meal.