The recipe is one that Claude Monet enjoyed and he actually wrote this recipe down in his culinary journals — journals that were translated into the book Monet’s Table back in 1989.
This is a modification, by Monet’s kitchen staff, of a classic French dish, which originally included cooking for hours with a pig’s or calf’s food to make the cooking liquid jell. Here we forgo the animal parts for bacon. The beef is cooked for hours and hours, then allowed to cool and served with the baby vegetables sitting in wine and juices alongside the beef roast.
During a holiday week, when there is lots going on in your home, this is an excellent dish to consider for a casual yet elegant dinner. Long before there were “slow cooking recipes” the French had devised this braising technique to yield perfect beef, tender, moist and graced with penetrating vegetable flavors.
In the picture above, the top of the chilled beef has been adorned with aspic made from the strained and clarified meat cooking liquid. You can go that extra step or just top the beef with spoonfuls of the cooked vegetables. And you will see that the beef has been sliced horizontally with some of the vegetables layered inside. Monet was an artist to his core and his table reflected that dedication to beauty in every aspect of his life.
Cold Beef a la Mode
Yield: serves 8
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 4-5 slices bacon
- 2 ½ pounds boneless round beef roast
- 3 cups meat juices or broth
- 3 cups dry white wine
- 5 carrots
- 1 cup pearl onions
- 2 tablespoons brandy
Preparation:
Melt the butter in a deep pot and sauté the bacon in it. When the fat begins to melt, add the roast and brown it on both sides. Remove and reserve it. Add 1 cup of the meat juices or broth, and 1 cup of the wine, the carrots and onion. Return the meat to the liquid, cover and cook over very low heat.
While it is cooking, gradually add the rest of the meat juices or broth and the wine. Cook for 6 hours, then add the brandy. The meat should cook for at least 7 hours.
Let the beef cool to room temperature before removing it from the pot.
Source: Monet’s Table by Claire Jones [Simon and Schuster, 1989]