Modern Boeuf A La Mode Recipes

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.

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.

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.