beef bourguignon

You ever have a bottle of wine that you didn't really like? That was me the other week. We visited MIL and she had a box of wine that was made in Japan.

So far, all the wine we've had that was made in Japan, was too young. Not enough body, not enough oomph.

She "made" us take the bottle home with us. I didn't want to drink anymore of it...so I cooked with it.

I know you're supposed to cook with wine you'd want to drink, and yet couldn't see myself throwing it out.

I used a recipe I found on the internet by Sapporo Beer (their picture looks way more delicious!).

300 grams beef (for curry or stew), cubed
1/2 onion, sliced
6 mushrooms
1 clove garlic
salt
pepper
flour, to coat meat
1 tablespoon oil
bouquet garni (parsley stems, celery, dried thyme)
2 cups wine
1/2 cup water
parsley to garnish
snow peas, blanched

Thickener: mix together into a paste
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon honey

Blanche the peas, get parsley ready for garnish (leaves only), use the stems for bouquet garni
Coat the meat with flour, salt and pepper
Slice the onion thin, set aside
In a pot, heat the oil, garlic and meat on medium heat and sear
Take the meat out.
Saute the onion and return the meat to the pot
Add the bouquet garni, wine and water
Turn the heat up to high and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes, scraping the scum
Put the cover on and turn the heat to low
Cook for about 10 minutes
Add the mushrooms
Cook for 30 minutes
Add the thickener and bring everything to a boil
When the sauce thickens, turn the heat off
Garnish dish with parsley and snow peas and serve

NOTES: In Japan, they label meats for what they could be used for, "stew, curry", "katsu". So, if I ever needed to cook this in Hawaii, I probably wouldn't know what cut of meat to buy...
This dish was crazy! I was so close to burning it and us not having anything for dinner.
Not only that but the whole thing turned purplish from the wine...ew! For the bouquet garni, I didn't have any fresh thyme, so I used dried, I put all the aromatics into a tea bag, so I could retrieve it after cooking.
In the end, it tasted okay, the meat was tender and we used up the "junk" wine.
Dunno that I would make this again, though.