Gardianne de taureau

Refrigerate and marinate the taureau with wine and aromatics. Combine the 1000 g taureau cubes, 750 ml red wine, 300 g onion, 15 ml red wine vinegar, 5 g thyme, two bay leaves and 8 g orange peel in a non-reactive container. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours at 4 °C or below. All meat cubes are submerged or coated by the wine mixture and remain refrigerated for the full overnight marinade. Cold marination seasons the braising meat and carries the aromatic profile into the sauce. Keep at 4 °C or below; the wine mixture has contacted raw meat and must later be boiled before serving.

Drain and dry the meat, reserving the marinade. Drain the meat well, reserve the marinade, and pat the cubes thoroughly dry. Strain the marinade into a clean pan and keep it away from ready-to-eat food until it has been boiled. The meat surface is visibly dry enough to brown rather than steam, and the marinade is kept separate for cooking. Surface drying improves browning. Treat the reserved marinade as raw-meat liquid; prevent splashes and cross-contamination.

Brown the meat in two batches. Heat the 30 g olive oil in the casserole and brown the meat in two uncrowded batches, about 9 minutes per batch. Check several thick cubes and continue until every batch has passed at least 63 °C before the long braise continues. The meat is browned on several sides and every cube has passed at least 63 °C before the long braise continues. Batch browning builds flavour without crowding the casserole. Cook about 9 minutes per batch; keep raw-meat utensils away from ready-to-eat food.

Bring the strained marinade to a full boil. Bring the strained raw-meat marinade to a full 100 °C rolling boil for 5 minutes before pouring it over the browned meat. Add the 10 g crushed garlic, 5 g salt and 2 g black pepper. The strained raw-meat marinade reaches a full rolling boil before it is used as braising liquid. Boiling is required because the marinade contacted raw meat. Do not taste the marinade before it has reached a full boil.

Braise until fork-tender. Cover and braise in a 160 °C oven for 165 minutes, keeping the sauce at a steady gentle simmer around 95 °C. Check occasionally that the meat remains surrounded by liquid rather than drying out. The collagen-rich meat is fork-tender, the onions and garlic are very soft, and the braising liquid has reduced to about 700 ml of sauce. Long gentle cooking tenderises the lean, working-muscle cuts without drying them. Maintain a steady simmer and keep enough liquid around the meat.

Finish the sauce. Uncover, stir in the 10 g dark chocolate and cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, only long enough to concentrate the sauce around the tender meat. The chocolate is dissolved, the sauce lightly coats the meat, and the braise is no longer watery. A short uncovered finish concentrates the sauce after the long covered braise. Alcohol may remain after prolonged cooking; do not describe the dish as alcohol-free.

Rest before serving. Cover, remove from the heat and rest for 10 minutes before portioning. The bubbling has subsided and the sauce has settled around the meat for serving. A short rest makes the braise easier to portion without losing sauce. Serve hot and refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.