Yesterday was National Drink Wine Day….so in honor of that I am sharing one of my favorite go to, heart warming, phenomenal tasting, beef braises (I like that word better than stew).  Now the first secret to making a tender braise is to not buy the “stew” meat they sell in the market because it’s generally just butchers’ scraps. Which means that there is loin meat in the mix and that particular cut of meat doesn’t lend itself to low and slow cooking. If you use loin meat your braise will be stringy and tough. The optimal cut for a slow braise is a Beef Chuck Roast, a Pork Butt (which really is the Shoulder),  or a Lamb Shoulder. Here’s my recipe tenderly adapted over the ages! Please enjoy it’s been perfected to a tee.

Beef Braise (Stew, Bourgignon, Ragout de Beouf)

Ingredients

1T olive oil

8 ounces applewood smoked bacon, diced

2 – 3  pounds chuck roast (I leave mine whole but you can easily cut it into cubes for a more stew appearance)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 carrots, sliced in half diagonally

2 carrots cut in small 1/2″ pieces

1 yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup Cognac

2 cups good red wine

2 cups beef broth

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 sprigs fresh thyme

3 springs fresh parsley

2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 pound frozen whole onions

1 pound fresh mushrooms quartered

Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate.

Season the meat with salt and pepper.  Add the oil to the Dutch oven and sear the Roast on both sides. You want a really nice brown sear to the meat. Remember brown means flavor.  Remove the beef and add to the plate with the bacon and  Set aside.

Toss the halved carrots, halved celery and diced onions into the pan and cook for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are nicely caramelized. Add 1 t of salt and 1/2 t pepper. Add the tomato paste and brown slightly for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.  Stir everything together and add the Cognac, let it simmer for 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook for 3 minutes then pour in the stock and bring everything to a simmer.  Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with any juices that collected. Tie the thyme and parsley together in a bundle and add them to the pot. Put the lid on and place it in the over for 2 1/2  hours.

Take the carrots, the celery and the thyme/parsley bundle out of the braise. Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions, the mushrooms and the 2 carrots you chopped earlier. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

Sprinkle with the parsley, taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Note: I discard the carrots and the celery from the braise because they are too soft for my palette. They do taste wonderful though because my husband actually waits until I remove them from the pot and sneaks in the kitchen to eat them before I give them to the dogs with their dinner!

Now what to serve this wonderful dish with.  My daughter and I love polenta, my sons love mashed potatoes and my husband loves a pappradelle pasta.  A Kale salad with a classic vinaigrette, a Kuleto Zinfandel, your family and life doesn’t get any better. This is a great Sunday night Family dinner.