Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (75 page)

5)
Braising the beef—3½ to 4 hours or longer at 350 degrees

1 lb. (4 to 5 medium) tomatoes, not peeled, but halved, seeded, juiced, and roughly chopped (or a mixture of fresh tomatoes and strained canned tomatoes)

A 3- by 1-inch piece of dried orange peel, or 1 tsp dried pulverized orange peel

Optional Provençal flavoring: 6 to 7 anchovies packed in olive oil, drained, and mashed to a paste

More beef stock if needed

Stir the tomatoes, orange peel, and optional anchovies into the casserole, and more stock, if needed, so that liquid comes ⅔ to ¾ the way up the beef.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME-NOTE
: May be prepared in advance to this point; when cool, cover and refrigerate.

Salt to taste

Aluminum foil

Bring to simmer on top of the stove; salt lightly to taste if necessary. Lay the foil over the beef, cover the casserole, and set in lower third of preheated, 350-degree oven.

In about half an hour, check to see that liquid is simmering slowly, not bubbling fast: regulate oven throughout cooking so that liquid remains at a slow but definite simmer. Baste and turn the beef several times during cooking.

Beef is done when a fork pierces it easily, but it must not be cooked so long that it begins to fall apart. Aged, top-quality American beef usually takes 3½ hours; other grades or qualities may take an hour or so longer.

6)
Trimming the beef and finishing the sauce

Remove beef from casserole to a board or platter. Cut and discard trussing string, discard fat covering beef (or trim off suet adhering to beef and the gristle under it); trim off any loose bits of meat.

Remove bones from casserole, then pour contents of casserole through a sieve set over a large saucepan; press juices out of ingredients and into saucepan with a
wooden spoon. Discard contents of sieve. Let liquid settle a few minutes in saucepan, then skim off all surface fat with a spoon; bring liquid back to the simmer, skimming off additional fat. Taste very carefully for seasoning and strength. You should have 4 to 5 cups of richly fragrant sauce, deep reddish brown, and the consistency of a lightly thickened soup that would coat the meat nicely, and coats the spoon. If you feel sauce should be thicker or lacks depth of flavor, boil it down rapidly to concentrate it. If it seems necessary, add and simmer a pinch of herbs, garlic, or tomato paste or a little concentrated bouillon. (If sauce has reduced too much during braising, thin out with more stock or water.)

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTES
: You may complete recipe to this point; return beef to casserole and pour the sauce over it. Cover and keep warm, basting occasionally, in a 150-degree oven or upon 2 asbestos mats over low heat on top of the stove. For serving several hours or 2 days later, let cool, then cover and refrigerate; reheat for half an hour or so, basting and turning meat several times, in a 325-degree oven.

7)
Serving

CARVING AT THE TABLE
. Place the meat on a warm platter, spoon a little of the hot sauce over it to glaze its surface. Decorate platter with sprigs of parsley or watercress. Pass separately the rest of the sauce and whatever vegetables you are serving.

SERVING THE MEAT SLICED, ON A PLATTER
. Carve the meat in the kitchen and arrange in overlapping slices on a warm, slightly buttered platter. Spoon some of the sauce around the meat, and decorate platter with parsley or watercress, or with whatever vegetable garnish you wish. Pass rest of sauce and other vegetables separately.

Leftovers

Leftovers, whether sliced or not, may be reheated in the sauce, if any is left over, or in another sauce with the same flavorings. See also
the
tous nus
, and the
list of stuffings
, both calling for ground leftover
braised beef.

To serve cold

A delicious
salade de boeuf à la parisienne
is made with cold braised beef in Volume I, page 543, or an aspic,
boeuf mode en gelée
, again in Volume I, on page 556.

VARIATIONS

Boeuf en Caisse, Surprise

[Stuffed, Braised Pot Roast of Beef—Beef Case]

Like that present for the man who has everything, this is an enjoyable conceit for the cook who has cooked everything who wants to surprise guests who have eaten everything. A splendid piece of beef comes to the table looking like a typical
boeuf mode
. But no, it is not. When the host begins to serve, it is revealed
that the beef was ingeniously hollowed out before braising, filled with a fragrant garniture of onions, mushrooms, olives, and herbs, and these slowly imparted their flavors to the meat while it cooked. You might accompany this with the
purée of yellow squash and white beans
, or the
purée of rice and turnips with herbs and garlic
. Either a plainly cooked green vegetable or broiled tiny tomatoes might also be included, and the red wine choices would again be Burgundy, Côtes-du-Rhône, or Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

For 8 to 10 people

1)
Forming the beef case

A solid, boneless 6- to 7-lb. piece of braising beef, preferably loaf shaped (top round, face rump, or bottom round)

Trim all fat and gristle from outside of meat and cut off any protruding pieces, to make a neat shape. (The loaf shape illustrated is easiest to stuff and to carve, but a thick wedge will do.)

White string

Rendered pork fat, goose fat, or cooking oil

A heavy, 12-inch frying pan (no-stick recommended)

Meat is now to be browned, because it is easier to do so now than later; dry thoroughly in paper towels, and make several firm ties around its length and circumference, to hold its shape. Heat fat or oil in pan to very hot but not smoking, and brown meat on all sides and the two ends. Remove meat to a cutting board and discard trussing string. (If browning fat has burned, discard it, otherwise leave in pan for Step 2.)

The first step is to make the cover: starting at one end of what you have decided is the topside of the beef, cut an even slice ½ inch thick to within ½ inch at the other end, where slice remains attached like the cover of a book.