This has got to be my all-time favorite winter dish to prepare. Although laborious, it is really worth the trouble and if you are serving this to company, they will be impressed. This is also toddler-approved because Emma ate a huge serving.
There are certain parts of this recipe that can be prepared in advance to save you some work- the brown braised onions and sautéed mushrooms.
Find yourself a large piece of beef. Julia Child recommends a rump pot roast but you can also use chuck roast or sirloin tip. This is a 3 lb chuck roast. Cut this into 2-inch cubes.
In a sturdy dutch oven, saute up some bacon lardons that have previously been simmered and patted dry.
Remove the bacon and in the bacon grease, saute your beef cubes, a few pieces at the time until they are nicely browned on all sides.
Remove beef and saute up some onions and carrots.
Then return the beef and bacon to the dutch oven and toss in tapioca flour and heat in a hot oven for a short time. Return the dutch oven back to the stove top and add some wine, beef stock, tomato paste, bacon rind and herbs and bring to a boil.
Cover and put in oven for 2.5 to 3 hours until meat is fork tender. While this is cooking, you may prepare the brown braised onions and sautéed mushrooms.
When the beef comes out of oven, you can season to taste and add the onions and mushrooms and cook on the stovetop for 2-5 minutes before serving.
This is simply divine!
You’ll need:
- one piece of 6-oz chunk bacon
- 3 1/2 TBSP butter or olive oil
- 3 lb of stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
- 1 carrot sliced
- 1 onion sliced
- salt and pepper
- 2 TBSP tapioca flour
- 3 cups of young red wine
- 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups of beef stock
- 1 TBSP tomato paste
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 tsp thyme
- 1 crumbled bay leaf
- Brown braised onions
- Sauteed mushrooms
- Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.
- Preheat oven to 450
- Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of butter or olive oil in a dutch oven over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
- Dry beef cubes thoroughly in paper towels and saute in dutch oven a few pieces at a time until nice and brown on all sides. Add the beef to the lardons.
- In the same cooking fat, saute the onion and carrot pieces for a few minutes.
- Return beef and lardons to the dutch oven, toss with salt and pepper and set in the oven uncovered for 4 minutes.
- Take out of the oven, coat with tapioca flour and toss again and return to oven for another 4 minutes.
- Remove dutch oven from oven and reduce oven to 325
- Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered
- Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.
- Cover dutch oven and set to lower third of the oven and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until the meat is fork-tender
- While this is cooking, you may prepare the Brown braised onions and Sauteed mushrooms
- When the meat is tender, bring it back to the stove top and season sauce to taste. The original recipe called for straining the sauce now and skimming the fat off but we like the fat so we’re skipping this.
- Add the mushrooms and onions and simmer for a 2-3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables
Bon Apetit!
