The latest issue of Food and Wine Magazine arrived on my coffee table last Saturday and the meal on the front cover, Jacques Pepin’s Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce was on our dinner table the next night.
This meal brings a whole new meaning to the clever quote “I love cooking with wine and sometimes I even put it in the food“. One full 750ml bottle of a full-bodied red wine is the only liquid used to slow braise the beef for this stew.
The recipe calls for two pounds of flatiron or chuck roast. I used this round roast that was on sale. Jaques instructs to cut the meat into eight pieces.
The meat is browned, then dusted with flour and seasoned simply with sauteed chopped onion, garlic, fresh thyme and salt and pepper. Add the bottle of red wine and it’s ready for a braise in the oven. We used Henry’s Drive 2009 Pillar Box Red, an Australian Shiraz, Cabernet, Merlot blend.
Incredible dish. The end result is tender fall apart chunks of beef and a wine reduction sauce that is a thick, opulent and rich treat.
Wisely cooking the vegetables separately with some pancetta, and adding them at the end, keeps the carrots sweet, the mushrooms earthy and the pearl onions crunchy.
The lead in paragraph to this recipe reads:
This is the quintessential beef stew. Jacques Pépin’s mother served it at her restaurant, Le Pélican, where she made it with tougher cuts of meat. Jacques likes the flatiron—a long, narrow cut that’s extremely lean but becomes tender and stays moist. He doesn’t use stock, demiglace or even water in his stew, relying on robust red wine for the deep-flavored sauce.
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds trimmed beef flatiron steak or chuck, cut into 8 pieces
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- One 750-milliliter bottle dry red wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 thyme sprig
- One 5-ounce piece of pancetta
- 15 pearl or small cipollini onions, peeled
- 15 cremini mushrooms
- 15 baby carrots, peeled
- Sugar
- Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
- Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, melt the butter in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Arrange the meat in the casserole in a single layer and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 8 minutes.
- Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir to coat the meat with it. Add the wine, bay leaves and thyme, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Cover the casserole and transfer it to the oven. Cook the stew for 1½ hours, until the meat is very tender and the sauce is flavorful.
- Meanwhile, in a saucepan, cover the pancetta with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain the pancetta and slice it ½ inch thick, then cut the slices into 1-inch-wide lardons.
- In a large skillet, combine the pancetta, pearl onions, mushrooms and carrots. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, ¼ cup of water and a large pinch each of sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until almost all of the water has evaporated, 15 minutes. Uncover and cook over high heat, tossing, until the vegetables are tender and nicely browned, about 4 minutes.
- To serve, stir some of the vegetables and lardons into the stew and scatter the rest on top as a garnish. Top with a little chopped parsley and serve.
Jacques Pepin’s Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce…It’s What’s for Dinner.
Beef, LOTS of red wine and long simmering… you can never go wrong. French and also my (Palatinate) kind of cooking. What a delicious dinner. You should have phoned, we would have been over in a wink.
Then I wouldn’t have had leftovers!
When I was younger I would rather go to bed than eat beef stew….. I’m so very glad I grew out of that phase!! This looks wonderful!
How funny. I’m pretty sure I’ve always liked it.
I so admire Jacques Pepin. Every time that I flip through the guide and see his name I click on his show. Anything he cooks look delicious including this recipe. Love the leftovers from dishes like this too.
I think he’s the best chef I’ve ever watched prepare, explain and execute recipes. Love him.
I love the looks of this Lea Ann. For most of my life, beef stew ingredients were cut small – think Dinty Moore – but I prefer the larger pieces. Cooking the veggies seperately makes a lot of sense as all they need is to be in the gravy for a few minutes. Your presentation looks outstanding – almost makes me wonder if you hand placed those carrots
.
A Julia Child Quote comes to mind “If your food comes out perfectly arranged, it means someone’s hands have been all over it.”
Looks delicious. I love Jacques.
Sam
Jacques is the man! Good to hear from you Sam.
Golf clap! What a great job you did on this post, from the recipe, execution, and the pics too. She shoots, she scores!
Gorgeous meal, Lea Ann!
LOL, thanks Chris.
Wow… this sounds just wonderful!
It was wonderful Karen.
This sounds sinfully delicious, Lea Ann! I love beef stew, I love red wine, I love thyme, . . . win, win, wine!!
I am smitten with cutting the meat into eighths for some reason. Seriously, I will making this one. Wonderful photos as always – especially that last one. Wow!
Those big chunks did make for a nice presentation in the bowl. We really liked this recipe. At first the kitchen smelled so “alcoholic”. But the wine simmers down into a wonderful rich flavor. Thanks for the compliment on the photos. Like black dogs, beef is hard to photograph.
I never turn down cooking with wine. I used to watch Jaques Pepin on PBS, love the homestyle food. Love that this has only wine and no tomato.
I didn’t even thick about the tomato part. Yup, I usually put tomatoes in my beef stew.
mouth-watering… nothing better than a hearty stew on cold nights like we’ve been having – high 20′s to low 30′s and you know that is cold for us…. this would be perfect…. great photos
Thanks Drick. Yikes, you’re getting some cold weather!
Dang! My F&W subscription expired about two months ago! This looks wonderful.
That happened with me with the Food Network magazine. After I cancelled, someone posted a kick butt recipe from the latest issue.
How I like those kind of dishes ! It looks fabulous.
I would expect nothing less Axelle! Afterall, you’re one of the experts on this kind of dish.
Hey, that’s my Dutch oven!
I love Jacques! I will give this a try this weekend, it’s supposed to be stormy all weekend – perfect for stew!
There is nothing better when the weather is cold than a pot of slow simmered beef stew. I always cook the veggies separately as well so they retain their own flavor and texture. Love the whole carrots on the plate.
This looks amazingly delicious! I love slow-roasted and braised meat dishes. Perfect for Sunday dinner!
Thank you Susan! I’m with you and that affection for braised meat dishes.
Shame I’ve just finished my Sunday roast Lea Ann, I’ll pencil this one in for next Sunday. Delicious.
Roasts and Sundays are just made for each other aren’t they David.