Recipe#1543

Title: Carbonnade 01

From: pstarkoch@primenet.com (CKochsimmo) 
 Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking 
 Date: 14 Jan 1997 12:13:02 -0700 
 Message-ID: <32dbd9cd.8470940@news.primenet.com>

1/4 pound bacon
 2 pounds yellow onions, peel & thinly slice
 1 tablespoon sugar
 1 cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
 1 tablespoon dried thyme
 1 teaspoon salt
 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
 3 pounds beef stew meat, cubed
 2 cups imported dark beer
 chopped parsley, garnish
 Coarsely dice the bacon and saute it in a large skillet until crisp
 and brown. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve.
 Add the onions to the skillet and cook them in the rendered fat
 until tender, about 20 minutes. Uncover the skillet, raise the
 heat, and sprinkle the onions with the sugar. Toss and stir them
 until they are well browned. Transfer onions to a strainer set over
 a bowl and let stand while you prepare the beef.
 Stir together on a plate the flour, thyme, salt and pepper, and
 roll the cubes of meat around in the mixture until well coated.
 Shake off the excess and set the cubes on another plate.
 Press the onions gently with the back of a spoon to extract as much
 of the cooking fat as possible. Transfer fat to a kettle. Add
 additional fat in the form of vegetable oil if it appears you will
 not have enough for proper browning of the beef. Be sparing, however,
 or the carbonnade will be greasy.
 Set the kettle over high heat; when the kettle is very hot, add 6
 to 8 beef cubes. Do not crowd them in the kettle or they will not
 brown properly. Turn the heat down slightly and continue to cook
 cubes until browned on all sides. Transfer them with a slotted soon
 to a clean plate and proceed with the browning until all the meat
 is done.
 Preheat oven to 325F.
 Pour the beer into the kettle and use a spoon to stir up all the
 browned bits on the bottom. Return beef cubes to the kettle along
 with the bacon and sauteed onions. Bring to a simmer on the stove.
 Cover and set on the middle rack of the oven.
 Cook for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally, or until stew is
 reduced and thickened and meat is tender. Regulate the oven
 temperature as needed to maintain a moderate simmer.
 Taste and correct seasoning. Turn stew out into a heated serving
 dish, garnish with chopped parsley, and serve immediately.
 Serve with egg noodles tossed with butter and poppy seeds, sauteed
 apples and black bread. Serve the same beer you used in the stew.