Venison Bourguignon

Southern/French Recipe: 

I’ve always loved Julia Child. I watched her cooking show when I was small, read/watched “Julie and Julia” when I was a teenager, and pored over her cookbook in my early twenties. Now that I’m in my mid twenties (ouch) and have someone to cook for, I’ve had the most insatiable urge to cook boeuf bourguignon. My beau, C, is a law student and is often buried in torts (not tortes; he wishes) in the evenings, and every night I find myself playing in the kitchen with whatever we have in the fridge. C is also a hunter, so our freezer is practically bursting with venison. I wanted to make Julia’s version of the dish, but I was short on time (Julia’s takes 5 hours) and was without the boeuf and other necessary evils. What’s a southern gal to do? I gathered my ingredients and hoped silently that Julia wouldn’t mind. Maybe if she were raised in the South she’d approve of my quick (1 hour, tops) hunter’s stew, which was a joy to make.

C has always been awed by my sheer glee at taking traditional recipes, bending the rules, and making them my own. I suppose it has something to do with my ballet background.  Maybe the concept of learning strict form, then allowing myself to become an artistic vessel in which to express more than technique, is brimming over into my cooking style.

Ingredients:

Olive oil

1 large, well loved pot

1 pound venison (cubed)

Full-bodied red wine (yay)
32 fl. oz. beef stock
1 large onion
24 oz. small red potatoes (quartered)
Small bag baby carrots
2 containers beech mushrooms
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Chili powder
4 Bay leaves

Performance:
I began by dicing up an onion and sautéing it with olive oil on medium heat in a large pot. I then added my cubed venison and browned it very lightly with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder (all to my taste). I poured in the beef stock, half a bottle of wine, 4 bay leaves, and turned up the heat to high. I then rewarded myself with a glass of wine, which I sipped on happily as I tossed the red potatoes and carrots into the pot. Once the potatoes and carrots were tender enough to poke with a fork and snack on, I added my beech mushrooms (which I always have on hand for Asian dishes). I then tasted, and adjusted the spices accordingly. When the mushrooms softened, I turned off the heat and served to an eager law student.