Beef Braised with Sweet White Wine

Name: Beef Braised with Sweet White Wine
Yield: makes 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 2 to 3 pounds beef brisket or boneless beef chuck in one piece; Salt and black pepper to taste; 3 large or 4 medium onions, sliced; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 2 or 3 medium carrots, cut into chunks, optional; 1 cup sweet white wine

December 14, 2011

A specialty of southwestern France, where some of the world’s best sweet wines are made. Since you need only about a cup (you could get away with less, if you like), it won’t do that much harm to use a good Sauternes or Barzac, the best of the lot. But I have made this very successfully with Montbazillac, which costs about $10 a bottle and is certainly good enough to drink. The resulting sauce is nicely but not cloyingly sweet and wonderful over buttered noodles. You can make this a day in advance (it might even be better that way) and easily double it to serve a crowd. Other cuts of meat you can use here: Pork or lamb chops or chunks of boneless pork, lamb, or veal shoulder, all of which will cook much more quickly.

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