Rustic French Stew

I wrote recently about our outing to 1111 Mississippi and the terrific experience we had that evening. What I did not mention is we brought home a doggy bag with steak. Unfortunately for Doodle, she was not getting any of it.

I wanted to make something special with the leftovers and remembered the recipe for the mushroom bourguignon. The sauce was delicious, so I decided to experiment and make it again only with our leftover beef. I add fingerling potatoes just to round out the fresh ingredients along with the garlic, onion, celery, and carrots. The sauce came together beautifully with a nice red wine, beef broth, thyme, and bay leaves.

In my mind, I was making a variation of a beef stroganoff, but the Big Guy dubbed it a French rustic stew. We both got what we wanted in the end as the Big Guy used fresh bread to soak up the sauce. I used pasta to make mind more like a stroganoff. It was a success, and I was incredibly happy to play the part of the “mad scientist” for this dinner!