The Essential James Beard Cookbook (18 page)

3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 cups good red Burgundy wine [
Editor: California or Oregon Pinot Noir will do
]

2 cups
Beef Stock

1 teaspoon dried thyme or a sprig of fresh thyme

3 or 4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 bay leaf

24 small white boiling onions, peeled (see
here
)

1 teaspoon sugar

Four ½-inch-thick slices salt pork, rind removed, cut into ½-inch dice

Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Lard the beef as for
pot roast
. Brown the larded beef on all sides under the broiler. Sprinkle the browned roast lightly with flour, and turn so the flour browns lightly.

Melt 6 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven. Add the mushrooms, leeks, and garlic and sauté until the mushrooms are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove and reserve the mushrooms. Add the beef to the Dutch oven, salt and pepper well, then add the wine, stock, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, put a piece of buttered waxed paper on top of the meat, cover the Dutch oven, and simmer for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, brown the onions in a skillet in 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with the sugar, and shake until lightly glazed. Set aside. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet over medium heat, add the salt pork, and cook until browned and slightly crisp, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Test the beef for tenderness. If it seems fairly tender, add the onions and cook until just tender, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from the heat, uncover, and let stand 15 minutes to allow the fat to rise to the top of the cooking liquid. Skim off the excess fat, add the mushrooms and salt pork to the pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer the beef to a hot platter and arrange the onions, mushrooms, and salt pork around it. If desired, thicken the sauce with beurre manié: mash the softened butter with ¼ cup flour in a medium bowl with a rubber spatula until smooth. Whisk in about 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Now whisk this mixture back into the Dutch oven, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring often, until thickened and no raw flour taste remains in the sauce, about 5 minutes. Taste and correct the seasoning. Spoon some of the sauce onto the platter with the vegetables and sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Carve the meat and serve.

NOTE:
The beef is much better if made in advance, skimmed of all fat, and reheated the next day. In this case, prepare the mushrooms, onions, and salt pork, and add to the beef when reheated.

BEEF BOURGUIGNON SAUTÉ

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

This quick version of the classic Beef Bourguignon is to my mind infinitely better, as the beef does not get dry from long cooking and it remains rare in the center. For this you must have a very tender beef fillet or sirloin. [
Editor: The original title was “Instant Beef Bourguignon,” but today’s cooks would call this a sauté.
]

2½ cups
Quick Brown Sauce

1½ cups red wine, preferably Burgundy or California or Oregon Pinot Noir

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1 slice of lemon

One 1-inch strip orange zest, removed from the orange with a vegetable peeler

1 bay leaf

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

14 tablespoons (1¾ sticks) unsalted butter

12 to 18 small white boiling onions, peeled

2 teaspoons sugar

¼ cup
Beef Stock

12 to 18 firm white mushroom caps

Four ½-inch thick slices salt pork, rind removed, cut into ½-inch dice

2½ pounds beef tenderloin or sirloin, cut into 1¼-inch cubes

Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish

To make the Sauce Bourguignon: Have your brown sauce in one pan. In another saucepan, bring the wine, thyme, lemon slice, orange zest, bay leaf, and 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until reduced to 1 cup. Strain into the brown sauce, bring to a boil, and simmer gently for 30 to 45 minutes. This is our Sauce Bourguignon. Taste, and correct the seasoning, then cover the surface of the sauce with buttered waxed paper and set aside until ready to complete the dish.

While the sauce simmers, heat 4 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet, add the onions, and sauté over medium-high heat, sprinkling with the white sugar so they glaze and brown. Add the stock, cover, and steam until just crisply tender, about 10 minutes. In another skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter, add the mushrooms, and sauté over medium-high heat until lightly colored, about 5 minutes. Remove the mushrooms, add 2 tablespoons of the butter to the skillet, and sauté the salt pork until crisply browned. Remove, drain, combine with onions and mushrooms, and set aside, covered with aluminum foil.

About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve, heat the remaining 5 tablespoons butter in a heavy skillet. Add the beef cubes, a few at a time, and sauté over high heat until well seared and browned on all sides, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Return all of the beef to the skillet. Add the Sauce Bourguignon, let it just come to a boil. Add the onions, mushrooms, and salt pork, and cook until just heated through—not long enough to overcook the beef. This has to be a very fast operation. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

JEANNE OWEN’S CHILI CON CARNE

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

This recipe for southwestern chili con carne, while not for purists, is rather different and utterly delicious. It improves with aging, so make it the day before you wish to serve it, and reheat. Toasted French bread, tortillas, or corn bread go well with this, and a crisp green salad.

Editor: Jeanne Owen worked for the International Food & Wine Society, a New York–based gourmet club consisting of well-heeled Manhattanites. It is interesting that the Francophile Ms. Owen shares a recipe for chili.

¹
⁄
₃
cup olive oil

3 pounds lean round steak, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Kosher salt

2 to 4 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

½ teaspoon dried oregano

4 cups boiling water

1 cup pitted green olives

Two 15- to 19-ounce cans kidney beans, drained and well rinsed

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the beef, and sauté, turning to brown on all sides, for about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the chopped onions and sauté over medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes, then add the garlic. Return the beef to the pot. Season with salt. Stir in the chili powder, sesame seeds, caraway seeds, and oregano and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the boiling water. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.

Add the olives and continue cooking until the beef is tender, about 1 hour more. Taste, and correct the seasoning, then mix in the beans and heat through.

DAUBE PROVENÇAL

MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS

Editor: Daube is the Provençal version of beef stew. Marinate it one day before cooking. It is even better if you refrigerate the cooled stew overnight and reheat it before serving.

One 750-ml bottle dry red wine

4 pounds beef shin or 3 pounds beef rump roast

2 pig’s feet, split lengthwise

Four ½-inch slices salt pork, rind removed

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Several sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley

8 garlic cloves, chopped

1 whole clove

2 bay leaves

One 2-inch strip of orange zest, removed from the orange with a vegetable peeler

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 pound macaroni, cooked and drained, for serving

Combine all of the ingredients (except the macaroni) in a large stainless steel, glass, or crockery bowl and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Transfer the marinated ingredients to a large Dutch oven (not uncoated cast-iron). Bake in a preheated 225°F oven until the meat is very tender, about 6 hours. Remove from the oven and let stand for 20 to 25 minutes. Skim off the excess fat. Transfer the meats (you may discard the pig’s feet) to a hot deep platter. Strain the sauce. Mix about 2 cups of the sauce with the macaroni. (This is called
macaronnade
.) Pour the remaining sauce over the meats.

To serve cold, strain the sauce. Let it cool, and remove the excess fat. Slice the meat, arrange in a serving dish, and cover with the sauce. Chill, then serve in its own sauce, which will have gelatinized.

ESTOUFFAT DE NOËL

MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS

One of the most famous dishes of Gascony, in France, is the
estouffat
, or
estouffade
, a dish of braised beef cooked in a covered earthenware casserole, always with Armagnac, the brandy of the region. This
estouffat de Noël
is a traditional Christmas Eve dish, to which the Armagnac and the gelatin content of the pork rind give a special rich, luscious body and taste. If you can’t get pork rind (sold by pork stores and butchers) substitute a pig’s foot, split. Serve the
estouffat
with either boiled potatoes or macaroni to soak up the lovely sauce. Drink the same kind of red wine you used for cooking.

1 pound pork rind or 1 pig’s foot, split lengthwise

3 or 4 medium onions, peeled and quartered

8 shallots, peeled and quartered

1 medium carrot, cut into 3 by ½-inch strips

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme

A few gratings of nutmeg

One 6-pound piece top round of beef roast, tied

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1½ cups Armagnac

2 cups full-bodied red wine, such as a Rhône or a California Syrah

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Put the pork rind or pig’s foot on the bottom of a very large (8-quart) Dutch oven (not uncoated cast iron). On this, make a bed of the onions, shallots, and carrot, add the garlic, thyme, and nutmeg. Salt the beef lightly. Make an indentation in the center of the vegetables and in it place the beef. Add the Armagnac and red wine. Cover the pot with a piece of aluminum foil and then the lid.

Bake for 35 minutes. Reduce the heat to 300°F and bake for 1 hour. Then reduce the heat to 250°F and bake for at least 2 hours (and preferably 3 hours, as long, slow cooking is essential to the success of this dish). Or you may simmer the
estouffat
on top of the stove for 1½ hours, then finish the cooking in a 250°F oven.

Remove the casserole or pot from the oven, and let stand for about an hour to let the fat rise to the top of the sauce. Skim off the fat and reheat the beef in the sauce. Or you can make the
estouffat
the day before and refrigerate it overnight, then remove the fat before serving and reheat the meat—to my mind the dish tastes better when made ahead and allowed to cool completely. Before serving, taste the sauce and correct the seasoning. Cut up the pork rind (or the meat from the pig’s foot) and serve it with the beef.