Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (72 page)

4)
Browning the paupiette—preheat oven to 450 degrees

Pork fat or cooking oil

A heavy casserole, preferably oval, and just large enough to hold the meat

A medium onion roughly sliced

A medium carrot roughly sliced

(The
paupiette
is soft and must be handled carefully to prevent stuffing from bursting out; it will stiffen after browning.) Pat meat gently with paper towels to dry it. Film casserole with ⅛ inch of fat or oil, and place meat seam-side up in casserole. Strew vegetables around meat. Brown over moderate heat, loosening bottom of meat carefully with a spatula from time to time to prevent sticking. Baste top of meat with fat in pan and set uncovered in upper-middle level of oven to brown top and sides. Baste every 3 to 4 minutes with fat or oil for the 12 to 15 minutes it will take to brown. Remove casserole from oven.

5)
Braising—1½ to 2 hours; oven at 325 degrees

Salt, pepper, and more of the same herbs

1½ cups dry white wine or dry white French vermouth

1½ or more cups beef stock or bouillon

Aluminum foil and the casserole cover

Turn down oven to 325 degrees. Season the meat with salt, pepper, and herbs. Pour in the wine and enough stock or bouillon to come ½ to ⅔ the way up the meat. Bring to the simmer on top of the stove. If you are using it, drape suet over meat. Place foil on top, cover the casserole, and place in middle level of oven. Baste meat several times during cooking, and regulate oven heat so that liquid is only slowly simmering in casserole.
Paupiette
is done when a knife will pierce the meat easily.

TIMING
: 1½ to 2 hours for top-grade beef; as much as an hour more for other cuts and qualities.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTES
: Meat may be either stuffed or browned in advance of braising. Braised meat may be kept warm in a 120-degree oven for an hour or more. It may be cooled and reheated, but will not have quite the same delicious texture.

6)
Sauce and serving

A hot serving platter

A sieve set over a saucepan

If needed: 1 Tb of cornstarch blended with 2 Tb white wine, vermouth, or stock

2 Tb soft butter

A hot sauce bowl

Watercress, parsley, or whatever vegetables you wish, to garnish platter

Remove
paupiette
to hot platter, discard strings and fat, replace foil cover over meat, and keep warm in turned-off oven. Strain cooking liquid into saucepan, pressing juice out of braising ingredients. Skim off fat. You should have 1½ to 2 cups liquid slightly thickened by the braising ingredients and the crumbs in the stuffing. (If thin, remove from heat, beat in cornstarch mixture, and simmer for 2 minutes.) Correct seasoning. Just before serving, stir in butter, a half spoonful at a time, spoon a little sauce over meat, and pour rest into sauce bowl. Garnish platter with greenery or vegetables, and serve immediately.

Other stuffings—other garnishings

In addition to the green-pepper stuffing and the garlic and rice stuffing in the following variations, and the veal and pork stuffing on page 319 in Volume I,
other possibilities
are
listed
. Rather than the braising and sauce-making system described here, you may follow that for
the
daube
, or for the
beef stews
and their variations, which include
pistou, pipérade
, and ginger flavorings.

VARIATION

The following recipe describes the procedure for making individual
paupiettes
. We have suggested large and luxurious slices of meat; the stuffing is
spread over them, and the slice is rolled up like a rug. When you wish to be more economical, make twice the amount of stuffing, use beef slices half as large, and rather than rolling like a rug, fold the meat around the stuffing to enclose it, almost exactly as illustrated for the
stuffed cabbage leaves
.

Paupiettes de Boeuf à la Catalane

[Beef Rolls Stuffed with Peppers, Onions, and Mustard Bread]

For 4 paupiettes, 1 per person

1)
Preparing the beef for stuffing

4 slices of top round of beef 10 to 12 by 6 to 7 inches and ⅜ inch thick (
see Beef Cuts for Stews
)

Waxed paper

A mallet or rolling pin

Salt and pepper

½ tsp thyme or oregano

(If you cannot have the beef sliced to your order and have difficulty at home, you can freeze the piece of beef and slice when not quite stiffened, or when partially thawed. This will not harm the meat at all.) Trim off all outside fat and gristle. One by one, pound each slice between sheets of waxed paper with a mallet or rolling pin, to break down the fibers somewhat and to prevent meat from cooking out of shape. Lay out flat, season tops with salt, pepper, and herbs.

2)
Green-pepper, onion, and mustard-bread stuffing—for 3 cups

1½ cups minced onions

1 tsp mixed, ground thyme, bay leaf, and oregano, or mixed herbs such as Provençal or Italian seasoning

Olive oil or cooking oil as needed

A medium (10-inch) frying pan (no-stick recommended)

1½ cups diced green bell peppers (2 medium peppers)

A mixing bowl

3 slices light rye bread