Category Archives: Beef
boeuf à la ficelle {ffwd}
Winter weather calls for hearty fare at the dinner table. With the arrival of another foot of snow on Wednesday, this week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie fit that bill. Have you ever heard of boeuf à la ficelle, or beef on a string? I hadn’t. No great surprise because Dorie says even in France, this is une recette perdue (a lost recipe). Beef on a string isn’t the most inspiring name. Believe it or not, we’re talking about beef tenderloin and winter vegetables poached in homemade bouillon.
The homemade bouillon was a bit of mystery. What’s the difference between bouillon and stock? The best answer I could come up with is that stock is made from bones and bouillon made of meat. The bouillon resembled stock, but in addition to some marrow bones, it also called for an oxtail, which is pretty meaty. The bones, oxtail, and onion are browned, then simmered with other vegetables and some spices. In the end, Dorie says to discard all the solids because they’ve given up their flavor. I’ll admit that as a good “dog mom”, I picked the meat off the oxtail pieces and scooped the marrow out of the bones to dress up Bella’s meals this week. She hasn’t seemed to notice any lack of flavor.
To make dinner, I simmered an assortment of vegetables, most of which I had in my mini root cellar in the basement (i.e. a big plastic container filled with sand next to the drafty door) in the bouillon.
For the beef, I used a tenderloin filet which was about half the size called for, but perfect for the two of us. I tied the beef up with string (to make it easy to retrieve from the pot, I guess) and poached it in the bouillon until it was rare.
This makes a lovely presentation: sliced beef surrounded with vegetables in a sea of bouillon. I served with Dijon and seeded mustard and horseradish to let us each season the bowl as we wished. I particularly liked the zing the horseradish and mustard gave to the bouillon in the bowl. And Howard rated this three thumbs up, very high praise!
We have enough beef and vegetables for another night of leftovers, and there is so much bouillon left, I see some beef and barley soup on the weekend’s menu. An everlasting meal. My favorite kind.
The recipe is available on-line here or you can find it in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. To see what other Doristas thought of this recipe, check out their posts here.
Chilly
I always find it curious that one of our favorite hearty meals to bring cold weather comfort is a homonym of the weather: Chili. And, it has been very chilly around here for the past few days. The first few days after last week’s snowstorm were glorious. The sun was shining, and though it was cold, the world was sparkling and bright. Howard and I went snowshoeing in the woods near our house with Bella, who enjoyed romping in the drifting snow.
Now it’s downright arctic with the thermometer reading in the teens and the wind taking things down towards zero. The end is in sight, but it is cold.
Chilly weather cries out for chili. A big giant pot of chili. So that’s what happened in my kitchen. There are so many different variations. I have a handful of different recipes I like making over and over. I like testing out new ones too. I even have a cookbook with just chili recipes. This weekend, I went with a tried-and-true recipe, the one I’ve been making since I had my first apartment.
There’s nothing special about this chili. It has all the expected elements: ground beef, beans, chili powder. It’s easy to prepare, can be on the table in an hour, and always hits the spot. This recipe can be tweaked for your preferences. I use a mild chili powder with some jalapeno. You can easily turn up the heat with a hotter chili powder or more jalapeno. I’ve made this with ground turkey. I’ve also made with half the meat. Any kind of bean works well: red kidney, black, pinto. The following is just this week’s version.
Chili for Chilly Weather
Serves 6
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, finely chopped
3-4 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 Tbsp finely minced garlic
1 finely minced jalapeno, fresh or pickled (optional)
1 Tbsp crumbled dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
2 bay leaves
2 tsp ground cumin
¼ cup mild chili powder
1-28-oz can whole tomatoes in puree, tomatoes chopped or broken by hand into smaller pieces
1 cup beef broth
1 cup water
Salt & ground pepper
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained or 2 cups cooked kidney beans
Sour cream, lime wedges, and diced avocado to garnish
In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, heat the oil and add the meat. Cook, breaking down the lumps with a spoon as it browns. Add the onions, green pepper, celery, garlic, jalapeno, oregano, bay leaves, cumin and chili powder. Stir to blend well. Add the tomatoes, broth, water, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook about 20 minutes, stirring often. Add the beans and cook about 10 more minutes.
Serve in bowls over white rice and garnished with sour cream, lime wedges, and diced avocado. Cornbread with honey butter goes well on the side.
Thoughts on January from the cool new set of monthly inspirations my sister Jane gave me.
A Plateful of Happiness 