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 !!