Boeuf a la Mode ~ Julia Child’s 54th Show
From Julia ~ A marinade tenderizes and flavours the meat, but if you do not have time to do it simply add all the listed ingredients to the braising casserole where indicated in the recipe.
Sirloin Tip Roast
1 cup each thinly sliced onions, carrots, celery stalks
Garlic to taste
Herb Bouquet – If you don’t have everything, use what you have. I had to use powdered allspice and celery seeds and it was fine.
1 TBSP thyme, 2 international bay leaves, 6 parsley sprigs, 4 allspice berries, 6 peppercorns, tied in cheesecloth.
1 TBSP salt
5 cups full bodied young red wine – burgundy, cotes-du-rhone, mountain red, or Chianti. I only had 1.5 cups of red wine left over from the braised beef ribs, and it turned out just fine. Use beef stock to make up the difference.
1/2 cup brandy (I didn’t have this)
1/2 cup olive oil
Mix all marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the roast. Baste and cover. Let it marinade for at least 6 hours. 12 – 24 hours is advisable. I did mine for 4 hours. Turn and baste meat every hour or so. Half an hour before cooking, remove the meat, drain on rack and dry thoroughly with paper towels.
Heat cast iron dutch oven, when it’s hot, add enough olive oil to cover bottom of pan. Oil should be almost smoking hot when you add meat. Braise the beef on all sides. I did 4 minutes on each side.
Discard oil and add marinade ingredients. Boil liquid down by half. Add beef, add enough beef stock or bouillon to come two thirds up the beef.
Cover tightly. I had it in a 325 oven for 2 hours, then realized I should have done it slower and turned it down to 25o for the last hour. I wrapped it in tin foil for 30 minutes to rest, while I did the gravy and potatoes. It was perfect, though not pink in the middle like I wanted. I should have done it at 250 the entire time until it was but was tender and full of flavour.
To make the gravy, pour the drippings through a sieve to capture the vegetables and herbs. Let the drippings set for a few minutes, then use a spoon to take the fat off. Add drippings back to the dutch oven. Bring to simmer. If you need to thicken, which I always seem to have to do, make a paste of butter and flour (I use equal parts, maybe slightly more flour than butter) whisk into the drippings so there is no lumps. Slice the meat, pour gravy over, add parsley. We used the creamy horseradish with this along with mashed potatoes. Delicious!
