From Julie & Julia (2009)
Bœuf Bourguignon
Julia Child, 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' (1961) — the very recipe Julie Powell cooks from the book on screen, and the dish Julia demonstrates on television in the film.
Serve when
Serve the second attempt — the one Julie starts over after the first burns while she naps on the couch — when it finally comes out of the oven right.
In the movie
Theatrical
- The film's signature dish, cooked in both timelines: Julia perfecting it for her book and demonstrating it on TV, and Julie cooking it for her blog — including the famous night she falls asleep, burns the first one, and remakes it.
Ingredients
Steps
- Sauté the blanched lardons in a little oil until browned; set aside. Brown the beef, dried well, in batches in the hot fat — a real crust, not a steam.
- Brown the sliced carrot and onion in the same fat. Return the beef and lardons, season, sprinkle with the flour, and toss. Set uncovered in a 450°F oven 4 minutes, toss, and 4 minutes more to lightly crust the flour.
- Lower the oven to 325°F. Stir in the wine and enough stock to barely cover, then the tomato paste, garlic, and herbs. Bring to a simmer on the stove.
- Cover and braise in the oven 2½–3 hours, until the beef is fork-tender.
- Meanwhile braise the pearl onions and sauté the mushrooms separately.
- Strain the sauce, skim the fat, and simmer to nap a spoon. Fold the beef, onions, and mushrooms back in. Serve with boiled potatoes or crusty bread — and a glass of the same wine.
In the movie
This is the dish the whole film orbits. Julia Child spends years getting it exactly right for Mastering the Art of French Cooking; decades later Julie Powell cooks it from that same book in her tiny Queens kitchen — and the night it burns because she nodded off is the film's most human moment. Two women, one recipe, and the argument that following a great recipe faithfully is its own kind of creativity.