My favourite winter slow cooked meal is Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon . Delicious and very elegant. Unfortunately my Mastering the Art of French Cooking is at the cottage so I don't have the recipe.

It can actually be made a day ahead or earlier the same day and then warmed. It just gets better. Excellent served over noodles or with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus or haricot verts. Love it proceeded by French Onion Soup.

Just be sure if she makes it she uses a recipe calling for stewing beef ( buy the best you can from a good butcher) DO NOT use a recipe calling for tenderloin. They are fabulous too but require last minute prep, not slow cooking , or the beef gets really tough.

This is a link to one recipe but I'm not sure it is the exact recipe in Julia's book. Maybe somebody with the cookbook can compare this recipe to the one in her book and see if it is the same.

Here is a link that might be useful: Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon

Sharon, I knew someone would recommend Julia's BB as it is so wonderful! And thanks for the tip regarding using the recipe that calls for stewing beef.

Yes....... yes......... and yes

Bouef Bourgignon is the answer. This is the recipe I got from a BFs mom a million years ago, but it is quite good and I can still recommend it wholeheartedly.

Bouef Bourguignon

3/4 cup diced salt pork or bacon
3 lbs lean stew beef cut into 1 inch chunks
1/4 cup brandy
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 ½ cups dry red wine
1 tbsp butter
2 med onions coarsely chopped
1 med carrot chopped into small bits
3 garlic cloves smashed
bouquet garni
1 lb mushrooms quartered
½ lb pearl onions peeled

In a Dutch oven (or heavy lidded oven safe pot) cook the bacon until crisp. Dust the meat with seasoned flour and brown the meat in batches in the hot fat until each piece is dark brown. Remove all meat and set it aside.

Add the onions and carrots to the Dutch oven and sauté until softened, scraping up browned bits of meat. Add all the meat back into the Dutch oven. Pour brandy over the meat and flame. When the flame dies down, add the salt, pepper and red wine, carrot, garlic, bouquet garni and enough water (or stock) to cover.

Bake in preheated 350 oven for about 2 hours until meat is very tender and sauce is dark brown. Add the mushrooms and pearl onion and return to the oven for about 45 Â 60 minutes.

This post got me thinking of doing the same thing at a dinner party next weekend.

Things I'm considering:

Pork Loin Braised in Milk
Chicken Cacciatora
Braciole

I don't care for them but braised Short Ribs are a favourite of many.

I have posted this a few times in the past; it's perfect for no-fuss really good food. And it's convenient for a casual dinner because you do all the work seven hours before serving and you don't do anything at all to the dish for seven hours--so you have the freedom to do other stuff when the guests arrive.

I love lamb nice and pink, medium rare-ish, but that ain't the way a lot of the world approaches lamb. Many cultures want it well done and juicy; before you throw up your hands and say 'no way', consider this recipe.

There is a French bistro dish called "Gigot de sept heures"--yes, that's "Seven hour leg of lamb". I first ran across this in Anthony Bourdain's "Les Halles Cookbook". The first time I fixed it there were two teenagers in my house who claimed they didn't like lamb. Suffice it to say there were no leftovers. Bourdain makes the comment that when it's done, you should be able to cut it with a spoon.
Like all common recipes, there are variations: but it's basically a braise in a heavy casserole dish. I used a deep cast iron Dutch oven with a tight fitting lid, and it worked great. Season the lamb with slivers of garlic, sear it, add liquid and vegetables, cover the pot, put it in a slow oven and DON'T PEEK for seven hours. Omigod, is it good--and easy!!
This is a perfect dish for a day when you have a lot of laundry or housework to do. You gotta be in the house anyway, so may as well have a no-stress supper cooking while you're doing other work. You put it in the oven after brunch, then do whatever you need to do, and after seven hours you have some juicy and scrumptious lamb. A half hour before serving, cook up some noodles or something to catch the juices.
Here's Bourdain's version. The only liberties I take with it is to brown the meat prior to putting in the other goodies, and since I have a very tight fitting casserole I don't bother with the flour seal. You can also use a little more wine if you want. The garlic cooks down so its not overpowering; do use at least the amount it calls for.

GIGOT DE SEPT HEURES
1 leg of lamb, about 6#
4 garlic cloves, sliced, plus 20 whole garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
salt & pepper
2 small onions, thinly sliced
4 carrots, peeled
1 bouquet garni
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup flour, 1 cup water
Preheat oven to 300 F. Make many small incisions in lamb, place slivers of garlic in each incision. Rub lamb well with olive oil, season with salt & pepper. (At this point I would brown the lamb on all sidesbut thats not necessary.) Place it in Dutch oven and add onions, carrots, bouquet garni, garlic, wine. Put lid on Dutch oven. Combine flour and water, make a 'caulk' and use it to seal the lid to the dutch oven. Place it in the 300 degree oven and cook for 7 hours. Yes, 7 hours. NO PEEKING--leave it alone.
Remove the Dutch oven and break the seal. You don't have to eat the cooked flour paste.
That's it. About a half hour to an hour of prep, then you leave it the heck alone for 7 hours. It's nearly foolproof. Serve it with whatever else you want, and a medium bodied red wine goes quite well with this (say, a nice Zinfandel) but a dry white (such as the remainder of the bottle you opened to get the cup of wine in the recipe) is fine as well if that's your preference. Bon appetit!

Does it have to be slow cooked? There are lots of things you can prep ahead and just pop into the oven for 20 to 30 minutes while you are prepping the salads and stuff.
Things like a filet of sole, or cod or salmon en papillote. or a chicken breast filet dipped into seasoned egg and rolled in curry seasoned bread crumbs and served with a fruity sauce.
Linda C

Here is another one of Julia's recipes. It can be prepared right up to the point of a quick reheat. This recipe does use beef tenderloin and the meat should be served rare to medium rare.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Beef Burgundy/Bourginon.
========================

2 to 3 pound beef tenderloin

Make a sauce using:
1-1/2 Cups red wine 1 1/2 cups beef
broth 1 clove of garlic minced 1
Tablespoon tomato paste pinch of thyme
Bring to a boil and simmer slowly
until reduced by half
Braise about 15 to 20 pearl onions
Saute 1/2 pound of sliced mushrooms
. Slice a beef tenderloin into 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick slices. Dry
well and brown on both sides in butter and oil. Add the onion and
mushrooms to the reduced wine sauce and thicken with 1 tablespoon of
flour blended with 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the beef to thicken
sauce. May be prepared up to this point and reheated later. Meat should
be rare to medium rare so be careful when you reheat. This is adjusted
from a Julia Child recipe.

I'm passing on all your wonderful ideas to my friend that is hosting the dinner, and she'll have to choose. I plan on trying each of the recipes posted since they sound very inviting on a cold winter night.

Sharon, I'd love to hear more about your dinner party. Will it be at the cottage with my favorite dishes?

No Debbie it will be here in the city but I do use the oval casserole from that set for my Beef Bourguignon at the cottage !!!

Not exactly decided what I'll do for my dinner party but I'm thinking:

Raclette Cheese in Puff pastry with Fig Sauce and baby greens

Pork loin braised in milk or maybe Chicken Cordon Bleu in either case varicots vert and oven roasted rosemary potatoes or maybe garlic mashed.

Dulce De Leche Cream Puffs With Frangelico And Hazelnuts

Sharon, you just had to post that casserole dish! I've been lusting, but haven't bought. You got such a great deal, and I haven't been able to get a deal at all. Enjoy your dinner party, and the menu choices sound wonderful.