BOEUF A LA NICOISE: BRAISED BEEF STEW WITH RED WINE, OVEN DRIED TOMATOES, OLIVE & BUTTERED NOODLES

This past week, Mark's mom Dee Dee was in town for a little visit.  It was her first time seeing the house and she just adored it.  She and Mark spent the next several days catching up with old friends and neighbors from when they lived in Mandeville Canyon in the 60's, and then I'd join them after I got off work.  The first several nights were spent out on the town, first up dinner at BLD.  Then the next night to satisfy a prime rib craving, we all went to Lawry's (perhaps you know their famous seasoning salt) where we indulged in the famous Lawry's spinning salad prepared tableside, thick slabs of beef accompanied by a heaping mound of mashed potatoes, rich, creamed spinach, and Yorkshire pudding.  Friday night, although I'd planned to cook for us, after work I was a little frazzled and didn't feel like dealing with food, so we ended up going out for Indian, something Dee Dee never gets up in Santa Maria.  Saturday, the plan was for a small dinner party - Mark, myself, Dee Dee and Annie and Pierson.  Usually I like to spend several days conceiving the menu, but work has been crazy and I didn't have the time.  So upon my return from the gym that morning, I pulled out ol reliable, Sunday Suppers at Lucques.

The thing about Ms. Goin's cookbook, as I've mentioned before, is that the recipes are time consuming, often need to be started the night before and require trips to multiple supermarkets to track down all the ingredients.  However, this recipe was sort of unlike many of the others.  It require nothing terribly exotic that one can only find at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market, it was a bit time consuming (braising for 3 hours) but not terribly so.  It was totally something that I could put together that afternoon for dinner that evening.  Plus I liked the idea of doing one more slow-cooked, cozy meal before the weather gets too warm.

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds beef chuck, sliced into 1/2 to 2 inch cubes

1 tablespoon freshly cracked pepper

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, plus 6 sprigs

6 cloves garlic, smashed

the zest of 1 orange, 1/2 of it grated, the other 1/2 removed in strips with a vegetable peeler

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 a large yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)

1/2 a small fennel, diced (about 1/2 cup)

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced (about 1/2 cup)

1 bay leaf, preferably fresh

8 whole San Marzano canned tomatoes, plus 3/4 cup of the canning puree

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

4 cups beef stock

1/2 cup pitted Nicoise olives

1 pound pappardelle

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup fresh leaf parsley, chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

In a large bowl combine the beef, black pepper, 1 tablespoon of the thyme leaves, the crushed garlic and the grated orange zest.  Toss to coat and combine then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to over night.

Take the meat out of the refrigerator 45 minutes before cooking.  After 15 minutes, season it on all sides with about 1 tablespoon of salt.  Reserve the garlic.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Heat a large dutch oven over high heat for 3 minutes.  Pour in 3 tablespoons olive oil and wait a minute or two until the pan is very hot and almost smoking.  Place 1/3 of the meat in the pan being careful not to crowd it.  You will likely need to brown the meat in 3 batches.  Sear the meat until well browned on all sides, adjusting the heat as necessary.  This is a very important step so do not rush it.  As the batches of meat are browned, remove to a plate or rimmed baking sheet while you continue with the others.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, fennel, and carrot.  Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up the brown crusty bits in the bottom of the pan.  If it's too dry, add a couple tablespoons of water.  Next add the thyme sprigs, bay leaf, reserved garlic and the orange zest strips.  Cook for 6 to 8 minutes until the vegetables are caramelized.

Add the tomato puree and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat the vegetables.  Add the balsamic vinegar and reduce to a glaze.

Pour in the red wine, turn the heat to high and reduce by half, about 5 minutes.  Add the beef stock and bring to a boil.  Add the meat to the pot, scraping in any juices that have collected on the plate.  

Cover with a lid and braise in the oven for about 3 hours.

While the meat is cooking, cut the whole canned tomatoes in half lengthwise.  Slather the bottom of a small baking dish with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and then lay in the tomatoes, cut side up.  They should fit pretty snugly.  Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of thyme. 

Roast the tomatoes in the same oven for 1 1/2 hours, until they are shriveled and slightly caramelized on top.

Take the dutch oven out of the oven and uncover, being careful of steam.  Using a slotted spoon, gently remove the meat from the braising liquid and place on a rimmed baking sheet.  Turn the oven up to 400 degrees F.  Return the meat to the oven to caramelize for about 15 minutes.  

Meanwhile, bring the braising to a simmer and reduce by half, or at least until it's thickened.  

Add the olives to the sauce and turn off the heat.  

Once the beef is caramelized, gently add it back to the dutch oven and stir to coat with the sauce.

Serve the stew with something hearty like mashed potatoes or noodles tossed with butter and parsley, which is what I did.  Top the noodles with the stew and tuck in a few of the oven-dried tomatoes.

So I made another Suzanne Goin stew recipe that was sort of similar to this one, in terms of process at least.  What I like is straining the meat from the braising liquid and then caramelizing it in the oven.  As much as I love stews, many of them really have very little to offer in terms of texture variety.  It's all kind of the same.  Soft and or mushy.  But by straining out the meat to re-caramelize in the oven it gets crisp on the edges and yet is fall apart tender.  It's pretty great.  It also then gives you the opportunity to reduce the braising liquid as much or as little as you'd like.  I hate spending hours on a hearty meal like this only to have the sauce to be runny and oily.  This way, you have more control.

I also love drying out the canned, stewed tomatoes in the oven.  What a great idea.  The slow roasting, dries them out and concentrates their flavor and the result is slightly chewy and gives the stew a really welcome hit of acidity.  The orange zest adds a bright floral layer of flavor and the nicoise olives impart an almost sour, brininess that cuts through the richness of the reduced wine and stock.

As I mentioned before, you could serve this with some lovely mashed potatoes, but at Suzanne's suggestion, I served it with buttered noodles, well, perfectly al dente pappardelle.  It's kind of better than your regular old mash.  I'm all about texture and the pasta gives the meal another interesting texture.

Serves 6

Comments

[Kate]

That looks really good. And I love the noodles. Actually makes me crave Beef Stroganoff before the weather gets to warm. I haven't made oven roasted tomatoes in years but they're a terrific addition to a sandwich as well.

[sarahwise]

you've just blown my mind. again.

those tomatoes are cute!!

the name Dee Dee is cute!!

Glazes and Braises are cute!!

[marissa]

I've been waiting for you to post this one. glad it turned out so beautifully.

[Jessica]

I make tomatoes like that often -- they're good in a pasta dish as well, or even in a salad. Although I don't think I've done it with canned ones before. I usually just do it with roma tomatoes that are kind of tasteless otherwise (like, out of season).

[Dawn Smith]

Brilliant photo story..Thanks for sharing such lovely pictures...it looks delicious...must try recipe..uphere in U.S. i always have a hard time trying to find ingredients..one of my friend introduced me to a great resource www.myethnicworld.com and i thought that i pass great along as well.

[Sophie]

This looks so good, I just forwarded it to my husband saying that I'd love for him to make this dish some time! :D

[tennen-parman]

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[Lori]

I'm now officially in love with you. Or at least with your blog. In a pinch, I'd happily settle for your cooking. Six-degrees of separation: My partner used to work at the bagel shop in Ithaca, too. She quit after one too many drunken frat-boys shoplifting at 2am after the bars closed. Ah, the bad old days.

[Nan]

How much red wine? It's mentioned in the title and directions but missing in the ingredient list.

[napa red wine]

What a wonderful pairing with a full-bodied Napa red wine!