Baller Ass Beef

I’ve have been dieting for the past week, trying to obtain some healthy eating habits after binging on bad food over the holidays. I was excited for my “off day” from dieting so I could cook something new and be slightly bad. I did not want to go too crazy on the menu for fear of falling off the wagon after only dieting for 1 week. The dish needed to be something hearty, but something I had never made before. Over my winter break my roommates and I watched “Julie and Julia,” and one of the dishes Julie makes from Julia Childs cookbook is beef bourguignon. I remembered this dish and thought I would give it a try. It fit my two requirements, the recipe looked pretty easy to make, and would serve a household of hungry roommates.

On my way to the grocery store I stopped by the bookstore to pick up a copy of the Julia Childs books “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” I already had the recipe to beef bourguignon, but I figured you could never have too many cookbooks. The recipe below is adapted from Julia Child and Ina Garten’s recipe for this dish. The recipe turned out a success and will definitely be a keeper. I served my beef over a bed of egg noodles, but potatoes or rice could certainly be substituted.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

8 oz thick sliced bacon diced into ½” by ½” pieces

3 lbs chuck roast cut into 1” cubes and patted dry with a paper towel

1 lbs carrots sliced into 1” chunks

2 medium sized yellow onions sliced

2 cloves garlic mashed

1 750 mL bottle red wine (I used Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages)

2 cups beef broth (I used Swanson 50% reduced sodium)

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

3 tbsp flour

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 lbs fresh mushrooms sliced

1 lbs frozen pearl onions, thawed

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Fresh parsley for garnish

Special Equipment:

5.5 quart cast iron pot (or similar)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

Heat the olive oil in the cast iron pot. Add the bacon and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally until the bacon is browned. Remove bacon and set aside in a bowl, leaving the bacon fat in the pan.

Pat the beef cubes with a paper towel, and season with salt and pepper. In batches, sauté the beef in a single layer in the pot, turning until all sides of the beef are browned (approximately 5-7 minutes for each batch). Remove beef from the pot and set aside in the bowl with the bacon.

Add the carrots and onions to the pot and cook the vegetables with the residual fat left from the beef and bacon. Add 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper, and cook the carrots and onions over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables have browned. Return the beef and bacon to the pan and add the flour to the pot. Stir the mixture until all the flour coats the vegetables and meat. Put the uncovered pot in the middle position of the preheated oven for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes toss the meat and vegetables and put back the pot back in the oven allowing it to cook for an additional 4 minutes. Remove pot from oven and reduce the temperature of the oven to 325 degrees F.

With the pot heating over medium heat, stir in the wine, and enough beef broth so that the meat is barely covered (approximately 2 cups). Add the thyme, bay leaves, tomato paste, and garlic. Bring to a simmer and then cover the pot and place in the preheated oven. Allow the meat to cook for approximately 2.5 to 3 hours or until the meat and vegetables are tender when a fork pierces it easily.

While the meat is cooking in the oven prepare the pearl onions and mushrooms. In a 10” frying pan heat 2 tbsp butter. When the butter has melted add the mushrooms and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the pearl onions to the pan and sauté for an additional 5 minutes.

When the meat and vegetable are done, pour the contents of the pot into a colander, reserving the broth in a medium saucepan. Wipe the pot clean and return the meat and vegetables to the pot. Add the pearl onions and mushrooms to the meat mixture and set the pot aside.

In a medium saucepan simmer the broth, skimming the fat off as it rises to the top. Continue to heat the broth until it coats the back of a spoon. If the broth is too thin, continue to rapidly boil the broth. If the mixture is too thick, add some more beef broth. NOTE: A fat separator would have come in handy if I had one, but was forced to use the conventional method as described above.

Serve meat and sauce over a bed of egg noodles and garnish with fresh parsley.