Best Boeuf A La Mode Beef And Vegetables In Red Wine Recipes

BEEF A LA MODE

Steps:

• In ceramic bowl, soak bacon slices in 1/2 cup of brandy for 30 minutes. Place roast in large, heavy oven-proof pot and rub with the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cover roast with brandied bacon and tie with butcher's twine to secure. Add red wine and remaining brandy to pot. Place a plate over meat and weight it lightly to keep roast completely submerged. Refrigerate for four hours.
• Preheat oven to 220 degrees.
• Remove roast from refrigerator and place in oven. Braise, covered, for 2 hours. In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions and saute until lightly brown. Add carrots and saute for 5 more minutes. Using a slotted spoon, add carrots and onions to roast and continue braising for 40 more minutes, until meat registers 140 degrees on a meat thermometer. Serve on a platter, surrounded by vegetables, with potatoes on side.

BOEUF à LA MODE

Steps:

• A day before cooking, salt the roast very well with kosher salt, at least twice as well as you feel comfortable doing. Season with the other spices, trying to distribute them more or less evenly. Use the full teaspoon of nutmeg if you like the flavor of nutmeg, the half if you are skeptical. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
• Bring the roast to room temperature before cooking. Heat oven to 300 degrees. In a heavy casserole, brown the roast on all sides in hot olive oil over medium heat. It should take about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove roast to a plate. Deglaze the pan with the onion, carrot, celery and tomato paste, and stir well, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic and the wine and cognac. Cook over high heat, boiling until reduced by half. Add the roast, pig's foot, bouquet garni, bay leaves, mushrooms and enough beef stock to cover roast about halfway up. Cook in oven, covered, 3 to 4 hours, until totally tender.
• If you are serving the following day, allow to cool overnight in its broth in the refrigerator. Then remove the fat that has settled on top, remove the roast, warm all the braising juices, the pig's foot and the vegetables, and then strain it through a fine sieve, so that only the glossy broth remains. If you are serving it the day you cook it, remove the finished roast, strain the broth and then skim the fat the best you can from its surface with a ladle.
• Taste the broth. If it tastes too acidic - as it may or may not, depending on your taste and on the wine used - add up to another cup or 2 of beef broth. The foot will have given it enough body to withstand being thinned. Do any other adjusting of seasoning you like. Remove the twine from the roast, and return it to its broth until ready to reheat and serve.
• Then reheat the boeuf in its flavorful sauce, remove to a cutting board and cut into thick slices, pouring sauce over all of them, and serving more at the table. Serves 6, heartily.
• I like this best with a big handful of gremolata, the Italian condiment, on top. It is not at all French, and not at all how this is traditionally served. But it is very delicious. To make it, combine the chopped parsley, finely chopped lemon zest and finely chopped garlic in a bowl, and add a very small pinch of coarse salt.

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir until tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
• Cook and stir beef in the same skillet until browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Sprinkle flour, marjoram, thyme, and pepper over beef. Pour red wine and beef broth into the skillet; stir well. Reduce heat to low and simmer until beef is tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Stir onions into the skillet. Add mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms are tender and sauce is thick and dark brown, about 30 minutes.

MODERN BOEUF A LA MODE

Steps:

• Sprinkle both sides of meat with kosher salt. Place a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet. Lay meat on rack and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Bring wine to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced to 2 cups, about 15 minutes.
• Tie parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs and bay leaves into a bouquet garni.
• Pat beef dry and season generously with pepper. Tie each piece of meat with kitchen twine to keep it from falling apart.
• Place oven rack in lower-middle position and preheat to 300°F.
• Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 6-8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon to a paper-towel lined plate. Drain off all but 2 tbsp of bacon fat. Return Dutch oven to medium-high heat until fat begins to smoke. Add beef to pot and brown on all sides, 8-10 minutes total. Transfer beef to large plate and set aside.
• Reduce heat to medium and add onion. Sauté onion 2-4 minutes until softened. Add garlic, flour and reserved bacon; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add reduced wine, broth and bouquet garni. Scrape bottom of pan to release fond. Return meat and any accumulated juices to pot. Increase heat to high and bring liquid to a simmer. Place a large piece of foil over pot and cover tightly with lid. Move pot into oven. Turn meat with tongs every hour, until dinner fork slips easily in and out of meat, 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Add carrots to pot after 2 hours of cooking.
• Meanwhile, bring onions, butter, sugar and 1/2 cup water to boil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover tightly and cook until onions are tender, 5-8 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to medium-high and cook until all liquid evaporates, 3-4 minutes. Add mushrooms and 1/4 tsp table salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are browned and glazed, 8-12 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Place 1/4 cup water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin powder over surface.
• Transfer beef to cutting board when fully cooked; tent with foil. Allow braising liquid to settle for 5 minutes, then skim fat off surface with wide, shallow spoon. Remove bouquet garni and stir in onion-mushroom mixture. Bring liquid to simmer over medium-high heat and cook until mixture is slightly thickened and reduced to 3 1/4 cups, 20-30 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper. Add gelatin and stir until completely dissolved.
• Remove kitchen twine and discard. Carve meat into 1/2-inch-thick slices against the grain. Divide meat among warmed bowls or transfer to platter. Arrange vegetables around meat, pour sauce on top, sprinkle with minced parsley and serve immediately.
• *To prepare in advance:* follow recipe through step 10, but skip the gelatin step. Place the meat back in the sauce, cool to room temperature and refrigerate up to 2 days. Slice the beef and arrange in a 13x9" baking dish. Soften the gelatin, bring the sauce to a simmer and add the gelatin. Pour the warm sauce over the meat, cover with foil and bake at 350F until heated through, about 30 minutes.

BEEF BOURGUIGNON

Steps:

• Season beef with 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Set aside for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or chill in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
• In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with a tightfitting lid, cook lardons over medium-low heat until fat is rendered and lardons are browned and crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve fat in pot.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Raise heat under pot to medium-high and cook until fat is starting to smoke. Lay half the beef cubes in a single layer in the pot, leaving space between pieces. Cook until well browned on all sides, 10 to 15 minutes; transfer pieces to a plate as they brown. Repeat with remaining beef.
• Reduce heat, if necessary, to prevent burning. Stir in onion, carrot and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until soft, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in garlic and tomato paste, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in flour, cook for 1 minute, then add wine, bay leaf and thyme, scraping up brown bits at bottom of pot. Add browned beef and half the cooked lardons back to pot, cover, and transfer to oven. Let cook until beef is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours, turning meat halfway through.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet set over high heat, combine pearl onions, mushrooms, 1/4 cup water, the olive oil and a pinch each of salt, pepper and sugar. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to medium, cooking for 15 minutes. Uncover, raise heat to high, and cook, tossing frequently, until vegetables are well browned, 5 to 7 minutes.
• To serve, scatter onions and mushrooms and remaining cooked lardons over stew, then top with parsley.

BOEUF A LA MODE (BEEF AND VEGETABLES IN RED WINE)

Steps:

• Cut the beef into one-and-a-half-inch cubes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Scrape and trim vegetables onto a sheet of wax paper. When finished, the paper may be gathered up and discarded in one fell swoop.
• Using a paring knife, peel the onion. Cut it into three-quarters-of-an-inch cubes. There should be about one cup.
• Trim off the ends of the carrots with a paring knife. Using a swivel-bladed paring knife, scrape the sides of the carrots. Using the chef's knife, cut the carrots into one-and-a-half-inch lengths. Cut the lengths into quarters. There should be about one and a half cups.
• Using a regular paring knife, cut off the stems and opposite ends of the turnips. Using a swivel-bladed paring knife, peel the turnips. Cut the turnips into quarters. Cut each quarter in half. There should be about two cups.
• Using a paring knife, peel the garlic. Using a chef's knife, mince it fine.
• Using a chef's knife, cut the celery lengthwise into quarters. Cut the strips into one-and-a-half-inch lengths. There should be about one cup.
• Gather the parsley, thyme and bay leaf into a bundle. Tie it with string.
• Heat the oil in a heavy skillet (for example, a five-quart skillet 11 1/2 inches in diameter).
• When the oil is extremely hot and almost smoking, add the beef pieces one cube at a time. As the meat browns on one side, turn the pieces, scraping them from the bottom with a wooden spoon or turning them with a two-pronged fork. While browning the meat the heat should be kept as high as possible. The browning should take about five minutes.
• When the beef cubes are browned all over, add the onions and garlic and stir to blend. The beef will give up some liquid. Continue cooking over high heat, stirring often, about three minutes.
• Use the skillet lid, partly cover and pour off the fat from the skillet. Sprinkle with flour and stir with a wooden spoon to coat the cubes evenly.
• Add the wine and water and stir until flour is blended with the liquid. Add the tied bundle of herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Cover closely and cook over moderate heat one hour.
• Meanwhile, put the turnips, carrots and celery in a small saucepan (a five-cup saucepan is suitable) and add water to cover. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Let cook about one minute. Drain in a colander.
• Add the vegetables to the stew. Cover closely and continue cooking 30 minutes. Add the Cognac and serve piping hot with rice or boiled buttered potatoes.