Slow, oven-braised beef that’s full of flavor and fork tender.
When I first moved to France back in the early 90’s, a restaurant meal always started with a Kir, a glass of white wine with a dash of Crème de Cassis or its more grown up sister, a Kir Royal, made with champagne. Crème de Cassis is a blackcurrant liqueur and the very best comes from Dijon where the berries are macerated in oak vats for eight to ten weeks. I don’t know when this charming little apéritif went out of fashion, but you never hear it being offered in restaurants anymore, although recently, I read about it in the New York Times so maybe it’s having a comeback.
Lately I have discovered that Cassis is a lot more than just another pretty drink. This rich, dark red, berry liqueur can add subtle sophistication to a chocolate fondant, elegance to a creamy wine sauce poured over chicken breast or, as here, lifts the flavor of braised beef to lofty new heights.
A note on the cooking method:
For anything requiring a long simmer, I use the oven instead of the stovetop.
After I brown the meat, sauté the vegetables and add the liquid, I bring it all up to a boil, cover the ingredients with a piece of parchment, put the lid on the pot and place it in a oven preheated to 300 ° F (150° C). It is so much more convenient than the stovetop where I have to be mindful to stir the pot occasionally and check that nothing is sticking on the bottom.
But its’ not just about convenience. In the oven, the temperature stays constant, so I can really maintain a low simmer and the oven heat, coming from all directions, not just underneath, cooks the ingredients more evenly. Finally, since I am not stirring the ingredients and moving them around as I would if cooking on the stove, the meat and vegetables keep their shape better.
Putting a piece of parchment on the ingredients is optional but I find it protects the surface of the meat from drying out.
Serve with roasted potatoes.
Oven-braised Beef with Crème de Cassis
Ingredients
- Serves 8
- 5 lbs (2.25 kg) chuck or Paleron, cut into 2-inch cubes
- 2 to 3 marrowbones
- 1-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 carrot (150 g), peeled, cut into small dice
- 1 stalk celery (80 g), leaves included, cut into small dice
- 1 leek, (150 g), trimmed, cut into small dice
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 4 branches fresh thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 bottle red wine (burgundy if possible)
- 4 fl oz (120 ml) Crème de Cassis
- Parsley, chopped
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- For the beurre manié (flour-butter paste to thicken the sauce)
- 40 g flour
- 40 g butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300° F (150° C)
- Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Pat the beef dry and without seasoning it, add along with the marrowbones to the pot. Sear on all sides; do this in batches if necessary, giving each piece enough room to brown. Remove the meat and set aside.
- Turn down the heat and add the chopped vegetables, cook, stirring, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the peppercorns, thyme and bay leaves. Add the beef and pour in the wine, the liquid should just cover the meat, add a little water if necessary. Bring to a boil; cover the ingredients with parchment paper cut to fit the inside of the pot. Cover the pot with the lid, transfer to oven, and cook for 2 hours.
- After the 2-hour cooking time, remove the pot from the oven to check the tenderness of the meat and the liquid level. If the meat still needs more time in the oven, top up with water if the liquid has reduced by more than half, recover with the parchment and lid and continue cooking and checking every ½ hour until the meat is fork tender.
- While the meat cooks use your fingers or a fork to mix the softened butter and flour together to form the beurre manié paste.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a plate and cover with aluminum foil. Set a fine strainer over a 2 qt saucepan and strain cooking liquid, add the strained vegetables to the beef. Skim fat from the surface of the cooking liquid, add the crème de cassis and bring to a simmer. Allow the sauce to cook 5 minutes then take a teaspoon-size amount of the beurre manié and whisk it into the simmering sauce. Cook for at least 1 minute. If the sauce is not as thick as you would like, add more paste, one teaspoon at a time.
- Transfer the meat and vegetables to a serving dish. Pour sauce over the meat. Serve hot and garnished with parsley.
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https://www.charlottepuckette.com/recipes/main-dish-meatpoultry/oven-braised-beef-with-creme-de-cassis/
