In Honor of Julia Child's 100th Birthday I decided to make one of her dishes for my family...
IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! This recipe was on The Chew.
Skill level: easy
Time: over 120 minutes
Servings: 6 to 8
Cost: $
Satisfied customers! They loved it!
This is definitely a meal I will make and freeze. The sauce is delicious...possibly because it is primarily red wine cooked down.
Ingredients:
- 6 ounces bacon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 pounds lean stewing beef (cut into 2-inch cubes)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 carrot (sliced)
- 1 onion (sliced)
- 3 cups full-bodied young red wine
- 2-3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 cloves mashed garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1 crumbled bay leaf
- 18-24 small white onions (brown-braised in stock)
- 1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms (sauteed in butter)
- parsley sprigs
Directions:
- Remove rind from bacon and cut in sticks, 1/4 inch thick. Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry. (for this step I just cut up the bacon into sticks...I didn't worry about separating the rind)
- Preheat oven to 450F.
- Saute the bacon in olive oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown slightly. (use a large pot for this.) Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set pot aside Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef. *Dry the beef in paper towels, it will not brown if it is damp. Saute it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.
- In the same fat, brown the sliced carrot and onion. Pour out the fat.
- Return the beef and bacon to the pot and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set pot uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. Remove pot, and turn oven down to 325F.
- Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon ring. (my rind was already included since I didn't separate it in the beginning.) Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the pot and set in lover third of over. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done with a fork pierces it easily.
- While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.
- When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.
- Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. (mine was too thin so I also whisked in 2 teaspoons of flour.) If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the mean and vegetables. Serve immediately with parsley sprigs on top.