Boeuf bourguignon

My book group's latest selection was My Life in France by Julia Child. We combined our discussion on Sunday with a potluck of dishes from both volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. As a meat newbie, I, of course, picked boeuf bourguignon. (Well, I was sort of volunteered...)

And as someone who tries to buy locally as much as possible, I was determined to get the beef at the Dupont farmers market on Sunday morning. (The carrots, onion, and bacon for the dish were also purchased from local farmers.)

Buying the meat from a local producer was certainly something Julia would have done. In fact, she was on a first-name basis with many of the vendors at the Paris markets. She learned a lot from them about when different produce was in season, how to use this or that ingredient, where to get the best of a certain item, etc. I would love to develop similar relationships with the farmers and volunteers who staff the markets in DC, though my personality is not quite as outgoing as Julia's!

I bought nearly three pounds of chuck roast from Smith Meadows Farm, brought it home, defrosted it, and realized there were several bones in the meat. Now, I have no experience cutting meat. In fact, yesterday was the first time I have probably ever touched raw meat. But with a very sharp knife and some patient guidance from my boyfriend, I was able to trim off most of the meat. The bones are in my freezer right now, waiting to be turned into stock. I think Julia would have been proud.

She also would have been proud that we made a delicious dish despite the many obstacles we faced, including an oven that wouldn't stay on (we had to keep turning the broiler on and off while monitoring the temperature), forgotten ingredients, lack of an ovenproof lid, minor burns, and a severe time crunch. We were only 30 minutes late to book group (never mind the spilled sauce on the way), where a feast of baguettes, spinach and cheese souffle, French onion soup, brussels sprouts with cream sauce, and asparagus with beurre blanc and Hollandaise sauces awaited us. The chocolate mousse we brought for dessert was also a big hit and included eggs from Ecofriendly Foods.