Julia Child's Beef Bourgogne Rediscovered

Sometimes stuff gets lost in the freezer. And sometimes when that happens it doesn't work out so well. I don't know how many times I have tucked away the leftovers from my kitchen adventures and let them languish in the freezer too long. I hate throwing away freezer-burnt food, especially food I loved creating. This was NOT one of those times.

It was a cold and rainy day in New Hampshire and I had been busy all day bottling beer and tending to my wines. I didn't feel like cooking so I went to the freezer in hopes of finding something to reheat. As I rooted around I came across a container with contents something I couldn't immediately identify. I took it out and let it defrost on the counter.

( And it really did look that good reheated! )

My initial guess was Beef Bourgogne that I had made using Julia Child's recipe, but then I hedged and thought I recalled eating that already. I am glad my initial guess was correct!

The stew heated up nicely on the stove with the aid of a little bit of Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout that I had been enjoying during the beer bottling. Paired with some crusty bread and the rest of the beer I got my easy to prepare, hearty and warming meal I was looking for.

If you have a good story about rediscovering leftovers in your freezer I would love to hear the story in a comment.

Cheers!

Jason