This week's French Friday with Dorie dinner is Boeuf a la Mode. What does that mean? I have no idea. However, broken down into main components, it is roast beef and vegetables in a red wine-based sauce. I served mine with stir fry veg - yes, I know that's a little weird, but it fits in with my current dietary circumstances better than mashed potato and pumpkin.
I found this dish a bit of a pain to prepare, because you have to marinate the beef and veges for 12 hours first, then you have to render the sauce, brown the beef, soften the veg, combine with sauce and brandy, and only then can you cook it - for 3 hours. It is an all weekend job.
I was also going out on the day after the marination so a 3 hour babysitting session with the beef was not happening. Instead, I stuck it all in the slow cooker on low for 5 hours - which was probably around an hour too long, but it did the job.
This meal was OK, but not worth the cost in terms of my ultimate enjoyment of it. My favourite part was the marinated veg.
To see what the other Doristas thought, visit the LYL section of the FFWD website.
I am JUST in the middle of writing the sentence "It's a little fussy" on my own post for this! I agree it was a long process (and I didn't even follow it in terms of the marinating time) and I can see a lot of ways to make short cuts there. I loved this but it was finicky!
ReplyDeleteI made the wrong recipe this week(which was also fussy, but took no where near as long). Yep, that sounds like a lot of time to babysit meat.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on this recipe being too fussy. I simplified it and it came out terrific.
ReplyDeleteHey I am falling in love with your dramatic blue plate! I was thinking of slow cooker the next time I make this and 4 not 5 hours!!
ReplyDeleteThe timing was a bit awkward for my schedule this week, so I was wondering how the slow cooker would work on this one. Thanks for notes on your experience.
ReplyDeleteTruthfully, Gaye, I think your roast looks pretty darn tasty. I do agree that there was a lot of effort involved in this recipe. The real idea of a pot roast is, as I remember, if you have a tough piece of meat, just throw it in a covered roasting pan with liquid and cook it slowly for a very, very, very long time. Be sure there is always enough liquid. The last hour or so, add the vegetables. Easy Peasy.
ReplyDeleteI think overcooking is actually the way to go with this one! And kudos for using the slow cooker on this one. A hot oven for three hours is not really the way to go some days.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this one was fussy. But the hubby enjoyed as did I. I think serving it with stir fried veggies sounds wonderful (I'm not much into mashed potatoes or pumpkin, either!).
ReplyDeleteI cooked mine on convection to save some time but worried that I was still going to dry it out. We did enjoy it but my husband said the slow cooker with veggies will be the way to go in the future (though he does want the wine in there......). That said, your plate still looks amazing- and healthy- and good job on picking veggies you prefer to eat.
ReplyDeleteThis just took a little too long for me, and I thought it was good but not worth all the extra steps and time. I love how your plate with all the veggies looks, and wish I had thought about the crock pot as an alternative!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a lot of work for one dish, I agree. Basically beef stew is supposed to be sort of easy, at least it is here. lol All in all, I would like to try this one someday. Your photo is very nice of it all.
ReplyDeleteHa ha...I see my comment up there 9 years ago or so. Yikes..."Someday" arrived last week when I finally made it...and fussy or not, it was absolutely delicious and worth all my efforts...the sauce was the best part as reducing it was just scary as it took longer than I thought but eventually it got there and I was so happy I took all that time to do it all. The French are so fussy...they take every recipe and complicate it, but in most cases, I love the way it tastes...which is probably why the French are so famous for their cooking/cuisine. Your roast and plate of veggies looks sooooooo good. And those little salt and pepper shakers are adorable.
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