Beef in Beer

After splashing out on a brand new, volcanic orange, Le Creuset casserole dish, we were desperate to put it to use. And what better way than with a recipe straight from the Le Creuset website. They call it beef in beer, and in line with the unpretentious nature of this blog, we're sticking with that (having said that, we did just buy a le Creuset dish...). However, I believe the fancier name for it is carbonnade of beef.


Serves 5-6

For the beef:

• Vegetable oil
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 2 garlic gloves, chopped
• 500g carrots, roughly chopped
• 1kg diced casserole beef
• A few springs each of rosemary, thyme and parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 750ml pale ale
• 175ml water
• Salt and ground black pepper

For the bread topping:

• 8-12 thick (2-3cm) slices of french bread
• Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Heat the oil in a pan, and fry the onions, garlic, and carrots until softened. Pour into your brand new Le Creuset casserole dish (or, indeed, any other casserole dish), trying to keep some of the juices in the pan.

Preheat the oven to 140°C

Put half of the beef into the pan and brown slightly, then add the rest and brown evenly. Add to the casserole dish, along with the herbs, ale and water. Season with salt and pepper - Don't overdo it though, you can add more later if it needs it.

Cover and place the casserole dish in the oven and leave for 3 and a half hours (during which, your kitchen will being to smell amazing). Spread the Dijon mustard on the bread, and place the bread tightly on top of the beef, so that it just sits on top of the juices. Sprinkle over the parsley, and then return the casserole dish, covered, to the oven for another 30 minutes.

A good casserole dish will keep this meal warm for a few hours, so you can take it out of the oven and wait until your guests are ready to eat. We didn't need anymore carb, but if you do, I suggest more fresh bread to mop up the delicious juices! The Le Creuset recipe suggests jacket potatoes, pasta, rice or mash.

After a total of 4 hours in the oven, the beef should be deliciously tender

Chez Francoise, Paris

This classy modern French restaurant, tucked away underneath the imposing Aerogare des Invalides, is a favourite haunt of "Parisians in the know", usually untarnished by tourists. We certainly would never have found it had we not indulged in some pre-holiday restaurant research procrastination. This hidden gem was booked through Toptable: a glass of bubbly, amuse bouche, three courses, a bottle of wine, coffee, cake and petit fours for €40 per person. Incredible value for a city which is renown for its pricey food.

The restaurant itself is simply and elegantly furnished with tasteful lighting and we were greeted warmly by the maître d' created upon arrival. Despite this excellent first impression, the place was quieter than we had anticipated for 1930 and did not have the cosy feel of a buzzing restaurant until much later in the night. However, the French eat later than us Brits and with the ample flow of wine and the excitement of the food, we were able to forgive this quite readily.

The service was exemplary. In stark contrast to the stereotypical snotty French waiter, ours seemed to genuinely happy to explain the menu with us. The English translation they also provided us with was hilarious but unfortunately rather uninformative. We conversed happily and unabashedly in broken French. At one point he even used Google on his iPhones to help us.

Our epic meal began with a glass of bubbly (good - not amazing). The chou-fleur (cauliflower) amuse-bouche however was something new and very nice, although a little on the salty side. It still got us going for the rest of the meal though!

Natalie and I both went for the starter of foie gras with melba toast and fig chutney. An excellent concept in its simplicity but disappointing in its execution. Though the foie gras was of a very high quality it suffered from being served straight out of the fridge. Consequently much of the rich, unctuous textural tastiness was lost. Also, the toast was overdone (although this seems appeared to be a recurring theme so it might just be the way the French prefer their their toast - very toasty).

The mains were exquisite. Natalie chose the the duck. Delicious - perfectly cooked, pink and tender, melt in the mouth. Not so rich as a confit de canard and more flavoursome. It was served with some pretty piped potatoes, caramelised fig and two token leaves of green.

The Duck - A highlight

I went for the squid - served in a tomato sauce, on rice. The squid was perfect - nice and tender (not chewy and rubbery as it often is), and very tasty! The rice, on the otherhand, was a little underdone (in contrast to the toast - perhaps the French just really like rock-hard carb?).

The Squid - The rice was a little underdone

Dessert was definitely a highlight - not just of quality but of generosity. Natalie opted for a deconstructed Eton mess of summer fruits, Chantilly cream and meringue with a sharp raspberry sorbet to cut through it all. I plucked for the chocolate fondant. Both desserts were magnificent! In addition, we were served five sizeable slices of Madeira cake (a tad dry). Despite valiant efforts, we couldn't finish it all.

The deconstructed Eton mess, with the Madeira cake and chocolate fondant in the background  - A highlight, although the Madeira cake was a little dry

Finally, coffee was served - not just with one small chocolate each, but a whole selection of four chocolates each. Very bitter and luxurious they were too. A great way to end a meal.

Service: 9
Atmosphere: 6
Food: 7
Price: Bubbly, amuse-bouche, 3 courses (and Madeira cake), wine, coffee and petit fours for €39.99 each.

Overall: 7