The Short Road to Bourguignon

A genuine boeuf bourguignon takes a long time to cook. But if you’ve already gone to the trouble of making roast beef or pot roast, or have a large portion of beef left over from any other dish, you can make a simple version of this classic French dish.

What gives boeuf bourguignon its rich, deep flavor is boiled-down red wine. You just make a wine-reduction sauce separately from the meat and reheat the leftover beef in it.

The traditional wine for this dish would be a Pinot Noir from Burgundy, but for this recipe, any robust red wine--Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah, for instance--will do. Just remember, never cook with any wine that you wouldn’t drink, especially for a dish like this, when you are concentrating the wine flavor by reducing it.

Onions and mushrooms are also part of a classic boeuf bourguignon. Instead of the traditional pearl onions, which take forever to peel, use a plain old brown onion.

Serve your leftover pot roast boeuf bourguignon on a bed of egg noodles. The sauce and the rich egg noodles are great together. A glass of whatever wine you used to make the dish is the perfect accompaniment.

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Leftover Pot Roast Boeuf Bourguignon

Active Work Time: 15 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

If you have leftover roasting juices from the pot roast, remove the fat and add up to 1 cup of the juices when you add the beef broth for richer flavor.

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, cut in half and sliced into thin strips

4 cups sliced mushrooms, about 1 pound

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt

2 cups red wine

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Water

2 tablespoons fresh thyme

2 cups beef broth

3 1/2 to 4 cups cubed leftover pot roast

1 tomato, peeled, seeded and diced

1 (12-ounce) bag egg noodles

* Melt butter in large skillet and add onion, mushrooms, garlic and pinch of salt. Cook over medium-high heat until onion softens, about 5 minutes.

* Add wine and bay leaf. Cook over medium-high heat until 3/4 of liquid is gone, 20 to 25 minutes.

* Dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoon water. Add thyme, beef broth and dissolved cornstarch. Simmer 10 minutes.

* Stir in pot roast and tomato and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

* Meanwhile, cook egg noodles in plenty of boiling salted water until just tender to the bite, about 10 minutes.

4 to 6 servings. Each of 6 servings: 530 calories; 451 mg sodium; 112 mg cholesterol; 19 grams fat; 53 grams carbohydrates; 26 grams protein; 1.20 gram fiber.

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Provencal apron from Lavande restaurant in Loew’s Hotel, santa Monica. Casserole from HomeChef, Pasadena.