by Julia Child
1½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp pepper
⅛ tsp thyme
1 egg
Add the beef, butter or fat, seasonings, and egg to the onions in the mixing bowl and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon to blend thoroughly. Correct seasoning. Form into patties ¾ inch thick. Cover with waxed paper and refrigerate until ready to use.
½ cup flour spread on a plate
Just before sautéing, roll the patties lightly in the flour. Shake off excess flour.
1 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil, or sufficient to film the bottom of the skillet
1 or 2 heavy skillets just large enough to hold the patties easily in one layer
Place the butter and oil in the skillet and set over moderately high heat. When you see the butter foam begin to subside, indicating it is hot enough to sear the meat, sauté the patties for 2 to 3 minutes or more on each side, depending on whether you like your hamburgers rare, medium, or well done.
A warm serving platter
Arrange the hamburgers on the serving platter and keep warm for a moment while finishing the sauce.
½ cup beef stock, canned beef bouillon, dry white wine, dry white vermouth, red wine, or ¼ cup water
2 to 3 Tb softened butter
Pour the fat out of the skillet. Add the liquid and boil it down rapidly, scraping up the coagulated pan juices, until it has reduced almost to a syrup. Off heat, swirl the butter by half-tablespoons into the sauce until it is absorbed. Pour the sauce over the hamburgers and serve.
VARIATION
Bitokes à la Russe
[Hamburgers with Cream Sauce]
Ingredients for 6 plain beef hamburgers or the preceding flavored hamburgers
Sauté the hamburgers in oil and butter as described in the preceding master recipe. Remove them to a hot serving platter.
¼ cup stock or canned beef bouillon
⅔ cup whipping cream
Salt and pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
Drops of lemon juice
Pour the fat out of the skillet. Add the stock or bouillon and boil it down rapidly, scraping up coagulated cooking juices, until reduced almost to a syrup. Pour in the cream and boil it down rapidly for a minute or two until it has reduced, and thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and drops of lemon juice.
2 to 3 Tb softened butter
2 Tb minced green herbs such as parsley, chives, tarragon, chervil, or parsley only
Off heat, swirl in the butter by half-tablespoons until it is absorbed. Stir in the herbs, spoon the sauce over the hamburgers, and serve.
VARIATION: FLAVORED BUTTERS
Any of the butters listed here may be swirled into the skillet after it has been deglazed with stock, wine, or water.
Parsley Butter
Herb Butter
Mustard Butter
Shallot Butter
Garlic Butter
Snail Butter (shallots, garlic, and herbs)
VARIATION: OTHER SAUCES
Any of the following sauces are made separately. After the hamburgers have been sautéed and removed from the skillet, the sauce is poured in and boiled for a moment while the coagulated sauté juices are scraped into it. The sauce is then poured over the hamburgers.
Sauce Tomate, or Coulis de Tomates, tomato sauce
Sauce Poivrade, brown sauce with strong pepper flavoring
Sauce Robert, brown sauce with mustard
Sauce Brune aux Fines Herbes, brown sauce with herbs or tarragon
Sauce Madère, brown sauce with Madeira wine
Sauce au Cari, brown sauce with curry and onions
See also the red wine and the white wine sauce for steaks on this page, and the mushroom sauce for filet steak on this page.
FILET OF BEEF
Filet de Boeuf
FILET DE BOEUF BRAISÉ PRINCE ALBERT
[Braised Filet of Beef Stuffed with Foie Gras and Truffles]
Here is a magnificent recipe for an important dinner, and it is not a difficult one in spite of the luxury of its details. We have chosen braised filet because it is more unusual than roast filet. Everything except the actual cooking of the meat may be done in advance as indicated by the asterisk in the recipe.
Braised lettuce and potato balls sautéed in butter would go beautifully with this, and you should accompany it with a fine chateau-bottled red Bordeaux from the Médoc district. See also the other vegetables suggested for steaks.
For 8 people
4 to 6 canned truffles about 1 inch in diameter
3 Tb Madeira
Cut the truffles in quarters. Place in a small bowl with juice from the can and the Madeira. Cover and marinate while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
The braising vegetables (matignon)
¾ cup each: finely diced carrots and onions
½ cup finely diced celery
3 Tb diced boiled ham
¼ tsp salt
Pinch of pepper
A small herb bouquet: 2 parsley sprigs, ⅓ bay leaf, ⅛ tsp thyme tied in cheesecloth
3 Tb butter
⅓ cup Madeira
Cook the vegetables, ham, seasonings, herbs, and butter slowly together in a small covered saucepan for 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender but not browned. Then pour in the wine and boil it down rapidly until it has almost entirely evaporated. Set aside.
The foie gras stuffing
2 Tb very finely minced shallots or green onions
1 Tb butter
4 ounces or ½ cup mousse de foie d’oie (or “block” foie gras, which is much more expensive but also much better)
1 Tb Madeira
1 Tb cognac
Pinch of allspice
Pinch of thyme
⅛ tsp pepper
Cook the shallots or onions slowly in butter for 3 minutes in a small saucepan without browning them. Scrape into a mixing bowl. Beat in the foie gras and other ingredients. Correct seasoning.
A 3-lb. trimmed filet of beef, at least 3 inches in diameter
Salt and pepper
Cut a deep slit down the length of the least presentable side of the filet, going to within ¼ inch of the two ends and to within ¼ inch of the other side, or top. Season the interior of the slit lightly with salt and pepper, and spread it with the foie gras mixture. Insert the truffles in a line down the center of the filled slit—reserve their marinade for later. Do not stuff the filet so full that the slit cannot be closed.
A 2½-inch strip of fresh pork fat as long as the filet (or strips of blanched bacon)
White string
Lay the pork fat or bacon strips the length of the closed slit. Tie securely but not too tightly with loops of white string at 1-inch intervals.
Braising the filet
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
A heavy, oval, fireproof casserole just large enough to hold the filet
2 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
Salt and pepper
A meat thermometer
Brown the filet lightly on all sides in the casserole in hot butter and oil. Discard the browning fat. Season the meat lightly with salt and pepper. (Insert meat thermometer, unless you are using the “instant” kind.) Spread the cooked vegetables over the filet.
(*) May be prepared in advance to this point.
2 to 3 cups good brown stock or canned beef bouillon (or a very good brown sauce, in which case the starch liaison at the end of the recipe is omitted)
An oval of aluminum foil
A bulb baster
Pour in enough stock, bouillon, or sauce to come half way up the sides of the filet. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Lay foil over the meat. Cover the casserole and set in lower third of pre-heated oven for 45 to 55 minutes. Regulate heat so liquid remains at a very slow boil. Baste the meat with the braising stock 3 or 4 times during its cooking. The filet is done at a meat-thermometer reading of 125 degrees for rare beef, or 135 for medium rare, and if, when you press the filet with you
r finger, it offers a slight resistance in contrast to its soft, raw state.
A hot serving platter
Place the filet slit-side down on a hot serving platter after removing the trussing strings and pork fat or bacon. The meat should cool for 10 minutes or more before carving, so that its juices will retreat back into the tissues.
Sauce and serving
Wine marinade from the truffles
Skim the fat off the braising juices. Pour the truffle marinade into them, and rapidly boil down this liquid until it has reduced to about 2 cups and its flavor is rich and concentrated.
1 Tb arrowroot or cornstarch mixed with 2 Tb Madeira
Optional: 2 or 3 Tb diced truffles
Beat in the starch mixture (unless you have used the brown sauce) and the optional truffles. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, then correct seasoning. The diced matignon vegetables remain in the sauce.
Decorate the platter with whatever vegetables you have chosen. Pour a spoonful or two of the sauce and diced vegetables over the meat, and pass the rest of the sauce in a bowl. The filet is carved into crosswise slices about ⅜ inch thick.
VARIATION
If you do not wish to stuff the filet, cook it exactly the same way but without slitting and filling it. When you have placed it on a serving platter, you may garnish the top with broiled mushroom caps alternating with sliced truffles.
VARIATION
Marinade, for Filet of Beef
The following marinade is particularly good if you do not have top-quality filet.
½ cup dry white wine or dry white vermouth
¼ cup Madeira
2 Tb cognac
1 tsp salt
6 peppercorns
¼ tsp thyme
¼ tsp basil
3 parsley sprigs
3 Tb minced shallots or green onions
2 or more canned truffles and their juice
Place the raw, trimmed filet in an enameled or pyrex dish or casserole. Pour on the wines and mix in the seasonings, herbs, shallots or onions, and truffles. Cover and marinate for 6 hours or overnight, turning the meat and basting it several times. Drain and dry the meat thoroughly before browning it. Include the marinade, but not the truffles, with your braising liquid. Reserve the truffles for your sauce.
BOILED BEEF
Pot-au-feu
POTÉE NORMANDE
POT-AU-FEU
[Boiled Beef with Pork, Chicken, Sausage, and Vegetables]
Here is a sumptuous family-style boiled dinner which will serve 12 or more, and always makes a great hit with guests. It is brought to the table in its kettle or a reasonable facsimile, looking for all the world like a plain pot-au-feu. The host starts the proceedings as usual by spearing out the beef and placing it on a platter. Then he finds a sausage, and after that a big piece of pork. Finally, to wild acclaim, he brings out a chicken. Two or three sauces may be served, such as a cream sauce with mustard and tomato, an herbal mayonnaise, and a big bowl of the cooking stock. The potée, like all boiled dinners, is easy on the cook because it can simmer quietly by itself for 4 to 5 hours and if it is done before serving time, it can remain in its kettle where it will keep warm for a good hour.
VEGETABLE AND WINE SUGGESTIONS
Carrots, turnips, onions, and leeks cook along with the meats. Boiled potatoes, risotto, or buttered noodles are prepared and served separately. A nice, simple red wine goes well: Beaujolais, Bordeaux, or Chianti, or a chilled rosé.
BEEF CUTS FOR BOILING—POT-AU-FEU
First Choice: Rump Pot Roast—Pointe de Culotte or Aiguillette de Rum-steck
Other Choices: Sirloin Tip, Knuckle—Tranche Grasse
Bottom Round—Gîte à la Noix
Chuck Pot Roast—Paleron or Macreuse à Pot-au-feu
Brisket—Milieu de Poitrine
For 12 to 16 people
A kettle large enough to hold all the ingredients listed
Beef (cooking time 2½ to 3 hours): a 4-lb. boneless piece of rump pot roast, sirloin tip, bottom round, chuck pot roast, or brisket
Pork (cooking time about 3 hours): a 4-lb. piece from the butt, picnic, rolled shoulder, or fresh ham
Chicken (cooking time 2½ to 3 hours): a 4-lb. ready-to-cook stewing hen of good quality
Sausage (cooking time 30 minutes): 2 lbs. lightly smoked country or Polish sausage
All the meats and vegetables listed at the left are simmered together in the kettle, but are added at various times, depending on how long they take to cook. Start the cooking 5 hours before you expect to serve, to be sure the meats will be done. Trim excess fat off the beef and pork. Tie each piece so it will hold its shape during cooking. Truss the chicken. To each piece of meat and to the chicken, tie a string long enough to fasten to the handle of the kettle, so that the meats may be removed easily for testing.
NOTE: You could do with this chicken only, and it would be called a poule au pot.
Vegetable Garnish (cooking time 1½ hours): carrots, onions, turnips, and, if available, leeks; 1 to 2 of each vegetable per person
Prepare the vegetable garnish: Peel the carrots and turnips and quarter them lengthwise; peel the onions; trim and wash the leeks. Tie the vegetables in one or several bundles of washed cheesecloth so they may be removed easily from the kettle.
Soup Vegetables and Herbs:
3 scraped carrots
3 peeled onions, each stuck with a whole clove
2 scraped parsnips
2 celery stalks
2 leeks, if available
A large herb bouquet as follows: 6 parsley sprigs, 1 bay leaf, ½ tsp thyme, 4 garlic cloves, 8 peppercorns tied in cheesecloth
Cooking Stock: sufficient meat stock to cover ingredients by 6 inches; OR 3 cans of beef bouillon, 3 cans of chicken broth, and water
Optional: raw or cooked beef or veal bones, meat scraps, poultry carcasses, necks, gizzards
Place the beef in the kettle with the soup vegetables, herb bouquet, and optional bones and scraps. Cover with cooking stock by 6 inches. More liquid may be added later if necessary. Set kettle over moderate heat, bring to the simmer, skim. Partially cover the kettle and simmer slowly for 1 hour, skimming occasionally.
Add the pork and chicken. Bring kettle quickly back to the simmer. Skim. Simmer 1½ hours more and skim from time to time.
Then add the vegetable garnish and bring kettle quickly back to the simmer. Taste cooking stock for seasoning and salt lightly if necessary. Simmer 1½ to 2 hours more, adding the sausage ½ hour before the end. The meats and chicken are done when they are tender if pierced with a sharp-pronged fork or skewer. If any piece is tender before the others are done, remove to a bowl and keep moist with several ladlefuls of cooking stock. Return to kettle to reheat before serving.
(*) If the potée is ready before you are, it will stay warm for at least 45 minutes in the kettle, or may be reheated.
While the kettle is simmering, prepare one or two of the sauces suggested at the end of the recipe, using some of the liquid from the kettle if you need stock.
Serving
Drain the meats and the vegetable garnish. Discard trussing strings. Arrange vegetables on a large, hot platter and moisten them with a ladleful of cooking stock. Decorate with parsley. Either place the meats in a large casserole for presentation and carving at the table, or carve in the kitchen and arrange on a platter. Strain, degrease, and season enough cooking stock to fill a large serving bowl, and pass it along with whatever sauce or sauces you have chosen from the following suggestions.
Sauce suggestions
Make 6 to 8 cups if only one sauce is to be served; 4 cups each if two sauces are served.
Sauce Alsacienne, hard-boiled egg mayonnaise with herbs, capers, and cooking stock
Sauce Nénette, heavy cream simmered until it has reduced and thickened, then flavored with mustard and tomato
Sauce Tomate or Coulis de Tomates, a good tomato sauce
Sauce Suprême, a velouté sauce made with the cooking stock, and enriched
with cream
BRAISED BEEF-POT ROAST
Pièce de Boeuf Braisée
BOEUF À LA MODE
[Beef Braised in Red Wine]
Braised beef is a wonderful party dish; it is not only delicious to smell, look at, and eat, but you have no worries about overdone meat, and you can cook it ahead of time if you need to. The following recipe calls for a 6- to 24-hour marination of the beef in red wine and aromatic vegetables before cooking. If you prefer to omit this step, pour the marinade ingredients into the casserole after browning the meat.
VEGETABLE AND WINE SUGGESTIONS
Boeuf à la mode is traditionally garnished with braised carrots and onions, and is usually accompanied by buttered noodles, parsley potatoes, or steamed rice. Other vegetables could be braised lettuce, celery, or leeks, or buttered green peas. Serve with it a good, characterful red wine, such as a Burgundy, Hermitage, Côte Rôtie, or Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
BEEF CUTS FOR BRAISING
Although it is not essential, beef for braising is usually larded. That is, strips of fresh pork fat are inserted into it, going in the direction of the grain. They baste the interior of the meat as it cooks, and make an attractive design when the meat is sliced. Most butchers will lard the meat for you.