As in, Julia Child. The woman who I honor once a year, when I spend an entire day preparing her Beef Burgundy for the Dubowsky Family Christmas Eve dinner. Or should I say, Boeuf Bourguignon for all the Frenchies out there…
It’s a good thing the recipe doesn’t tell you the Prep Time or Cook Time, like they do in the beginning of some recipes. No one in their right mind would make it. Especially if lately, anyone with a Version 1.0 and 2.0 have been lucky enough (like me) to experience the sibling love that has been abundant in the Dubowsky household. By the way that was 100% sarcasm. Both have been hell-bent recently on making each other as miserable as possible. EVEN THOUGH SANTA IS WATCHING. I am starting to think that this threat – going on 4 months (?) – doesn’t hold as much weight as it did early on. Noted for next year. Sigh.
Anyway, inspired by the movie Julie and Julia, I first made this when Version 1.0 was two weeks old. The husband was working, and what the heck else does a new mother have to do? I should note though, it’s not like I knew it would take me all day. False advertising in the movie – and in the cookbook – if you ask me. No where does it warn you that the recipe will take you….an entire day (no exaggeration when you have to stop every 2-3 hours to either feed and/or change said newborn). Even without the excuse of a newborn, it still takes me nearly 5 hours from start to finish.
But regardless, a tradition nearly a decade in the making. The one day on the calendar when the husband takes the kids off my hands…so that I can cook all day. Um? Actually, it’s okay. In true Julia-style, “The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded, and whack the hell out of a chicken. Bon appétit.”
I have always said that this recipe is truly a labor of love…but I suppose that is what tradition is, no? Family + Tradition = Love.
And the result? There are no words. Truly a recipe worth every minute. Worth the hour fanning the smoke detector when I brown the beef in bacon fat. (Do I really need to be on a first-name basis with the Town’s Fire Department?) Worth the sink-full of dishes. Worth the prep and the clean up and the cost. Worth it because it is family. And family is everything. Christmas Eve dinner in the Dubowsky house will forever be Boeuf Bourguignon. Always.
May those you love be near your heart this year, and every year, at this time. Joyeux Noel!