Carbonade

This is a recipe I got off the about.com Italian food guide, I think. The note at the top of the recipe claims it is from Ricette di Osterie e Ristoranti della Valle D'Aosta. Serve with polenta, boiled potatoes, potato gnocchi or simply some egg noodles. The spice measurments are a guess. The recipe called for a "pinch" of this or that. Use your best judgement, I put 1/8 tsp because I found a website that suggested a pinch = 1/8 tsp. I think I use a little more.

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2  lbs lean beef, cubed
• 1⁄4 cup unsalted butter
• 2  medium onions
• 3  cloves
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄8 teaspoon sugar (optional)
•  flour, to coat beef
•  beef broth
• 2  cups dry red wine
•  salt and pepper

Directions

1. Toss the beef with some flour to lightly coat.
2. Brown the pieces in the butter, fishing them out of the pot with a slotted spoon and setting them aside as they're done.
3. Slice the onions into rounds and brown them in the same pot, add a ladle of broth (I would guess about 1/2 cup) and scrape the bottom of the pot and simmer until the broth has evaporated.
4. Add the meat and the spices, salt and sugar if you like. Then add the wine, bring it all to a boil, reduce the heat to a slow simmer, and cook covered, adding more broth as necessary to keep it from drying out for about an hour.
5. When it is done cooking, dust with a grinding of pepper and serve.