Braised beef carrots with pressure cooker (boeuf carottes à la cocotte minute)

Here's a very classical recipe in french cook. But in my daily cook, remember, everything must be easier and faster than in traditional cook.

That's the reason why I use a pressure cooker.

This is a dish I do often. My family love this. In the traditional recipe, this beef must cooked for hours, slowly. That's very good, for sure.

But if you want to prepare it faster, believe me, this recipe is good too.

I cook "Daube Provençale" for 3 hours (I'll publish the recipe soon). 

But for beef and carrots, I do it my way.

You'll need : 

• 1 kg of braised beef (chuck is good)
• 2 kg carrots
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 10 cl of water
• 1 tablespoon of "veal powder"

In reality, those 2 last ingredients can be replaced by 10 cl of chicken stock, for example. The goal is to add flavor. 

• 10 cl of white wine
• Thyme
• 2 bays leafs
• Olive oil, salt, pepper
• 3 tablespoon of Flour or corn starch, to thicken the sauce.

And a pressure cooker, of course.

Step 1 : 

In the pressure cooker, let brown the beef, in olive oil.

For those who begin to know me, you'll notice that, for once, I don't begin this recipe with onion and garlic...

I'm totally unpredictable !

Step 2 : 

Peel your carrots (the longest part) and cut them in pieces.

Step 3 : 

Cut onion in slices (or in whatever form you like)

Step 4 :

Explode your garlic ! Think about someone you don't like, it can help.

Step 5 : 

Prepare your "veal powder" or chicken/veal/vegetables stock, what you prefer.

Step 6 :

When your meat is browned, add onion and garlic...

Carrots.

Thyme and bay leafs.

Step 7 : 

Pour the stock and the wine !

Step 8 : 

Dredge your corn starch (or flour, if you don't have), salt, pepper.

Aaaarrrgh, such a beautiful picture ... (no).

And stir all that together.

Step 9 :

Close and wait for the whistling of the pressure cooker. At this time, let it cook for 30 minutes on a low fire.

Never succeed to take away the self stock on the lid ...

When it's ready, let the steam go away and it's done. I'm sorry, I'm not a photographer.

If I would, I would have choose another plate for this dish ... 

Because an orange plate for an orange dish, you'll agree with me, I could do have a better idea...

Bon appétit, les amis ! 

Récapitulative : 

• 1 kg of braised beef (chuck is good)
• 2 kg carrots
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 10 cl of water
• 1 tablespoon of "veal powder"

In reality, those 2 last ingredients can be replaced by 10 cl of chicken stock, for example. 

• 10 cl of white wine
• Thyme
• 2 bays leafs
• Olive oil, salt, pepper
• 3 tablespoon of Flour or corn starch, to thicken the sauce.
• And a pressure cooker, of course !
  
  

In the pressure cooker, let brown the beef, in olive oil.

Peel your carrots and cut them in pieces.

Cut onion in slices

Explode your garlic !

Prepare your "veal powder" or chicken/veal/vegetables stock, what you prefer.

When your meat is browned, add onion and garlic, carrots, thyme and bay leafs.

Pour the stock and the wine.

Dredge your corn starch (or flour, if you don't have), salt, pepper.

And stir all that together.

Close and wait for the whistling of the pressure cooker. 

At this time, let it cook for 30 minutes on a low fire.

Olive green and bacon's cake (Cake aux olives vertes et lardons)

My daughter loves horses. 

She would like so much to practice, but my husband doesn’t want. He had a very a bad eperience with horses. 

When he was 10 years old, the horse he was riding, decided to go back to stable, without taking care at all of the young boy on his back.

It happened to me almost the same thing, when I was 16 years old.

I was imagining myself, riding romantically, with hair in the wind, on a wonderful and savage black horse …

My horse was white, she was not savage but she ran so fast that my hair really flied in the air.

The biggest problem was I didn’t ask her to run. On the contrary, I just wanted her to stop. 

That’s what I was yelling hysterically, when she decided to follow another horse group who were coming, full gallop, on the opposite track, while I was holding the reins madly, trying desperately to stop her. 

A friend told me :

“How did you want her to stop ? You terrified her ! There was an abominable yell on her back, and she didn’t know how she could get rid of it !”

Well, if there was someone who were terrified, I promise, it wasn’t her ! Ok, my scream can be frightening, I admit.

I haven’t a “Dior scream”, sophisticated and fancy. I’ve got a discount scream. My screams are close to the ones, I’m sure, prehistoric men voiced, when they were hunting mammoth. 

Something very guttural and primitive. 

But, when you are on a horse, who runs like if his tail was burning, you really don’t care to look like Maria Callas. 

Well, that’s the reason why my husband decided that horse riding was almost as dangerous as climbing and explained to my daughter, that she will ride when she’ll be 18 years old and out of home !

No way to make him change his mind.

So, my daughter tried some other activities: ballet dance, gymnastic, track athletics, tennis, guitar, without finding the sport she could like more than 3 months.

Last year, finally, she began Street Dance. And it was a revelation for her. She’s very talented and she takes a lot of fun. 

As I like to dance, she convinced me to give a try and I’m practicing African dance since 2 months.

To dance on African rhythm, you have to be as supple as a liana. And for the moment, I’m as supple as a baobab. It's African too, but not helping for dancing.

In French, we’ve got an expression who says that “to be ridiculous won’t kill you”.
It’s true. If not, I would be dead.

My daughter dances each monday afternoon from 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm and I try to move my body the same day, from 9pm to 10pm. 

Well, all this story just to tell you that, on Monday evening, diner must be quick and easy to prepare.

That’s the reason why, I’ve cooked this green olives and bacon cake. With green salad. 

You'll need :

• 200 grammes of flour
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 10 cl of neutral oil
• 10 cl of milk
• 100 grammes of gruyère or cheddar (I just used 50 grammes because my husband doesn't like cheese. You can even not use it.)
• 150 grammes of green olives pitted. 
• 200 grammes of bacon (or lardons)
• Some pepper (on the picture, there's salt, but I didn't use it. It was salty enough with bacon and olives)

Your oven must be preheated at 180°C (350°F / Th 6)

Step 1 :
Cut your bacon in pieces and let it brown, in a pan, without any fat content.

Step 2 : 
When it's golden, throw it away in colander to eliminate the fatty.

Step 3 : 
In a bowl or in your processor, stir together flour, baking powder, eggs, pepper and oil.

Step 4 : 
When it's done, pour the milk. Stir again.

Step 5 : 
With a spoon, add and mix cheese, olives (rinsed and strained) and bacon.

Step 6 : 
Butter and flour a pan cake and pour the mixture in it. 

Step 7 :
You'll have to cook it in two times.
After 20 minutes in the oven, to prevent it to burn, cover it with an aluminum sheet. 

And let it cook for 20 minutes more.
After 40 minutes, it's done !

Bon appétit ! 

Recapitulative : 

• 200 grammes of flour,
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder,
• 3 eggs,
• 10 cl of neutral oil,
• 10 cl of milk,
• 100 grammes of gruyère or cheddar,
• 150 grammes of green olives pitted,
• 200 grammes of bacon (or lardons),
• Some pepper.

Your oven must be preheated at 180°C (350°F / Th 6)

Cut your bacon in pieces and let it brown, in a pan, without any fat content.

When it's golden, throw it away in colander to eliminate the fatty.

In a bowl or in your processor, stir together flour, baking powder, eggs, pepper and oil.

When it's done, pour the milk. Stir again.

With a spoon, add and mix cheese, olives (rinsed and strained) and bacon.

Butter and flour a pan cake and pour the mixture in it. 

You'll have to cook it in two times.

After 20 minutes in the oven, to prevent it to burn, cover it with an aluminum sheet. 

And let it cook for 20 minutes more.

After 40 minutes, it's done !