A great French bistro classic: thick pieces of beef heart briskly seared, then slowly simmered with a generous sweet onion compote in a red wine and brown stock sauce.
Ingredients
- 1000 g trimmed fresh beef heart (French butchery)
- 600 g yellow storage onion
- 150 g beechwood-smoked pork belly
- 200 g sand carrot
- 3 cloves white garlic clove
- 25 cl dry cooking red wine (PDO Côtes-du-Rhône)
- 40 cl unsalted liquid brown beef stock
- 2 tbsp traditional barrel-aged red wine vinegar
- 25 g T55 wheat flour
- 1 tbsp no-salt-added double-concentrated tomato paste
- 20 g 82% butterfat pasteurized unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp deodorized high-oleic sunflower oil
- 1 piece fresh bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaf, flat-leaf parsley)
- to taste fine Guérande salt
- to taste whole Madagascar black peppercorns
Method
- Carefully trim the beef heart: remove the firm external fat, whitish membranes and rigid vessels with a sharp knife. Slice the meat into even pieces of about three to four centimeters, then pat them completely dry with paper towels.
- Peel the yellow onions and cut them into even slices. Cut the smoked pork belly into uniform lardons. Peel the carrots and cut them into thick rounds. Crush the unpeeled garlic cloves with the heel of your hand.
- Heat the sunflower oil and half of the butter in a Dutch oven over high heat. Add the pieces of heart without overlapping them, then sear them for two to three minutes per side to form a nice golden crust without cooking the inside. Transfer the meat to a dish and keep the brown bits in the pot.
- Lower the heat to medium, add the remaining butter and toss the lardons into the pot. Let them sweat for two minutes until they color slightly, then add the sliced onions, the carrot rounds and a pinch of fine salt. Cover and let them melt over low heat for fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent and very tender.
- Uncover the pot, add the garlic cloves and double-concentrated tomato paste, then sprinkle the wheat flour over the vegetables. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon for one minute to toast the flour without burning it. Pour in the red wine vinegar to deglaze by scraping the bottom, then pour in the dry red wine and let it reduce by half at a gentle simmer.
- Return the pieces of beef heart and their resting juices to the pot. Pour in the brown beef stock until it just covers the meat, then submerge the bouquet garni in the middle of the ingredients. Bring to a gentle boil, place the lid on the pot, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting to maintain a barely visible simmer for ninety minutes.
- Check the texture of the meat: the tip of a knife should pierce a piece of heart without any resistance. Remove the bouquet garni. If the sauce seems too thin, remove the meat for a few moments and let the juices reduce with the onions over medium heat until it reaches a syrupy and glossy consistency. Return the meat, taste the sauce, adjust the seasoning with fine salt and a few grinds of black pepper, then serve directly from the hot pot.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 644.9 kcal
- Protein
- 61.4 g
- Carbohydrate
- 26.92 g
- Fat
- 27.88 g
- Fibre
- 4.39 g
- Calcium
- 32.27 mg
- Iron
- 0.9 mg
- Magnesium
- 22.49 mg
