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Noix of Beef Braise, Bourgeoise
Procure a four-pound piece from a tender rump of beef, with all the fat on one side. With a large larding needle insert across the lean part of the beef four oblong shreds of larding pork. Heat one ounce lard in a braising pan, add beef and nicely brown on range fifteen minutes, turning it once in a while; life up the beef and keep on a plate. Add twelve small, peeled white onions to the pan with twelve new scraped carrots and two ounces salt pork cut in half-inch squares and gently brown ten minutes, occasionally stirring meanwhile; sprinkle with a tablespoon flour, stir well while heating two minutes, add the beef, pour in two gills of demi-glace, one gill tomato sauce, two gills broth, half gill claret, a tablespoon brandy, a teaspoon and a half salt, half teaspoon pepper. Mix well, cover pan and let boil thirty minutes. Tie together a branch tarragon, a branch chervil, a branch parsley and one bean garlic and add to pan with half pint cooked fresh peas. Cover pan and set in oven one hour and forty-five minutes. Remove, arrange the beef on a hot dish, skim fat from sauce, pour it over beef, sprinkle a little chopped parsley over and serve.
A straightforward pot roast dressed in the French service language of the period. The measurements are in gills, and the oven temperature is left to your judgement.
- Gills and total liquidA gill is half a cup. The recipe therefore calls for 1 cup demi-glace, 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 1 cup broth and 1/4 cup claret, about 2 3/4 cups of liquid in all, which should come partway up a 4-lb roast rather than cover it.
- Oven heatNo temperature is given; the book leaves it to the cook. For an hour and three-quarters of covered braising on top of the initial thirty minutes of boiling, a moderate oven of roughly 325F is a reasonable modern reading of "set in oven"; the liquid should barely tremble, not boil.
- "Noix" and the cutNoix is the rounded muscle of the upper leg or rump. Ask for a boneless rump roast or top round in a single tied piece, with a fat cap left on one side as the recipe specifies. Despite the word "tender," this is a braising cut and needs the full time.
- LardingThe four shreds of pork threaded through the lean are insurance against dryness in a cut with little internal fat. If you have no larding needle, a thin boning knife will open channels for strips of salt pork or fatback cut about 1/4 inch square. Barding the roast with a sheet of fatback under the string is an acceptable substitute.
- Demi-glaceHomemade demi-glace is a two-day proposition; a good commercial veal or beef demi-glace concentrate, diluted per its label, does the work here. Failing that, reduce 2 cups of strong beef stock to 1 cup and accept a slightly thinner sauce.
- A bean of garlic"Bean" here means clove. It goes into the herb bundle so it can be lifted out whole, along with the tarragon, chervil and parsley.
- The peasHalf a pint of cooked peas simmered for nearly two hours will go olive-grey and mealy. Hold them back and fold them into the skimmed sauce in the last five minutes; the herb bundle can go in at the point indicated.
- SkimmingBetween the lard, the salt pork and the fat cap there will be a good deal of fat on the surface. Rest the roast fifteen minutes under foil while you skim and, if needed, reduce the sauce; the resting also makes it carve cleanly.
- YieldFour pounds of beef with the garnish of onions, carrots and peas serves six to eight.
Braisé à la bourgeoise is a fixed formula in French professional cooking: a large braised joint served with its glazed onions, turned carrots and diced salt pork, the whole moistened with the braising liquor. Bourgeoise signals plain household style as against the more elaborate jardinière or financière garnishes, though "plain" in a hotel kitchen still assumed a pot of demi-glace standing ready on the stove. The trio of tarragon, chervil and parsley tied with garlic is the same aromatic signature that turns up in French sauces of the period.