I think Julia is smiling right now. As a trail-blazing American woman exploring the world of food decades ago, she was truly a ‘boho’ woman~~I mean imagine moving to France in 1948, not being formally trained in being a chef, and taking on the goal of making fancy French food accessible to mainstream America. She and fellow Cordon Bleu students Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle formed the cooking school L’Ecole de Trois Gourmandes (The School of the Three Gourmands) and wrote the manuscript for ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’~~rejected by one publisher for being too lengthy, it was picked up by another publisher in 1961~~it was a 3 pound masterpiece that took the world by storm~~yes, the essence of being ‘boho’!
This ~french-inspired beef roast~ is steeped with aromatics that are immersed in the slow cooking of the beef. The dried herbes de provence {Provence being a region in southeastern France} is a mixture of savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, oregano and in the U.S. lavender. More depth of flavor comes from the red wine the beef bathes in~~so, ready yourself for ‘slow food’~~the kind that gets better the next day~~this roast, if any is remaining, makes a boholicious stew, soup, sandwich and more!
Serves: 6
Preheat oven to 400 then reduce to 300
What you need:
½ cup oil (divided—your choice—I used coconut.)
2 tsp sea salt (divided)
2.5 to 3 lb beef roast (I used a round tip roast.)
1 cup loosely packed roughly chopped flat parsley & cilantro leaves & stems
3 small sweet peppers cut in cubes
1 celery rib (and leaves) cut in large pieces
½ sweet onion cut in cubes
1 tbl dried Herbs de Provence
1 tsp coarse ground pepper
1 ½ cups red wine
2 cups beef broth
Fresh thyme sprigs & rosemary stems tied into a bouquet bundle
What you do:
In a heavy cast iron pot over medium heat put ¼ cup oil. Use 1 tsp sea salt on the beef roast. Brown the roast in the hot oil. Remove to a plate. Reduce heat to low.
Put the parsley, cilantro, peppers, celery, onion, herbs de provence, pepper and remaining oil in the food processor and pulse until it’s a ground mixture. Add to the oil in the pot and sauté on medium high about 3 minutes. Add the wine and blend cooking about 3 minutes. Add the beef broth and meat. Top with the herb bouquet.
Cover with doubled foil and then a lid. Roast in a preheated 400 oven for 60 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 and cook another 2 hours. Check occasionally to see if you need to add water or more broth.
©alice d’antoni phillips www.allyskitchen.com
