Meats and Rice and Everything Nice 🥩 🍚

 Time for another Julia adventure.

Tonight we made Boeuf A La Catalane, or, in English, Beef Stew with Rice, Onions and Tomatoes.

Julia states that this is a hearty dish from the Spanish-Mediterranean corner of France. It was delicious. But I get ahead of myself. 

Danyale and I started with lardons. Unlike Julie Powell, I don't might blanching bacon (I guess the Texan in me is as powerfully ingrained).

And time to dry the meat.

Once cooked, the beef joined the cooked lardons in the casserole dish. 

Brown onions, move to the casserole and then cook the rice. I used brown rice which needed twice the cooking time. Then removed to a bowl (good grief, we use a LOT of dishes with any of Julia's recipes). 

Now lovingly deglaze the pan with some dry white wine. Be sure to scrape up all the tasty brown bits creating the most delicious fond.

Add your stock and the herbs, cover and simmer for an hour at 325.

Now it's time to add the tomatoes. These would be peeled, seeded, juiced and chopped. I've actually never done this before. Not once. After peeling, you squeeze the tomatoes to get the juice out. 

Back in the oven for an hour. Then check the meat to make sure it is almost fork tender. Now raise the oven to 375 and stir in the rice. Bring to a simmer on the stove. Shove back in the oven for 20 minutes with stirring.

And all the hype about being hearty - yes. Delicious - yes. 

We didn't eat it all but we sure did make a dent in it.