Modern Boeuf A La Mode Food

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.

BOEUF A LA MODE (BEEF AND VEGETABLES IN RED WINE)

Steps:

• Cut the beef into one-and-a-half-inch cubes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Scrape and trim vegetables onto a sheet of wax paper. When finished, the paper may be gathered up and discarded in one fell swoop.
• Using a paring knife, peel the onion. Cut it into three-quarters-of-an-inch cubes. There should be about one cup.
• Trim off the ends of the carrots with a paring knife. Using a swivel-bladed paring knife, scrape the sides of the carrots. Using the chef's knife, cut the carrots into one-and-a-half-inch lengths. Cut the lengths into quarters. There should be about one and a half cups.
• Using a regular paring knife, cut off the stems and opposite ends of the turnips. Using a swivel-bladed paring knife, peel the turnips. Cut the turnips into quarters. Cut each quarter in half. There should be about two cups.
• Using a paring knife, peel the garlic. Using a chef's knife, mince it fine.
• Using a chef's knife, cut the celery lengthwise into quarters. Cut the strips into one-and-a-half-inch lengths. There should be about one cup.
• Gather the parsley, thyme and bay leaf into a bundle. Tie it with string.
• Heat the oil in a heavy skillet (for example, a five-quart skillet 11 1/2 inches in diameter).
• When the oil is extremely hot and almost smoking, add the beef pieces one cube at a time. As the meat browns on one side, turn the pieces, scraping them from the bottom with a wooden spoon or turning them with a two-pronged fork. While browning the meat the heat should be kept as high as possible. The browning should take about five minutes.
• When the beef cubes are browned all over, add the onions and garlic and stir to blend. The beef will give up some liquid. Continue cooking over high heat, stirring often, about three minutes.
• Use the skillet lid, partly cover and pour off the fat from the skillet. Sprinkle with flour and stir with a wooden spoon to coat the cubes evenly.
• Add the wine and water and stir until flour is blended with the liquid. Add the tied bundle of herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Cover closely and cook over moderate heat one hour.
• Meanwhile, put the turnips, carrots and celery in a small saucepan (a five-cup saucepan is suitable) and add water to cover. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Let cook about one minute. Drain in a colander.
• Add the vegetables to the stew. Cover closely and continue cooking 30 minutes. Add the Cognac and serve piping hot with rice or boiled buttered potatoes.