Bavette aux échalotes is one of those French bistro classics that I love to eat in Paris, or anywhere else really.
Bavette is skirt steak, which I have written about before. This cut is really one of the best value ones you can buy. The bavette I used today was really nicely hung and therefore pretty tender.
It doesn’t really need a recipe, you just need to keep the meat nice and pink inside. The shallots need to be cooked for about 30 minutes, quite often in France they serve them in a kind of beef stock-based sauce, but I prefer them just just fried until golden.
With some fried potatoes and a small salad, the dish is complete.
As for wine, well you can pretty much drink anything red. We had a bottle of 2008 Fleurie tonight, Beaujolais is such a Parisian standard that it seems almost obligatory.