Bourguignon: French In Spirit, Vegetarian In Truth

No one sneers at vegetarian cooking like the practitioners of classic French cuisine. Their recipes are so sacred, their art so carefully considered, that any substitution is viewed as an insult to the French people as a whole. Kelp powder in your veggie bouillabaisse? C’est scandaleux! So when I was assigned boeuf bourguignon to vegetize, I turned to an old friend to help me get a handle on the spirit of this continental conundrum: Julia Child's 1961 classic, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It’s here that Julia described this stew as "Certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man." On the surface, boeuf bourguignon is a simple red-wine-and-beef stew, a peasant dish whose root vegetables and undistinguished cuts of meat reveal a surprising depth of flavor. In recent years, this classic has been revived, joining the ranks of haute cuisine and being relegated to that class of dishes set aside for special occasions – the season of which we are trekking through full steam. So let's get to the dirty work, shall we? Even in its carnivorous construction, this dish relies on developing complex flavors from herbs, aromatics and root vegetables, with the meat providing texture and moisture. We're going to follow this same approach, inviting our old friend seitan to stand in for the beef, as well as mushrooms and beets to provide deep color and textural variation. Most classic bourguignon recipes also call for some amount of bacon to fatten things up a bit. We'll get our fat in the form of olive oil but don’t want to lose that bacon flavor, so we're pulling out one of our most astounding vegetarian tricks: shiitake bacon. (Trust me on this one.) A note on wine: The Burgundies from which the dish takes its name can be difficult to find and a bit pricey when you do. Of course, feel free to splurge on your robust red of choice ('tis a season of joy, after all), but you have other options. Many recipes suggest subbing in any pinot noir, but I couldn't shake the idea of Joël Robuchon's heart breaking as a $2 California wine was poured into the pot. Instead, opt for a French pinot noir from outside the Burgundy region or a cheaper Burgundy, if you can find one. I used the Louis Latour 2009 Pinot Noir Bourgogne (about $17), but anything in the $10 to $20 range should be fine. Like many stews, this one actually gets better after a sleepover in the refrigerator. So go ahead, make dinner for your get-together the night before the big day; we won't tell.