What to do with the left-over bubbly?

Beef in Champagne

Like many cooks and entertainers, I tend to over-shop at holidays. This year, in addition to a half-full bottle of completely potable California “Champagne,” I found myself with a pound and a half of Crimini mushrooms, a quart of whole cream, assorted nuts and cheeses, and enough produce to stock a small market. Much of it will keep long enough to see us through this week, but the mushrooms were staring down their “use-by” date, and the champagne (even when stored with a spoon in the neck of the bottle to preserve the bubbles) was loosing it’s charm.

Enter Beef in Champagne — a gluten-free, low-carb riff on beef burgundy (or stroganoff). It takes about two and half hours to prepare but it also sits for four hours. So if you get it into the oven in half an hour and set your oven to go off after two hours, you can leave and then reheat it at dinner time.

To keep things low-carb, serve it with mashed cauliflower or spaghetti squash. Or, if your New Year’s resolutions permit, serve with potatoes or over noodles.

Pair it with a nice salad, and a crisp dry wine — even champagne!

Enjoy,
Glyn

Ingredients:
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 lb stew beef chunks, cut intoi inch cubes
2 cups sliced yellow onions
4 cloves garlic, chopped
18 oz mushrooms thickly sliced 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups Champagne or White Wine
1/2 cup sour cream (OPTIONAL)

Procedure:
1 Heat half the olive oil in a heavy sauce pan or oven proof lidded casserole.

2 Sauté the onion and garlic until translucent and slightly golden in color. Remove to a bowl.

3 Turn the heat to medium high. Add the mushrooms to the pan and sauté until they have released and re-absorbed their liquid — about 15 minutes.

4 Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Remove to a bowl.

5 Pat the beef cubes dry. In the same pan, add the remaining olive oil and sear the beef. If it is too moist to sear, just cook until the liquid evaporates.

6 Return the onions, garlic and mushrooms to the pan with the beef, Stir well.

7 Add the champagne and let it bubble for a moment or two.

8 Lower the heat, cover tightly and simmer for two hours. (Or bake in a 275 degree oven.)

9 Let sit for up to four hours (or overnight in the fridge.)

10 Reheat before serving, cooking down the sauce to your preference.

11 For an even richer dish, stir in a half cup of sour cream.

Servings: 4
Degree of Difficulty: Moderately difficult
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 2 hours
Inactive Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 6 hours and 15 minutes
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/4 of a recipe (14.8 ounces).
Recipe Type
Gluten-Free, Low-Carb, Main Dish, Meat

Nutrition Information: