Den Sorte Gryde

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy Dutch oven or cast iron casserole, 5-6 litre
• •Wide frying pan for the mushrooms
• •Tongs
• •Wooden spoon
• •Slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Render the bacon

   Warm a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon lardons with no fat at all. You want them to release their own fat slowly as they crisp. After eight or nine minutes they should be deeply golden and the bottom of the pot should be glossy with rendered fat. Lift the bacon out with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Leave every drop of the fat in the pot. That fat is the first layer of flavor and you'll build everything else on top of it.

   Starting the bacon in a cold pot is the trick. A hot pan seizes the outside before the fat releases, and you lose the richness you're trying to build.
2. 2

   Brown the beef

   Pat the beef cubes completely dry with kitchen paper. Wet meat steams, it doesn't brown. Season generously with salt and pepper, then dust lightly with a tablespoon of the flour. Add a tablespoon of oil to the bacon fat and heat it until it shimmers. Brown the beef in three batches, never crowding the pot. Each batch needs space to sear, not stew. You're looking for a deep mahogany crust on at least two sides of every cube, which takes about four minutes per batch. This is where the color of the finished sauce lives, and you cannot add it later.

   If the bottom of the pot starts to turn too dark between batches, pour in a splash of water and scrape it clean, then carry on. Dark fond is flavor. Burnt fond is bitterness.
3. 3

   Soften the onions

   With the last batch of beef removed, drop the butter into the pot and add the chopped onions with a good pinch of salt. Lower the heat and cook them gently for ten minutes, stirring often, scraping up the fond as they release their water. The onions should go translucent and then just start to turn golden at the edges. They'll pull all that browned flavor off the bottom of the pot and carry it into the sauce.

4. 4

   Build the base

   Stir in the tomato paste, the remaining tablespoon of flour, and the brown sugar. Cook this paste for two minutes, stirring constantly, until the tomato turns from bright red to brick and smells roasted rather than raw. This step is small but it matters. Raw tomato paste tastes tinny and flat. Cooked tomato paste tastes of depth, and depth is the whole point of this dish.

5. 5

   Pour in the beer and coffee

   Pour in the porter slowly. It will foam up the sides of the pot and lift every bit of fond off the base in one dark wave. Stir until the foam settles. Add the coffee and the stock, then return the beef and the bacon along with any juices that have gathered. Tuck in the bay leaves and the thyme sprigs. Bring everything to a gentle simmer. The liquid should come about three quarters of the way up the meat, not cover it completely. Braising isn't boiling.

   Use a porter or stout with real malt character, nothing hoppy. A hoppy beer goes bitter when it reduces, and you'll taste it in the finished sauce. Danish porter is ideal if you can find it.
6. 6

   The long braise

   Cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar and slide it into a 150C oven. A low, steady oven is more forgiving than a stovetop flame, which tends to catch on the base. Braise for two hours. Don't be tempted to lift the lid every ten minutes. The meat needs time and steady heat to give up its toughness and relax into something you can cut with the side of a spoon. This is the joy of waiting, and there's nothing to do in the meantime except the mashed potatoes.

7. 7

   Add the roots

   After two hours, pull the pot out and add the carrots and parsnips. Push them down into the sauce so they're mostly submerged. Return the pot to the oven for another forty-five minutes. The roots will cook through and soak up the dark braising liquid, but they'll still hold their shape at the edges. Root vegetables added at the start turn to mush, and mush isn't what this dish wants.

8. 8

   Mushrooms at the end

   While the stew finishes, heat a wide frying pan over high heat with a small knob of butter. Add the mushrooms in a single layer and don't stir them for the first two minutes. They need to sear, not sweat. When they've taken on color and released their water, season them with salt and tip the whole lot into the stew for the last ten minutes of cooking. Keeping the mushrooms separate until now means they stay meaty and dark instead of going slippery and grey.

9. 9

   Rest and serve

   Pull the pot from the oven and let it rest on the counter for ten minutes with the lid off. The sauce will settle and deepen. Taste it now. It should be dark, glossy, gently bitter from the coffee, malty from the beer, rich from the beef and bacon. Adjust the salt if it needs it. Fish out the bay leaves and the thyme stems. Ladle the stew over mashed potatoes or alongside thick slices of rugbrod, and scatter with snipped chives. This is winter in a bowl, cooked with love, and the table is where it happens. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •The beer is the backbone of the sauce, so choose it carefully. A Danish porter or a good dry stout is ideal. Avoid anything hoppy or citrus-forward, which turns bitter as it reduces. If you can't find Danish porter, a London-style porter works beautifully.
• •Use real brewed coffee, not instant. Whatever is in your morning pot is fine. The coffee shouldn't announce itself in the finished dish. It should sit underneath the beer and the beef like a shadow, deepening everything.
• •Den sorte gryde is better the day after you make it. The sauce settles, the flavors knit together, and the meat relaxes even further. If you have the time, cook it the day before you plan to serve it and reheat it gently.
• •Serve it with something that can carry the sauce. Mashed potatoes are the classic Danish choice, but a thick slice of rugbrod works beautifully too, especially for the last piece in the bowl when you want to mop up the final spoonful.

Advance Preparation

• •The stew can be made up to three days ahead. Cool completely, refrigerate, and reheat gently on the stovetop. The flavor improves overnight as the sauce settles.
• •Den sorte gryde freezes well for up to two months. Cool completely and freeze in portions. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating.
• •If you're making this for a dinner party, cook it the day before. On the day, all you need to do is warm it through, make the mashed potatoes, and snip the chives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 470g)