Serves 22
230 min
Aromatic Wine-Braised Beef
Recipe GLPR31417bcdbeb0e8
A classic wine-braised beef dish where chuck steak portions are slowly braised in dry red wine with aromatic vegetables, herbs, and spices until meltingly tender. The beef is browned first to develop depth of flavor, then combined with shallots, carrots, onions, fresh parsley, bay leaves, star anise, and peppercorns. After several hours in a low oven, the meat becomes rich and succulent, bathed in a reduced wine-based sauce. This elegant main course celebrates the depth that comes from patient braising and quality ingredients.
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Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 pounds beef chuck steak with bone, cut into 8 portions
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 bottles dry red or white wine
24 shallots, quartered
4 carrots, quartered
2 large onions, quartered
1 large bunch fresh parsley
Several fresh bay leaves
2 whole star anise
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
Directions
Preheat your oven to 300°F. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole or Dutch oven, combine the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the mixture is hot and shimmering, work with the beef in batches to avoid overcrowding. Brown each piece for approximately 4 minutes on each side, developing a rich golden crust. Transfer each browned portion to a clean platter and season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Pour 1/2 cup of the wine into the casserole and use a metal spatula to scrape up all the flavorful browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan—this builds depth in your sauce. Return all the browned beef pieces to the casserole. Add the quartered shallots, carrots, and onions, along with the bundle of fresh parsley and bay leaves (tied securely with kitchen string), the whole star anise, and the black peppercorns. Pour in the remaining wine until the ingredients are mostly covered. Place a sheet of buttered wax paper directly on the surface of the ingredients, then cover the casserole with its lid.
Bring the liquid to a gentle boil on the stovetop, then carefully transfer the entire casserole to the preheated 300°F oven. Braise for approximately 3 hours, or until the beef is extremely tender and almost falling apart when tested with a fork. The meat should reach a minimum internal temperature of 145°F.
When the beef is done braising, remove the casserole from the oven and carefully transfer all the meat pieces to a serving platter using a slotted spoon. Set the casserole aside.
Strain the cooking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing gently on the solids with the back of a spoon to extract all the flavorful liquid. Discard the cooked vegetables, herbs, and spices.
Rinse out the casserole and return the strained cooking liquid to it. Skim off any fat that has risen to the surface using a wide shallow spoon or fat separator. Bring the liquid to a simmer over medium-high heat and reduce it for about 10 minutes, until it has concentrated by approximately one-third. This creates a more flavorful sauce.
Return the beef pieces to the casserole with the reduced sauce and heat through gently over low heat, about 10 minutes, until the meat is warmed throughout. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with additional salt and pepper as needed. Serve the braised beef in wide, shallow bowls or on rimmed plates, spooning the rich wine-based sauce over and around each portion.
