Budget Beef Bourguignon: Succulent Beef Stewed in Cheap Merlot

When the weather cools, and I see football on television, I think of two things; hey, look at the size of that guy's neck, and, this is a great time of year to make stew. This video recipe for Beef Merlot is one of my favorites, and a take-off on the venerable Beef Bourguignon, beef braised in Burgundy wine.

Whenever I see wine on sale it always seems to be Merlot. It's usually stacked at the end of the aisle, a tall pyramid of bargain booze. Why Merlot? Is it easier to grow? Have sales gone down because of what that guy said in the movie Sideways? Who knows, but it's usually good quality, and makes a great cooking wine for this stew recipe.

The other trick in this video is putting the stew on top of mashed potatoes, instead of cooking them in the sauce. As I say in the clip, I hate to see little chunks of broken potatoes in this stunningly beautiful sauce. Besides, what's better than mashed potatoes and gravy? And, as far as gravies go, it doesn’t get much better than this. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast, cut in 2-inch cubes
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 carrots, cut in 1-inch pieces
2 ribs celery, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
1 bay leaf
4 springs fresh thyme
2 cups merlot, or other red wine
2 cups beef broth
mashed potatoes

My Amazin' Tomazins! The Dumbest Thing I've Ever Filmed

This would have been the second dumbest thing, but, I've never filmed congress. This video started with great promise - I had about 3/4 of a pint basket of sugar-sweet cherry tomatoes. I've never made sun-dried cherry tomatoes before, but had slow-roasted Roma tomato halves a long time ago, and they came out pretty good.

I'm not a big sun-dried tomato fan, the jarred ones taste like medicine to me, and I avoid them on menus whenever possible. I figured these would be much better - sweeter and juicier. What I got, 12 hours later, and who knows after how much cooking gas, were what best could be described as cherry tomato raisins.

They didn't taste bad, and Michele liked them, but considering all the time and wasted fuel, the tiny ramekin I ended up with surely didn’t justify the effort. Talk about severe shrinkage! I think you'll all agree this video recipe is of no practical use, other than maybe to mock me. Hey, at least the name is kind of catchy. Enjoy!

Sunday Night Tease: Tomorrow You Will See the Dumbest Thing I've Ever Filmed

The Roof, the Roof, the Roof is on Fire…

There was a rich family that lived in a large house in a small village. The rich family threw a party and invited the rest of the town. At this party, a few wealthy guests were given champagne and caviar, and the rest of the guests got cocktail franks and warm beer.

Later that evening, after most of the guests had left, some of the wealthiest guests joined the rich family in a drunken game of naked twister. Someone slipped on a cocktail frank that one of the poorer guests had dropped, and knocked over a candle. Soon the large house was engulfed in flames.

The rich, drunk, and naked guests ran out on to the street, and screamed for the gathering crowd to help them put out the fire. But the mob, still angry they were only fed cocktail franks and warm beer, shouted back that the wealthy family should put out the fire themselves since they started it. Water was in very short supply, and the wealthy family insisted that they needed some from every well in the town.

The townspeople argued that the family had the deepest well in town, and should have plenty to put out the fire. The rich family said the well was dry because they'd just had their servants wash their many cars. This angered the mob even more.

As they argued, the fire spread, and the entire town burned to the ground.

What do you think?
	Like most of the politicians, I am clueless.
	When there is a fire nearby, put it out, and then argue about what happened.
	Let the mother burn, it may shake things up.
	I like cocktail franks and warm beer!
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Photo (c) Flickr user aagius