By Tamar Adler
- Total Time
- 6 hours, plus resting
- Rating
- 4(295)
- Notes
- Read community notes
At the apogee of cooking in vino is this dish, which involves a whole beef roast. As befits a thing that humans have been eating since before computers, before cars, before guns — perhaps before science itself — boeuf à la mode tastes less invented than it does discovered. The best strategy is to cook it a day before you plan to serve it; it tastes better reheated than immediately, and the seasoning is most even and best distributed when it has time to spend in its rich broth.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- Kosher salt to taste
- 14-pound chuck eye roast, in a single tied piece if possible
- ½ to 1teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1allspice berry, freshly grated
- Olive oil for the pan
- ½cup onion, chopped or sliced
- ½cup carrot, chopped
- ½cup celery, chopped
- 1tablespoon tomato paste
- A few garlic cloves, peeled
- 1bottle good, light-bodied red wine
- ⅓cup cognac or brandy
- 1pig's foot or beef or veal knuckle
- 1bouquet garni of a few sprigs of thyme and a small handful of parsley stems
- 2bay leaves
- ½ to 1cup dried porcini mushrooms
- 2 to 4cups beef stock
- Optional: a cup of parsley, finely chopped; the peel of one lemon, finely chopped; 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
685 calories; 35 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 18 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 55 grams protein; 1251 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
A day before cooking, salt the roast very well with kosher salt, at least twice as well as you feel comfortable doing. Season with the other spices, trying to distribute them more or less evenly. Use the full teaspoon of nutmeg if you like the flavor of nutmeg, the half if you are skeptical. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
Step
2
Bring the roast to room temperature before cooking. Heat oven to 300 degrees. In a heavy casserole, brown the roast on all sides in hot olive oil over medium heat. It should take about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove roast to a plate. Deglaze the pan with the onion, carrot, celery and tomato paste, and stir well, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic and the wine and cognac. Cook over high heat, boiling until reduced by half. Add the roast, pig’s foot, bouquet garni, bay leaves, mushrooms and enough beef stock to cover roast about halfway up. Cook in oven, covered, 3 to 4 hours, until totally tender.
Step
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If you are serving the following day, allow to cool overnight in its broth in the refrigerator. Then remove the fat that has settled on top, remove the roast, warm all the braising juices, the pig’s foot and the vegetables, and then strain it through a fine sieve, so that only the glossy broth remains. If you are serving it the day you cook it, remove the finished roast, strain the broth and then skim the fat the best you can from its surface with a ladle.
Step
4
Taste the broth. If it tastes too acidic — as it may or may not, depending on your taste and on the wine used — add up to another cup or 2 of beef broth. The foot will have given it enough body to withstand being thinned. Do any other adjusting of seasoning you like. Remove the twine from the roast, and return it to its broth until ready to reheat and serve.
Step
5
Then reheat the boeuf in its flavorful sauce, remove to a cutting board and cut into thick slices, pouring sauce over all of them, and serving more at the table. Serves 6, heartily.
Step
6
I like this best with a big handful of gremolata, the Italian condiment, on top. It is not at all French, and not at all how this is traditionally served. But it is very delicious. To make it, combine the chopped parsley, finely chopped lemon zest and finely chopped garlic in a bowl, and add a very small pinch of coarse salt.
Tip
Ratings
4
out of 5
295
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Cooking Notes
Janet
I'd bring it to room temp, heat the liquid in a slow oven or over low heat (covered), add sliced meat and make sure the liquid doesn't come to a boil while the meat gets hot enough to serve.
Tom
What Janet said. Properly braised beef is not overcooked, and you want to keep it that way. Food safety procedures are a good idea. Work only with the amount you want to eat at the time. Heat the liquid separately to near boil and hold it there for a few minutes. Add slices of meat. After a minute, reduce heat a bit. Turn meat around to circulate heat. Don't let it get too hot or reheat too long or you end up with "dried out" cardboard-like stuff.
Linnie8
How does one grate an allspice berry? (I always have them on hand and use them in similar recipes and have never seen directions to grate one).
Carol
What is the best way to reheat if made the day before, so as to not overcook the meat?
Karsten
Instead of reducing it, I added some beurre manie (google it). Essentially butter and flour mixture to thicken and make the sauce extra silky.
Jolivore
Don't call it gremolata, call it a "persiflage".
andrea
Great meal for a cold Winter's night. After cooling we removed the fat, strained the broth, then added the cooked veggies back to the broth and whirled it around with an emersion blender. This thickened the broth up abit.
Jennie B
I grind it with a mortar and pestle
tom hayden
...in another favorite version I have used a sweet, very stout beer instead of wine, perhaps one with chocolate or coffee notes.
Marqua1
Truly a happy meal! And I served it over grits, which was heavenly.
Since I didn't have any allspice berries, I left it out. Also substituted applejack for the cognac/brandy. Finally, substituted fresh sliced baby bella mushrooms for the dried-porcini-that-I-didn't-have-either. All happy changes!
Karen
Recipe calls for slicing after the boeuf is reheated?
Cheryl
I would definitely not use a ham hock if it was smoked. It would overpower every other element in the dish. A fresh one would work.
gretchen
Made this yesterday and it was amazing. Used quatre-epices and salt the night before, and used beef shin (along with locally made bone broth as stock) during braise. Skipped the rest/reheat day, but did slice with a very sharp knife and served on a heated platter. Flavor, texture, and body of meat and sauce all lovely. Will totally make this again, next time for guests.
Tamar Adler
A friend wrote me an email asking the same thing. I think you might grind it. I can only assume that, victim to the law of the hammer, at the moment when I was ready for ground allspice, a microplane was nearer than my spice grinder, so it was what I used. It's actually quite easy--you hold the microplane, and grate the berry. But a grinder requires less dexterity. Mea culpa.
Tamar Adler
Sorry it's taken me so long to reply. Braises are hard to gauge by internal temp. because even once it's reached, they have to be cooked for a long time for collagen etc. to break down. Two solutions: try a fattier cut next time, or a fattier breed of cow; or instead of salting, brine, by making very salty salt water with an allspice berry and a bay leaf in it, and let the roast sit in that overnight, then proceed.
Ian Finseth
In my experience, it takes at least 15 minutes -- and more like 20 -- to properly brown a 4-pound roast.
Ellen Perduyn, Akron, Ohio
I had on hand 2 c of whey from making cheese and used part to make 1 c of beef stock (with beef paste, not crystals which are too salty) for the stock. I felt better about not tossing it “away” and the chuck roast sauce was thick and rich.
Will
Followed the recipe exactly, and surprise, it was amazing. Nutmeg on beef… wow. Served alongside roasted kohlrabi.Okay, I did improvise a little, with some carrot-top mixed in to the gremolata. Which was a nice full-circle moment for the carrot.
Lisa G
This is a wonderful dish. I didn’t have any feet or knuckles so omitted those, but added parsnips as well. We ate it the first night and again on the second and it was better the second day. The porcini mushrooms are a must!
Michael Verdi
Excellent recipe. Make sure to COVER the roast when it’s in the oven. I glossed over that direction. Without a cover, the liquids temp rises too quickly cooking the roast much faster. In my case a 4lb roast cooked in about 1.5 hours.
Matt K
Could one substitute gelatin for the pigs foot? If so - any idea how much and when to add it?
Jenz
Might it be a good idea to roast the veal's knuckle first? As you would do with bones when cooking a "Jus". Or would the outcome be too intense? Is there even a too intense?
ABG
Hmm. Made this on a lazy Sunday - as written except pork spine instead of foot (none at my store - the leftover gravy gelled nicely, so no lack of gelatine) and mixed dried mushrooms instead of straight porcini. Used the full amount of nutmeg and a couple extra allspice. It turned out fine but not really better than other lower rent recipes for this cut I've tried. The wine, mushrooms and brandy add an extra $20, at least, and I didn't feel it paid off the dividends it should have.
mary
Great recipe! I forgot the brandy and used crimini, chanterelles and allspice from a tin. I had made broth with pig feet ( in a crock pot) and froze it and used some instead of the beef broth. I used a little more tomato paste. This was rich and flavorful. I reheated it the next day after skimming off the fat and slicing it. Wonderful with mashed potatoes.The crock pot pig foot broth is like money in the bank. Use it for onion soup, pot roasts etc.
Jane
I substituted 1/2 packet of gelatin for the veal knuckle.
Richard
I always use chicken broth instead of beef broth, or half chicken broth and half beef broth. Beef broth can have an acidic taste, and chicken broth adds a nice richness. Credit to Cooks Illustrated for this tip.
Sally
I used a beef knuckle, crimini mushrooms and a petite shirah for the wine. Put it in a slow cooker for 5 hours - fantastic favor and very easy. It was like a beef bourginon (sp?) but not so heavy. (I added more veggies to the leftovers and had a rich and hearty beef & vegetable soup - bonus!)
Sue
The sauce is amazing. (How could it not be?) My roast was a little smaller than specified, and I tried to carefully gauge the cooking time, but it was a little bit dry. Is there an internal temperature recommended, to guide me next time?
Tamar Adler
Sorry it's taken me so long to reply. Braises are hard to gauge by internal temp. because even once it's reached, they have to be cooked for a long time for collagen etc. to break down. Two solutions: try a fattier cut next time, or a fattier breed of cow; or instead of salting, brine, by making very salty salt water with an allspice berry and a bay leaf in it, and let the roast sit in that overnight, then proceed.
Marqua1
Truly a happy meal! And I served it over grits, which was heavenly.
Since I didn't have any allspice berries, I left it out. Also substituted applejack for the cognac/brandy. Finally, substituted fresh sliced baby bella mushrooms for the dried-porcini-that-I-didn't-have-either. All happy changes!
Liz
Wow. So tender and the gravy was delicious. I used homemade beef broth from beef shanks and half a bottle of Barolo. Also I used short ribs instead of knuckle. I thickened the broth with a bit of Wondra flour to make it more gravy-like. My new favorite pot roast recipe!
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