I like to keep it easy when it comes to selecting tableware. I buy timeless pieces that I love that also sit well together and make it easy to mix and match. I generally let the occasion, company and the menu guide me when I set the table, but you can’t go wrong with The Pillivuyt Brasserie Dinnerware Collection, especially when you love throwing French dinner parties!

It is one of Pillivuyt's most recognized patterns. Created in the 1920's for restaurants and cafes' who wished to have their menus on their dinnerware, this design is printed on a decal and then applied by hand. After the decal is applied, the piece is fired for a third time and the design is baked into the glaze.

The Brasserie collection of dinnerware and cookware by Pillvuyt features sidewalk cafes, Parisian nights, and hints of Hemingway's Moveable Feast. Each piece is crafted from advanced porcelain designed to be shatterproof, microwave, oven, freezer, and dishwasher safe. Durability is key with Pillvuyt. Pillivuyt products are 100% lead and cadmium-free and made entirely in France. The quality and workmanship of each piece of Pillivuyt porcelain is truly so exceptional.

I have the 10.5” Brasserie Plates and I just simply adore them. I also have the Brasserie Cups and Brasserie Saucers. I have a few other lovely pieces from the collection too and cannot wait to show you those soon but for this particular dinner party…we put the plates and espresso cups to good use!

These beauties get so many compliments and it’s just so lovely to bring Paris to us when we are missing it so much! I can pretend I am dining with my love and friends in France with this fun collection.

These gorgeous dishes inspired a lovely Boeuf a la Bourguignonne dinner party. If you follow me you know on Wednesday I shared a simpler Ina Garten Boeuf Bourguignonne recipe-still very delicious but today I very much wanted to share a very French version from Chef Paul Bocuse.

Boeuf a la Bourguignonne is perhaps Burgundy’s most iconic dish. It is a rich beef stew made infamous in America by Julia Child, prepared from marinated beef slowly simmered in local red wine with a calves foot, pearl onions, bacon lardons, herbs, and button mushrooms.

Beef a la Bourguignonne is always better the next day or even 4 days later like any other stew on the face of the planet. It really needs time to mature and have the flavors marry together. When you are ready to serve, ladle out hearty portions and serve with a starchy side like fried potatoes, mashed potatoes, macaroni gratin, pasta, and even risotto. Sprinkle with parsley and drink a great Burgundy with this.

What cut of beef to use? Avoid what most stores call stew beef, it usually is devoid of fat and cartilage, two things absolutely necessary for stewing. I generally prefer meat from the shoulder or cheeks, oxtails, short ribs, or shanks.

I would advise staying away from strongly smoked bacon as it imparts too smokey of a flavor for a dish as subtle as this. The French would always blanch the bacon first in boiling water to help remove some of the fat.

Paul Bocuse’s Beef Bourguignon

This is Paul Bocuse’s recipe from his cookbook Paul Bocuse which was translated into English in 1977. His recipe is far more technical and may require an additional bottle of wine to drink while googling phrases like bouquet garni.

Monsieur Paul served as an inspiration to me and fed the dream to become a chef. To Chef Paul, I raise a glass in his honor.

Prep Time 30 minutes; Cook Time 5 hours; Servings 4

Ingredients

3 pounds flank steak, or rump steak cut in 2-inch chunks
1/3 pound fresh pork fat with skin removed
1/2 cup cognac
3/4 cup Burgundy wine
1 calf’s foot
7 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1-quart of beef stock
1 bouquet garni
1 pound mushrooms
1/2 pound slab lean bacon cut into 1/4 inch slices
24 small onions peeled

Instructions

This dish will take approximately 5 hours to cook, prepare yourself for the assault of delish scents that will tempt you. Insert slivers of pork fat into the cubes of meat, and place in a marinade of cognac and wine for 3 hours.
Have your butcher bone the calves foot; retain bones. Plunge into boiling water for 10 minutes, rinse and tie in a cheesecloth. Break the bones into tiny pieces and plunge pork skin into boiling water and rinse.
Drain the meat, wipe dry, and brown in 4 tablespoons butter.
When the meat is well browned, remove and set aside on a plate; add flour and brown mixture slowly, stirring constantly.
Dilute with the marinade and the stock. Bring to a boil, stirring with a whisk, and place the meat into the sauce, which should just cover the meat.
Add bouquet garni, calves foot, the bones, the pork rind, and the stems of the mushrooms, well cleaned. Cover and braise very slowly in a 325°F oven for 4 hours.
Plunge the bacon slices in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain, and wipe dry. Brown in a frying pan with the remaining butter; remove to a plate, and in the same pan with the butter, brown the onions.
After 4 hours, remove the beef and the calf’s foot; then strain the sauce through a fine sieve.
Dice the calf’s foot thickly and return to pan with the beef; add the bacon, the onions, the mushroom caps, quartered, and the strained sauce.
Bring slowly to a boil, and continue cooking in the oven covered, very slowly — at a simmer — for 1 hour.
At the end of this time, the sauce should be reduced to 3 cups. If more remains, boil the sauce until it is reduced to this point.
To serve, arrange the meat on a platter, surround with the garnishes and pour the sauce over.

And I love serving this with mashed potatoes! I am such an American! I also love having an option for an after dinner espresso with some dessert for my guests.

So very excited because my friends over at Pillivuyt are giving my readers 20% off everything they carry now until October 17th! This will be such a great time to stock up on everything you need for your holiday gatherings and even holiday presents! Just use promo code GOFRENCHYOURSELF at checkout!

It’s truly the most exquisite exceptional quality French porcelain since 1818 and is unbeatable in the kitchen and beautiful on the table.

https://pillivuytshop.com/