Friday, October 11, 2013

Boeuf à la mode (aka great pot roast)


Per Nana ~
Hubby has been asking for a pot roast for quite sometime, so when I saw the selection on this month's list, boeuf à la mode, I decided it was the time to make him happy. I marinated the ingredients over night as instructed, but I added some parsnips since they were in the crisper. The wine I used was called Red Cat, from the Finger Lakes region of New York, a nice hearty, fruity wine that worked well.

Sunday morning I removed the veggies and strained the wine to boil it down. Unfortunately, it boiled over instead. My stove top was a complete mess so I had to stop and wait for it to cool, so I could clean it. When I attempted to measure oil to sear  the meat, the bottle slipped from my hands and spilled into the toaster.   (at that point I should have quit, but didn't know what to do with all the ingredients.) I finally finished browning the meat, and the veggies (which, incidentally browned nicely, adding such a wonderful flavor) and put everything into the oven.
After about 30 minutes I realized I forgot the anchovies and tomato paste. I took some of the wine/ broth mixture and melted the anchovies with the tomato paste and then added it into the pot. I added some boiled potatoes at the end, and served it with horseradish sauce. This recipe turned out to be the best pot roast I have ever made, and although there are many steps to the recipe, the end result is fantastic.

Per Tricia ~
Just back from another trip to the west coast (San Francisco with hubby) and I ended up marinating this meat on THURSDAY night. Egad. Still turned out well for Friday night's dinner. 


I can't recall the last time (was there ever a time ??) that I made pot roast, so it was tough for me to do a comparison.  The thing I did think was cool was how the red wine marinated the meat. That I never did - but will definitely try again. 
When I went to flip it after several hours in the wine, the line of demarcation was amazing. I was praying I did not get the wine on much else in the kitchen, and that it would all come off my white Le Creuset.  Win win win. Not bad for 5.99 worth of vino.

That's a lot of gold medals for the price......

Hubby enjoyed the tenderness of this meat and the flavor was lovely. For those who are keeping track- no, the anchovies from my "do not call list" did not make it in. I wondered about the impact but when I read Dorie's comment that it added a subtle flavor, I figured it would not hurt much by excluding it. 

The only thing I missed from the equation was having a pot filled with veggies (other than the onion and the token carrot and celery) when the meal is ready to serve. But mashed potatoes on the side were lovely too. I wish I had made the celery root puree we had made before- it would have been a perfect compliment.

Happy French Friday ! 

PS- we went to an amazing new patisserie in San Fran- will have photos next week !!

16 comments:

  1. This was an amazing meal but I agree with Nana - too many steps! Both your dishes look great!

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  2. Your saga was interesting (not funny, however) but hooray that you got a great end result, Nana. I'm still cleaning the spilled milk from the rice pudding off my stove top. How does one get olive oil out of a toaster? Parsnips. My mom always included that veggie in soup and around roasts. It's just a vegetable I never use. Glad that after all ths mishaps your pot roast was delicious. And, Tricia, bravo for pulling things together over and over again. I loved hearing your stories about that in Seattle and glad to know you're "back at it". I agree - loved that celery root mash. Adriana had an interesting idea using cauliflower also. My mother (may she rest in peace) would very much appreciate your not using anchoives in your pot roast.

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  3. Love Nana's addition of parsnips, the dish looks awesome!
    Tricia's hubby's right!! That dish is FAB (the picture prove so!)

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  4. Nana, you are trooper. That's a lot to go wrong, but sounds like everything paid off in the end. Glad to hear it was loved all around.
    Tricia, I never made a pot roast before either. In fact, it's on the second time I ever ate one. I need to try again with a different cut of meat. Seems like everyone is saying that chuck is the way to go. Can't wait to see your SF bakery pix.

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  5. This is absolutely one of our favorites. You will love the addition of vegetables. I think the anchovies just deepen the flavor - it really doesn't taste like fish! Looking forward to seeing photos from your trip to SF.

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  6. Glad you both enjoyed the roast. Nana, sorry to hear about your boil over - not fun to clean! Hope the wine came out of yoyr La Creuset Trish.

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  7. Calling this recipe the best pot roast ever after the hassle of getting it on the table is wonderful. I'm sure it made all the cleanup worth it, Nana.

    I'm happy someone posted a picture of the very purple hunk of meat! That was probably the biggest surprise for me, other than the uncanny resemblance to my mother's version.

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  8. Both of your pot roasts look really nice! I love this dish, and have made it several times, although I have cut back the number of pots and pans I dirty when I make it.

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  9. Yup, it was a winner all around...we loved it, too! Poor Nana...glad yours finally made it to the oven. Though I did giggle at the olive oil and the toaster...yikes. Tricia, you are a jet setter...I love SF and glad you had a wonderful trip :)

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  10. Gorgeous pot roasts ladies!!! I wish I could have enjoyed a plate with you ;)
    Looking forward to your SF patisserie pics ;)
    So great meeting you both in Seattle and I'm so happy to find you on Facebook Tricia (aka Patty)....will be fun staying in touch!

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  11. Oh Nana! It sounds like you were having one of my kind of days... Hopefully the clean up wasn't too bad. I'm kind of partial to Finger Lake whites, myself :-)
    Tricia - hope your pan cleaned up. Sounds like a great trip!
    Have a great week.

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  12. Both of your roasts turned out fantastic! Kudos!

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  13. OH Nana, your dish looks so bright and tasty! And OH MY! What troubles in the kitchen... ! We all have those days don't we? For me, I trip over my kids and leave things out (not on purpose) or someone eats an integral ingredient sending me to the store in a flurry... LOL :) Either way, great save and sounds like you made both your hubby and your belly happy!

    Tricia, how funny is this?? We almost had the same bottle of wine!! That particular Rex Goliath is one of my favorites just for drinking and I sprung for a California wine since I'm here and the local wines are about as inexpensive... but how funny! :) Did you wear heels? I feel like you class up anything you are cooking in the kitchen if you rush home and cook in heels! :) Have a great weekend ladies!

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  14. Tricia - we are going to SF next month, any places we shouldn't miss out on? By the way, the pot roast looks fabulous and I missed the veggies in the pot also.

    Nana - the photos are so pretty. I feel like I could reach out and grab a plate of your pot roast!

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  15. Nana! I have had those days in the kitchen. We all have. Thank goodness that everything came out ok in the end. I love recipes which can stand up to a bit of forgetfulness in the kitchen.

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  16. I feel so fortunate that we met in Seattle. I love that you ladies are just who I expected you to be...funny! witty, and a BLAST!!!

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