Pièce de Bœuf à la Mode Chaude

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4-to-5-quart (4-to-5-liter) heavy oval cocotte or Dutch oven
• •Larding needle, or a narrow boning knife and sturdy metal skewer
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Kitchen twine
• •Shallow saucepan for colouring the onions
• •Instant-read thermometer, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Lard the beef

   Twenty minutes before larding, toss the fatback batons with the 1½ tablespoons of brandy. Drain them, roll them in the chopped parsley, and chill briefly until firm. Insert the batons lengthwise through the beef with a larding needle, or open narrow channels with a slim boning knife and guide the fat through with a sturdy skewer. Space them evenly and keep them parallel to the grain. The amount looks generous because the classical proportion is roughly three ounces of fat for every pound of lean beef; the larding is not decoration, it protects the meat through its long braise. If one channel tears, press the meat back around the fat and retie it. Ça se rattrape.

   Ask the butcher to cut the fatback into long square strips. Smoked bacon perfumes the entire braise and changes its character, so use unsmoked fatback or firm unsmoked salt pork.
2. 2

   Marinate the beef

   Rub the larded beef all over with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Place it in a nonreactive vessel that holds it snugly, then pour over the red wine and ¼ cup of brandy, completing the dish-specific Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) named by the entry. Cover and refrigerate for four to five hours, turning the beef three or four times. The direct instruction for this dish governs the liquids: red wine and brandy, without vinegar or added sweetness. Set the marinade before lunch, and the cooking itself becomes one cook, one stove, one evening.

3. 3

   Ready the braise

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Lift the beef from its marinade, reserve every drop of liquid, and let the meat drain for thirty minutes before drying it thoroughly. Wet beef cannot brown. Have the browned-aromatic base from Ordinary Braisings (No. 247) ready, along with the calf's feet prepared through Blanchings (No. 273). Choose the smallest heavy cocotte that holds the beef and feet without crowding. A broad pot demands too much stock, and too much stock gives broth where you need sauce.

4. 4

   Brown every surface

   Heat the clarified butter in the cocotte until it is hot and quiet, then brown the beef deeply on every side, including both ends. Give each surface time to form a dark bronze crust before moving it. Lift the beef out. The brown film left on the pot floor is the fond, the foundation of the finished sauce. If any patch turns black, stop and transfer the beef to a clean pot, leaving the burned fat behind; bitterness cannot be reduced away, but the meat itself is unharmed.

5. 5

   Begin the first braise

   Set the browned-aromatic base from Ordinary Braisings (No. 247) in the cocotte and place the beef over it. Pour in the reserved marinade, scraping up the fond, and boil briskly until the liquid becomes syrupy around the aromatics. This reduction is the one true foundation of the braise: concentrate the wine before adding stock, or the sauce will remain thin and raw-tasting. Add enough stock to come nearly to the top of the beef, then arrange the tied calf's feet from Blanchings (No. 273) around it. Cover, bring the liquid just to a tremble, and braise in the oven for about two hours, turning and basting every forty minutes. If the liquid boils hard, lower the oven to 275°F (135°C); if it falls below halfway up the meat, add a little hot stock.

6. 6

   Prepare the garnish

   While the first braise continues, simmer the tapered carrot lozenges in a small ladleful of braising liquor until about two-thirds tender, roughly eight minutes, then lift them out. The professional garnish used carottes tournées, carrots trimmed into elongated olives. Cutting even tapered lozenges saves waste while preserving their size and cooking rate; the exact turning was brigade presentation, not the soul of the dish. Melt the butter in a shallow saucepan and roll the pearl onions through it over medium-low heat until golden on several sides and nearly tender. Lift them out with a slotted spoon. Most of that butter stays behind, but the generous butter bath colours the onions evenly. We don't apologize for butter.

7. 7

   Build the second braise

   When a thin knife enters the beef deeply but still meets resistance, lift out the meat and calf's feet. Strain the braising liquor through a fine sieve, pressing lightly on the aromatics, then discard the spent base. Wipe the cocotte clean instead of reaching for a second saucepan; that second pan served a brigade's organization, while a clean reused cocotte gives the same clear sauce at home. Remove the strings from the calf's feet and cut them into small square or rectangular pieces. Return the beef to the cocotte, surround it with the carrots, onions, and calf's-foot pieces, and pour the strained liquor over everything. Cover and braise gently for another forty-five to seventy-five minutes, until a knife passes into the beef without resistance.

8. 8

   Reduce the sauce

   Lift the beef and garnish to a warm dish. Skim the fat from the braising liquor, then reduce it over lively heat until it gleams and coats the back of a spoon in a light, even film. No roux is needed. The calf's feet have supplied the gelatin that gives the sauce its body. If the sauce is watery, keep reducing; if it becomes sticky or sets on the spoon like glue, loosen it with hot stock a tablespoon at a time. Ça se rattrape. Return the garnish to the sauce, warm it gently, and correct the salt.

9. 9

   Glaze and serve

   For the optional glaze, place the whole beef beneath a hot broiler, the home equivalent of the salamander, and brush it with a thin coat of sauce. Let the coat set for thirty to sixty seconds, brush again, and repeat two or three times until the surface shines like dark mahogany. Watch without wandering. If you plan to slice the beef before it reaches the table, skip the glazing; it is handsome, not essential. Rest the meat for ten minutes, slice it thickly across the grain, and coat it lightly with sauce. Serve the remaining sauce, carrots, onions, and pieces of calf's foot in a warmed bowl or timbale beside it. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Order the calf's feet from a proper butcher and ask for them boned, blanched, cooled, and tied through Blanchings (No. 273). Powdered gelatin can thicken a sauce, but it cannot provide the braised pieces that belong in this garnish.
• •Choose rump or top round with a clear grain and an even shape. Tender roasting cuts offer no advantage here; this preparation needs firm muscle that can remain intact through marinating, larding, and a long braise.
• •The pot matters more than its pedigree. A four-to-five-quart oval cocotte that holds the beef closely is better than an enormous copper braisière filled with unnecessary stock. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.
• •Use a dry, sound red wine with enough fruit to survive reduction, but little aggressive oak. Pour the same style at the table, or serve a mature cru Beaujolais whose freshness can meet the gelatin-rich sauce.
• •Chilled leftovers set firmly because of the calf's-foot gelatin. Reheat them covered at a bare tremble with a spoonful of stock, never at a hard boil, and the sauce will return to its gloss.

Advance Preparation

• •Arrange the calf's feet and fatback with the butcher several days ahead. The feet should arrive boned, blanched, cooled, and tied, ready to enter the braise.
• •The beef may be larded in the morning and held covered in the cold before its four-to-five-hour marinade. Do not leave it in the wine overnight, which can make the surface mealy.
• •The completed braise is excellent made a day ahead. Cool it promptly, refrigerate the meat and garnish in their sauce, then lift away the firm fat and reheat gently. Perform the optional glaze only after reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 520g)