Tag: beef

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julia child’s beef bourguignon

For my 22nd birthday, my Nonnie gave me a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Sitting at her kitchen table, as I unwrapped the tome that changed home cooking so monumentally, she gave me some advice. “Make the beef bourguignon first. And do not skip the bacon.”

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Like she is on most things culinary and otherwise, my Nonnie was right. Julia Child’s beef bourguignon is perfection, worth every bit of effort, and the bacon is absolutely essential. It is easily the best braised beef I’ve ever made and I’m sure those who’ve had the pleasure of eating it with us in years since I was first gifted the book would also agree.

And what is winter for if it isn’t to embrace braising? Dedicate an afternoon to Julia’s beef bourguignon, and don’t even think about skipping the bacon.

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Beef Bourguignon, adapted very slightly from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
6 oz bacon, cut into 1/2″ pieces
3 lbs lean stewing beef, cut into 2″ chunks (we used chuck roast)
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
salt, pepper, olive oil
3 cups red wine
2 – 3 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, mashed
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf, crumbled
20 small white onions, brown-braised
1 lb fresh mushrooms, cut into halves or quarters, sautéed in butter

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Preheat your oven to 450° F.  If you know your bacon is quite smoky, you may want to boil the bacon in some water for a few minutes to take out some of the smoke flavor before you sauté it. This is what Julia recommends, but I usually skip this step and skip right ahead to sautéing. In a cast iron pot, sauté the bacon over medium heat. After the bacon has browned lightly, remove it with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Take the pot with the bacon fat off the heat.

Cut the beef into 2 inch cubes and then pat them dry with paper towels. Heat the pot with the bacon fat over medium high heat until the fat is nearly smoking. If your bacon didn’t render off much fat, I would add a tablespoon of oil to the pot. Add a few cubes of the beef. Sear them, letting them sit without disturbing them for a few minutes per side, until they are a deep brown. Be sure to not crowd the pan or the beef will steam instead of browning. For about 2.5 pounds of meat, I did mine in four batches.

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While the beef is browning, cut the onion and carrot into chunks. After browning the last of the meat, add the vegetables. Brown them slightly and then remove them and set them aside.

Put the beef and bacon back into the pot. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and some fresh black pepper. Toss the beef to coat. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and toss to coat again. Set the pot in the middle of your 450° oven and cook for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and cook for another 4 minutes in the oven. Reduce the heat of the oven to 325°. Return the pot to the stove top and add the vegetables, wine, broth, tomato paste, garlic, and herbs. The meat should be just barely covered by liquid. Bring to a simmer on the stove top and then place in the oven. Cook in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the pearl onions. For the pearl onions, peel them if using fresh. If using frozen, defrost in water. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the onions and brown them on each side. Once browned, add 1/2 cup beef stock, a pinch of thyme and a bay leaf and reduce the heat to low. Let simmer covered for 20 minutes, until the onions are cooked through.

 

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If you’re making this in advance, you can prepare the beef and onions up until this point and then refrigerate them. You can then rewarm the beef by simmering it on the stove over low heat for 15 – 20 minutes before serving. I like to saute my mushrooms the day of serving because they are pretty easy to do while you’re cooking the potatoes.

In the last 45 minutes of cooking for the beef or 45 minutes before you want to eat, peel a few potatoes and cut them into quarters. Put them in a sauce pan and cover them with water. Season the water until it taste like sea water. Bring the potatoes to a boil and cook until tender, about 20 – 25 minutes. Drain the potatoes and mash them, adding a bit of butter, milk, salt and pepper to taste. I usually do this in my kitchen aid mixer.

For the mushrooms, clean 1 pound of mushrooms and then cut them into halves or quarters depending on their size. Sauté over medium heat in 2 tablespoons of butter, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

When the meat is tender, remove it from the oven and place on the stovetop. Skim off any fat that may be floating on the surface of the meat. In my experience, there is very little beef fat to skim off, but I generally cook with leaner grass-fed beef.  You skim off any fat to prevent a greasy gravy because greasy gravy is gross. Taste the sauce for seasoning; it may need a little salt or pepper. Before serving, add in the braised onions and sautéed mushrooms to pot along with the beef and vegetables. Serve over mashed potatoes with a gravy boat of extra sauce on the side.

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-Emily

 

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pot roast for amanda

My grandmother, my Nonnie, makes a wonderful pot roast. So good is her pot roast that she clandestinely prepares it in her home kitchen and sneaks it into a bay area restaurant where it is then served to their very happy patrons. “Nonnie’s Pot Roast” it’s called on the menu and I’m proud to say that the “Nonnie” on the menu isn’t some imaginary Italian grandma, she is my Nonnie and she’s a damn good cook—though we’re not actually Italian.

When my friend Amanda needed a pick me up—and don’t we all know that sometimes the only think that can really pick you up is a good home-cooked meal—I decided to make my Nonnie’s pot roast. As it turns out, pot roast is one of Amanda’s favorite childhood meals, and I think she was smitten. Pot roast might not be the prettiest or the most elegant of dishes, but it will certainly warm your soul, and some days that counts for a lot.

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Nonnie’s Italian-Style Pot Roast
2 lbs chuck roast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 – 8 oz can chopped tomatoes
3 – 4 large carrots, cut into chunks (or a handful of baby carrots)
1/2 cup red wine
2 – 3 cups beef broth (enough to nearly cover the meat)
salt and pepper

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
2 lbs yellow potatoes (I like Yukon Golds)
4 tablespoons butter
1/3 – 1/2 cup buttermilk
salt and pepper

One year ago: Pizza with Pancetta, Shallot and Mascarpone
Two years ago: Passionfruit Mousse

Preheat an oven to 325 degrees. Season the chuck roast liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. In a large cast iron pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the meat. Sear both sides, until deep brown in color about 8 – 10 minutes per side. Remove the meat and set aside.

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Reduce the heat to medium-low. Saute the onions in the meat juices until translucent, 6 – 8 minutes. Add the garlic and saute a two minutes more. Add the wine to deglaze, making sure to scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Return the meat to the pan. Add the bay leaves, tomatoes, carrots and broth. Return to a boil.

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If you’re making the roast on a weeknight, you can make the pot roast up to this point and refrigerate it then finish it in the oven the next day. Or you can cook it for a few additional hours until you’re ready for bed and then finish it for another hour or so the next day. It will need about 3 hours braising time in a low oven to become perfectly tender, and will happily adjust to whatever schedule suits you.

Cover the pot with a lid and place in a 325 degree oven. Cook for 3 hours, until the meat is tender. When you have about 1 hour left on the cooking time, start the mashed potatoes.

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Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Put them in a large pot and cover with water. Season the water liberally. It should taste like sea water. Cover and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook potatoes 25 – 35 minutes, until fork-tender. Drain the water. Add the butter and beat the potatoes with a mixer or mash with a potato masher. Add the buttermilk and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Potatoes generally need a lot of salt to taste good – keep this in mind while seasoning your potatoes.

Remove the pot roast, carrots and bay leaves from the braising liquid and set aside. Use a blender or immersion blender to puree the braising liquid. It should turn into a thick tomatoey gravy. Season the gravy with salt and pepper, if needed. Slice the pot roast into thin slices.

Mound mashed potatoes on a plate. Top with slices of pot roast and carrots. Pour the gravy over the meat and potatoes. Bring some gravy to the table. Enjoy!

-Emily

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meatloaf

Both Jordan and I were craving meatloaf last week. It had been years since we’d had it, I’d never made it, and so we decided to give it a go. For this meatloaf, we used an Italian meatball sandwich recipe as our inspiration. It was topped with a simple tomato sauce, instead of the more traditional American loaf topped with ketchup. We liked it, but you could easily swap the marinara for a combo of ketchup, sugar and worcestershire sauce. Because this recipe makes a two-pound loaf, we recommend you share it with friends.

12.18.12-8

One Year Ago: Bacon-Wrapped Dates
Two Years Ago: Ricotta Gnocchi

Meatloaf, adapted from Tartine Bread

For the meatloaf
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup red wine
2 cups bread crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
a few tablespoons of assorted fresh herbs (I used mostly parsley with a bit of thyme and oregano thrown in)

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, saute the onion in the olive oil over low heat until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for a few more minutes. Remove from the heat.

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In a large bowl, mix onion and garlic mixture with the ground beef, pork, eggs, milk, cheese, wine, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, red pepper flake and herbs. Mix well so all the ingredients are evenly distributed. At this point, I like to pinch off a bit of the meat and fry it up quickly in a pan to test for seasoning. If you need more salt after testing, add a bit more.

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Press the meat mixture into a loaf pan or shape into a loaf form and place on a rimmed cookie sheet. Bake for an hour at 350 degrees. You could also use the same mixture to make meatballs. Shape them into 1.5-inch balls and then bake for 20 – 30 minutes. Alternatively, you could simmer the meatballs in a tomato sauce for 30 minutes. I’d serve them with pasta or rice.

For the tomato sauce
1 – 16 oz can of whole tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup red wine
salt and pepper to taste

While the meat is cooking, you can make a quick tomato sauce to go with it. I basically just tossed all the ingredients into a sauce pan, let it simmer for 30 minutes partially-covered and then pureed it. When you take the meat from the oven, let it rest for five minutes then cut into 1/2″ slices. Spoon the tomato sauce over the meatloaf and enjoy!

Jordan suggested that for our next meatloaf we cook it on a baking sheet and pour the tomato sauce over it before baking so the sauce cooks into the meat and caramelizes along with it. Sounds promising. We’ll report back.

-Emily

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pasta bolognese

I’d never made pasta bolognese. We weren’t sure if we’d ever even eaten a true pasta bolognese. The closest we’d ever gotten was marinara sauce with ground beef, which as we found out in our recipe research, is not even close to a pasta bolognese.

This recipe is from the Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook and was cross-referenced with a Mario Batali recipe so we’ve got on pretty good authority we’re approaching authentic with this one. We had to make a few minor modifications (bacon in place of pancetta), but good golly pasta bolognese is good! Meaty comfort in a stock pot, real pasta bolognese kicks Ragu‘s ass.

Pasta Bolognese, adapted from the Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook
4 oz bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
salt
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1 cup dry white wine
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
2 cups chicken or beef stock
1 1/2 cups milk
3 T tomato paste
1/4 cup cream
pepper
parsley and parmesan for serving

In a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat, add the bacon. Once the bacon has released some of its fat, add the vegetables. Saute the vegetables until they have softened and add the garlic. Remove the vegetables and bacon from the pan and set aside.

Brown the beef and pork in the same pan. Cook 10 – 15 minutes, until the meat is browned. Add the wine, herbs and vegetables to the meat. Adjust the heat to maintain a simmer and let the liquid evaporate.

Once most of the liquid has evaporated, deglaze with the stock and milk. Add the tomato paste. Simmer until the sauce is thickened, 30 minutes to an hour. Season with salt and pepper.

Before serving, add the cream and simmer for a few minutes.

Serve over pasta garnished with parmesan and parsley.

-Emily

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braised short ribs, aka how to win hearts and minds

This dish is everything that is magical about cooking. You take a cheap cut of meat and a cheap starch and turn them into a meal that would make someone fall in love with you. Braised short ribs over mashed potatoes drizzled with jus is everything you want out of a good meal—simple, satisfying, and supremely comforting.

Braised Short Ribs with Mashed Potatoes
2 lbs flanken style short ribs (plan for 2 pieces/ribs per person)
1 T canola oil
1 onion, cut into eighths
2 carrots, cut into 1 – 2 inch chunks
2 celery stalks, cut into 1 – 2 inch chunks
3 garlic cloves
2 cups red wine
3 sprigs thyme
2 cups chicken, vegetable or beef stock
salt and pepper

Sprinkle all sides of the ribs with salt and pepper. Heat the oil over medium heat in a cast iron dutch oven (or other stove and oven safe dish). Sear each side of the meat until it is a deep brown color. Your house will smell amazing at this point. Remove the beef from the dish and put it on a plate.

Reduce the heat to low. Add the vegetables and saute until light brown, about 20 minutes. Add the red wine and thyme. Bring to a boil. Return the meat to the dish. At this point, you can continue to braise the meat or you can put the whole dish in the fridge and finish it the next day. Trust me, only good things happen when you let meat marinade in red wine overnight.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Add the broth to the meat. The broth will not cover the meat entirely, which is just fine. Cook covered for an hour and a half. After 1 1/2 hours, remove the lid to allow some of the liquid to evaporate and the meat to brown. Cook for 45 more minutes, turning the meat once or twice. Meanwhile, make the potatoes.

After 45 minutes of additional cooking, remove the dish from the oven. Take the meat and vegetables from the dish and cover with tin foil to keep warm. Skim the excess fat of the braising liquid. The liquid should have thickened considerably into an amazing beefy sauce. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Return the meat and vegetables to the dish and cover to keep warm.

Mashed Potatoes
2 lbs yukon gold potatoes (Yukon golds make the best mashed potatoes. Russets can be grainy.)
4 T butter, cut into 1 T pieces
1/4 cup milk

Put a pot of salted water to boil. Peel and quarter the potatoes. Boil the potatoes for 30 minutes, until fork tender. Strain the potatoes and put them in a large bowl. I used my stand mixer to make mashed potatoes for the first time. It was awesome and I recommend it highly. Add the butter to the potatoes and start to whisk. Add the milk and beat until smooth and fluffy.

To serve, make a mound mashed potatoes, top with the ribs and cover with sauce. Pour the remaining sauce in a gravy boat and bring that to the table as well. Add a side of green beans for good measure.

-Emily

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cheeseburger cheeseburger

Living in San Francisco, one encounters many smells.  Some good, some not so good.  But one that always excites is the smell of charring ground beef getting ready to be made into a hamburger.  Unfortunately, this pleasant smell isn’t always followed by delicious food.  As a matter of fact, it can be quite hard to come across an exceptional burger.  This is obviously a problem for us, so we took things into our own hands.  Before I explain how we achieved burger satisfaction, I must thank our friend and neighbor Robin for getting this whole burger movement started.  She purchased a small grill and has provided us with some fantastic cheeseburgers in the past few weeks.  It had been a while since I had made a proper cheeseburger, but with the right ingredients and tools, making an excellent cheese burger is fairly simple.

classic cheeseburger:
1/3 pound ground beef (per burger)
salt
caramelized onions
aioli
cheddar cheese
good quality buns

Before I explain the technique, a quick note about ingredients.  Obviously, we care a great deal about quality and sustainability when it comes our food, and a cheeseburger is one of the few places where very high quality meat, cheese, and produce can really shine (and only for a little more cash).  For these burgers, I used 16 % fat, grass-fed ground beef and seasoned them with salt about an hour before cooking.  The onions came from our csa and cooked up delicious and sweet with butter, olive oil, and plenty of time.  The aioli is homemade and leftovers get turned into a terrific buttermilk dressing perfect for coleslaw.  And the buns, while not homemade, are from Acme Bread; they have a great texture and a nice, yet mild taste.

So, how does it all go together?  We’ll start with cooking surfaces.  As far as I’m concerned, you can either grill your burgers or cook them on a flat surface (preferably cast iron).  Since I don’t have a grill, I use a flat cast iron surface that covers two burners.  There are a couple advantages with this method: you can cook more food on the large surface (either more burgers, or onions, like I did), and by cooking the burgers on this flat surface, the juices kind of self baste the meat as it cooks.

As I said earlier, I formed and seasoned the burgers about an hour before cooking so the salt gets a chance to season the center of the burger.  Around this time, I also started caramelizing the onions over medium-low heat with butter and olive oil.  Once those are at the desired consistency, you can turn the heat off and just warm them as the burgers are cooking.  To cook these magnificent burgers, turn your burner up high and get that pan smoking.  Carefully place the burgers over the heat and leave them for 2-3 minutes, until they are dark brown and you can see the it’s half way cooked. Turn down the heat to medium-high (cast iron has will just keep getting hotter and hotter, so you really have to keep an eye on your temperature). Flip and leave for a couple more minutes and add your sliced cheese.  Cover for thirty seconds to one minute, until the cheese is melted and the meat is finished cooking (medium-rare, please).  Set burgers aside and toast those buns.  Slather on some aioli, then the burger, caramelized onions, some sliced pickle, and a little ketchup.  Serve with some coleslaw or a salad and a nice beer.  Heaven.

-Jordan

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sunday dinner party

We invited a few friends over for a dinner party on this past Sunday and decided to attempt to conquer another recipe from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Drizzly weather made bouf bourguignon the recipe of choice, and Jordan and I dove right in. After carefully reading the recipe, shopping, and then carefully re-reading the recipe, we began. We followed Julia’s instructions to a t (which is pretty impressive, considering how much Jordan loves to improvise in the kitchen and how detailed Julia’s instructions are) and the bouf turned out beautifully. It was moist, fork-tender, flavorful and drenched in a perfect beefy-bacony sauce. I love braised meats, but I’ve noticed that their sauces occasionally have a bitter aftertaste … well, not Julia’s. This sauce is perfect and I think we made it well.

We served the bouf with mashed potatoes and a salad of spinach, arugula, pomegranate chevre.

Conclusions: Braised meats are awesome! Although this recipe was a bit complicated and multi-stepped, it was absolutely worth the effort. Like Julia says in her memoir, and like my Nonnie says about Julia’s bouf bourguignon, if you carefully follow the recipe and don’t leave anything out the end product will be perfection.

-Emily