Wine and Recipe Pairing:  Beef Casserole with White Wine Jus and Le Conquérant 2017*

[Ad-gifted] Wine and recipe pairing always have space within Yeah Lifestyle…. and if you enjoy reading our blog, you would also know that we just love to cook and enjoy a great wine to accompany it, which makes it extra special. Recently we have paired our dishes with several red wines, but as we transition to warmer weather it only feels apt to switch to some equally luscious white wine, called Le Conquérant 2017, Domaine La Provenquiere, which is a dry Chardonnay and from the world-famous Pays d’Oc wine region of France.

Food and wine pairings go together like, peas and carrots, or bread and butter, whichever saying you prefer and have done since way back when the chefs and sommelier (wine expert/waiter/steward), would pair wines with food in the hope of enhancing the flavour of both. But we all have things we would never drink wine with. I know I am never fond of red wine and curry, but love red wine and steak or with a hearty bean stew. With white wines, I always think they work well with fresher flavours like salad or citrus, but one way in which you don’t often combine white wine with is beef, this is where we are going to show you how well this works.

What I thought of the wine and our recipe for you to try this pairing at home

When I read about this wine and saw the term buttery richness, I wasn’t sure I’d have thought of describing wine in this way, but when you taste it, it really has that smooth taste, that is soft like butter, and it is rich a deep in flavour, which is presumably from it being aged in oak casks. White wines are never my favourite, but this one was delicious and well flavoured. I enjoyed how this wine wasn’t bitter, but lovely and delicate considering it’s a dry Chardonnay.

For this pairing, I wanted to revisit the idea of using beef, which isn’t traditional with white wine, but works really well and adds a lightness to what would normally be a rich a sumptuous dish, that I think suits the warmer weather. The dish is still rich but the white wine makes for a lighter sauce and removing things like carrots and sweet potatoes, and using peppers and celery mean that it has a fresher feel to it.

The wine adds a lovely sweetness to the beef and brings out the buttery flavour to both the dishes like I mentioned above. I think you need the additional bite from the cold corn that gets added into the dish at the end and if you wanted to, you could also add a dollop of cream to the dish around 15 minutes before serving which would add another depth to it. I didn’t do this today as I wanted a lighter feel and more lunchtime quality to it but in the evening if you wanted to make this a little richer read our recipe on how you can do this.

Slow-cooked Beef Casserole with a light white wine jus, sprinkled with corn and served with a garlic-rosemary flatbread. 

The recipe serves 2-4 people

For the Casserole 

So my slow cooker has officially packed up (and I use it so often it’s been tricky without it!) So I have adapted this dish to a wok style pan with a lid, which cooks slowly on the hob (stove-top).

500g of lean stewing steak/beef
3 sticks of celery cubed
1 large green pepper cubed
1 large white onion cubed
1 large tomato thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic minced
5 sprigs of rosemary (take of the leaves and discard the twiggy section) chop finely.
120ml (1/2 cup) of white wine (preferably this one of the one you are going to drink)
500ml of beef stock

Brown the meat in the wok pan with around 1 tbsp of olive oil, then add all the onion, pepper, rosemary and celery.  Once all this has softened and browned then add the garlic and stir.  Next add your liquid and keep it on a medium to high heat until it bubbles/simmers.

Leave this for around 3 hours on a medium heat – check and stir in-between time. If the meat isn’t tender just leave it a little longer – you can’t really over cook this as the jus will just darken with time which is absolutely fine. Once cooked spoon one portion into a shallow bowl and add the sides – see instructions below.

If you would like to add cream to this recipe, you can do so with 120ml (1/2) of double cream. Fifteen minutes before serving, turn the heat down to a low temperature, and add the cream to the casserole, stir and leave to warm. Then serve.

For the sides 

Either

1 corn cob per person or
1 large tin of sweetcorn
1 plain flatbread – you can buy it or use our baguette recipe and stretch it out into a flatbread
1/2 a garlic clove minced
1 sprig of rosemary
Olive oil to drizzle

I prefer to use corn on the cob for this but you can also use tinned sweetcorn (you just don’t get the same crunch). If using corn on the cob I would suggest using one per person, and cook for 10 minutes so it still has a bite. If using a tin one large tin will be fine.

Once the corn is cooked, cut it from the cob and add it to individual bowls for each person. Then sprinkle a little into the bowl.

For the flatbread, turn on the grill to medium heat, add to your flatbread, the garlic chopped rosemary and a drizzle of oil, put it onto a baking tray and place under the grill for around 1-2 minutes – you need to keep an eye on it all the time as it may all of a sudden burn. Once warmed and the oil is sizzling, take out and tear pieces to serve with each of your bowls of casserole.

Where can I buy Le Conquérant 2017, Domaine La Provenquiere? 

About the wine 

Domaine La Provenquiere is within the world-famous Pays d’Oc wine region of France, it sits in the town of Capestang near to Béziers around 30 minutes from the Mediterranean Sea. Domaine La Provenquiere has had vineyards since the 15th Century, but the Pays D’Oc region I can trace some of its vineyards right back to the 5th Century. With the Greeks planting some of the first vineyards close to Narbonne, which makes these and the ones in Provence some of the oldest vineyards in France.

About Les InVINcibles 

As Artisan vine growers the InVINcibles (love the play on words here Vin being wine in French) are based in the South of France, and are trying to bring back methods of sustainable winemaking from how early monks and farmers started this process years ago.

With their years and years of wine growing experience, they have learnt their craft from the soil up and have perfected it to be able to create authentic wine using traditional methods of organic processes, creating a beautiful final product.

Les InVINcibles say – “It’s wine simplicity. It’s an attitude. It’s harkening back to lost ways of living. It’s a philosophy.Yours and Ours”

Review by: Lex Ward

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