Beef Bourguignon

I broke in my new cast-iron dutch oven today.  I figured a classic french dish was just the thing to do it.  This hearty, beef stew-like dinner has a lot of steps, but that doesn't translate into being hard. Take your time.  Follow the steps and success is pretty much guaranteed.  But it IS French, and it's incredibly rich.

Here's what you'll need:
6 slices of thick-cut bacon, chopped
1 TBSP olive oil
2-3 lbs lean beef roast, cut into 2" cubes
4-5 small carrots, cut in half
1/2 onion, root end in-tact
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 TBSP flour
3 c red wine
2-3 c beef stock
1 TBSP tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, crushed
6 sprigs fresh thyme (1/2 tsp dry)
1 bay leaf
1 TBSP butter
8 oz baby portabella mushrooms
2 TBSP fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 450.

Saute the bacon in the olive oil in the dutch oven until crispy.

Remove the bacon; drain on a paper towel.

Reheat the oil and grease in the pan.  Add about half of the beef cubes.

This step is not about cooking the beef.  This is to develop some crust and coloring on the meat. When the meat is browned, remove to paper towels.

Repeat this step with the remaining beef.

Add the carrots and half onion to the pot, again just getting some color on the vegetables.  This adds an unbelievable depth of flavor.

When the vegetables are caramelized, remove them to paper towels.  Discard the remaining oil from the pot.

Put the beef and bacon back into the hot pot.  Sprinkle with the salt, pepper and flour.  Place the pot in the oven.  Cook at 450 for 4 minutes.

Stir the beef and cook another 4 minutes.  Remove from oven.

Reduce oven temperature to 325.

Stir the wine and enough beef stock to cover the meat into the dutch oven.  Add the tomato paste, garlic, thyme and bay leaf.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Add the onion and carrots.

Cover; put the pot into the 325 oven and bake until the meat is fork-tender, 3-4 hours.

When the meat is cooked, remove from the oven.  The sauce with be pretty thick.

Drain the meat combo over a bowl.  Return the sauce to the pot; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until the sauce has reduced by about half.

Remove the onion, sticks from the thyme and the bay leaf from the meat.  Place the meat and carrots in a dish; cover.

Saute the mushrooms in the butter in a small skillet, until pretty crispy.

Layer them over the meat and carrots.

Top with the reduced wine sauce.  Sprinkle with parsley.

Serve with mashed potatoes or buttered noodles.  We just ate it with crusty, well-buttered bread.  If you're going to go French, you might as well go all the way.

Serves 4-5.

Enjoy!

Roast Redo: Easy Beef Enchiladas

It's pretty hard to find a beef roast that's just the right size for two people.  That means we usually have some leftover, but it's never enough to plan a whole meal around. This was my quandary yesterday when I found some leftover Double Caffeinated Roast in the fridge from an early blog.  I found some cheese and some tortillas and this meal was born.

Here's what you'll need:
leftover beef roast (I had about 8 ounces)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 c chunky salsa, plus more to serve
2 c shredded cheese (I used cheddar and monterey jack)
1/2 c sour cream, plus more to serve
flour tortillas (I used soft taco size)

Place the beef in a small pot.  Add enough water to come about halfway up the meat.  Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer.  Cover and allow the meat to braise until it is fork tender.

Remove the meat from the pan; save the juice.

Using 2 forks, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces.

Stir the 1/2 c salsa into the meat mixture.  Don't add too much juice or the tortillas will be soggy.  You mostly want the veggies.

Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare your rolling station.

Place some of the meat mixture and some of the cheese into a tortilla.

Roll up so the meat and cheese are enclosed in the tortilla.  Place, seam-side down, in a greased casserole dish.  Repeat til your out of the meat mixture.  Set aside.

Stir 1/2 c sour cream into the meat juices in the small pot.  Do not boil.  They just need mixed together.

Pour the sauce over the enchiladas.

Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and begins to brown.

Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Enjoy!

Double-caffeinated beef Roast

Growing up, we ate a lot of roast beef.  Basically, every Sunday.  Always the same way: sprinkled with a packet of onion soup mix and cooked until it fell apart.  I still love it that way, but it gets a little blah. So I got to thinking about how I could make it differently.  I remembered a strange food we had when we lived in Tennessee, called red-eye gravy.  Basically, it's coffee gravy.  It wasn't one of my favorites, but it gave me a launching point for this roast.  The result?  WAY better than red-eye gravy!

This recipe is a two-step process, but that doesn't mean it's hard.   The first step, brining, is meant to infuse the meat with as much flavor as possible and keep it moist.  The second, a dry rub, reinforces the flavors while also creating a tasty crust on the meat as it cooks.

Here's what you'll need:

For the brine:
4 c brewed coffee, cooled
4 c cold water
1/4 c salt

For the rub:
1/4 c brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1 tsp Ancho chile powder
2 TBSP parsley
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 c bread crumbs (I used panko)
1/4 c freshly ground coffee (extra-fine, like for espresso)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Begin with the brine.  You'll want to start the brining process in the morning, or even the night before.
Combine the cooled coffee, water and salt in a dish deep enough to cover the roast.  Place a 3-5 pound beef roast (I used eye of round) in the bowl.  Pour the brining liquid over the roast.

Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours, up to over night.  When you're ready to cook it, remove the roast from the brine.  Pat it dry with paper towels.  Place in a shallow baking dish; set aside.

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine all the ingredients for the rub in a small bowl.  Mix well with a fork, making sure there's no lumps.
Pat the rub all over the surface of the roast.

Bake at 325 until the internal temp registers 140 (for medium), about 1 1/2 hours.

Remove from the oven.  Cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes.  This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, keeping it moist.  Slice and serve.

Enjoy!

Pot Roast

With the colder weather approaching, I begin to think of hearty dinners.  You know, comfort food.  Food that "sticks to your bones", as my dad would say.  There's just something about dish, slowly cooking, in the oven to fill the house with a delicious aroma, but it also seems to warm the heart.  There was a bit of a chill in the air today and I had a lot of things to do, so I decided on a pot roast.  With just a few steps to get it ready for the oven, it left me with plenty of time to accomplish other things, but still have a good meal on the table.

Here's what you'll need:
2-3 lb top round roast
1 lb new potatoes (small red ones)
3-4 carrots, peeled, cut into 2" chunks
1 onion, cut into wedges
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
2 c beef broth or water (if meat is frozen, skip the liquid)

Arrange vegetables in a large casserole dish.  Arrange the herbs over the vegetables.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Pour the beef both over the vegetables.  Place the beef roast on top.  Sprinkle the beef with 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

Cover with aluminum foil.  Seal tightly.  Bake at 325 for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.  I like mine to be fork-tender and falling apart.  If you like your meat firmer, bake it less.  Remove from oven and allow to rest 10 minutes. Remove the herb stems.  Slice the meat and serve with the vegetables.  Serves 4-6.

You can make gravy with the broth, or freeze it for later use.

Enjoy!