Daniel Boulud’s Hachis Parmentier

Usually in France, the dish known as hachis parmentier is a workaday affair — a layer of sautéed ground beef in a baking dish, topped with mashed potatoes, then the whole thing browned in the oven. That’s why when we read that Daniel Boulud, New York City’s superstar French chef, has a thing for it, we were dying to hear how he approaches it. Fortunately, he was happy to share his take on it with us. This recipe is adapted from his.

“Hachis parmentier is all about how you build your sauce and flavors,” says Boulud. “It is a baked dish that starts with humble ingredients and simple techniques. I love to expand my version with the deep and rich flavors of Boeuf Bourguignon under a layer of creamy mashed potatoes topped with nutty Gruyère cheese.”

READ: “Chef Daniel Boulud gives a humble French dish, hachis Parmentier, the royal treatment”

Boulud’s recipe calls for boneless rib-eye, resulting in a super-flavorful dish, suitable for a special occasion, and of course a great bottle of red. The extravagant cut makes the dish expensive to make, so we also tested it using chuck, a much less pricey cut. It was good — and we do recommend that if you’re keeping to a budget — thought it’s considerably less special.

It’s important that the braised meat be thick enough that it doesn’t run all over the plate once you serve it. It’s easy to build a braise substantial enough if you use veal stock, which has plenty of gelatin to hold it together. As veal stock is an ingredient in the arsenal of every French chef, but few home cooks, we offer the alternative of store-bought beef broth boosted with a few spoonfuls of demi-glace, a compromise authorized by Boulud. D’Artagnan makes a good one that you can buy online or find in some higher-end supermarkets. You’ll also need cheesecloth for making a bouquet garni, and a 9-inch square or 12 by 9-inch oval baking dish (or similar).

“Nothing warms your soul like the anticipation of this casserole on a cold winter’s day,” Boulud told us. Ain’t that the truth.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

FOR THE BEEF BOURGUIGNON:

2 pounds boneless ribeye, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 1/2 cups red Burgundy wine or not-too-fruity pinot noir

2 cloves garlic