Braised Beef Pot Roast
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Here is a delicious recipe from the book "Good Meat: The Complete Guide to Sourcing and Cooking Sustainable Meat," written by Deborah Krasner. The book has more than 200 recipes from Beef to Rabbit to Poultry and Eggs. This is an excerpted recipe for Beef Pot Roast from the Beef section of the book:
"Red Wine-Braised Beef Pot Roast with Porcini, Rosemary, and Cloves |
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This is the essence of good home cooking, the food your children will remember you for, and any friend lucky enough to eat at your table will reminisce about this meal for years! Have a coffee filter ready to strain the mushroom water, and plan to make polenta (see page 366) while the stew cooks. Use a good red wine here - it doesn't need to be great - the flavors do come through.
Serves 6 to 8
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1.5 cups minced onions
2 tablespoons pancetta or bacon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shredded carrots
6 bay leaves
6 whole cloves
2 sprigs rosemary
3 to 4 pounds grass-fed beef round or other pot roast cut
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (750 ml) bottle good red wine
1 cup coarsely chopped drained canned plum tomatoes
6 cups beef or chicken stock, preferably homemade (see page 124 or 303), low-salt, if purchased
Heat about 1 cup water to hot and soak the porcini in it until soft, about half an hour. Strain the soaking liquid through a paper coffee filter and reserve the clear liquid. Discard the hard stems, dice the mushroom caps, and set them aside.
In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over low heat, and sweat the onions and pancetta or bacon until golden, about 7 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper, add the carrots, bay leaves, cloves, and rosemary, and stir. When the carrots are wilted, remove the contents of the pot using a slotted spoon and set aside.
Blot the meat, season it with salt and pepper, and add it to the fat remaining in the pot. Over medium-high heat, brown the meat on all sides, about 15 minutes in all. Reduce the heat, return the onion mixture to the pot, add the tomato paste, stir well. Add the wine and simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, turning the beef occasionally.
Add the plum tomatoes, the porcini and their liquid, and about 5 cups of the stock, or just enough to reach close to the top of the meat. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered (setting a piece of parchment paper just above the level of the food), until the meat is tender, about 2.5 hours. (Alternatively, you can start the meat on the stove and then place it in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 hours.) The meat should be pretty tender when done.
Remove the meat from the pot and set it aside for the moment. Pour the sauce through the sieve, pressing on the solids to extract all the goodness.
Return the meat and strained sauce to the pot, and simmer slowly, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by about a third and the meat is extremely tender, another 30 to 60 minutes.
Rest the meat on a cutting board for 15 minutes, then cut it crosswise and on an angle into 1/4-inch slices (an electric knife is great for this).
Arrange the meat on a serving platter on top of polenta, and pour the sauce over it."
- "Good Meat: The Complete Guide to Sourcing and Cooking Sustainable Meat, by Deborah Krasner
Serves 6 to 8
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1.5 cups minced onions
2 tablespoons pancetta or bacon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup shredded carrots
6 bay leaves
6 whole cloves
2 sprigs rosemary
3 to 4 pounds grass-fed beef round or other pot roast cut
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (750 ml) bottle good red wine
1 cup coarsely chopped drained canned plum tomatoes
6 cups beef or chicken stock, preferably homemade (see page 124 or 303), low-salt, if purchased
Heat about 1 cup water to hot and soak the porcini in it until soft, about half an hour. Strain the soaking liquid through a paper coffee filter and reserve the clear liquid. Discard the hard stems, dice the mushroom caps, and set them aside.
In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over low heat, and sweat the onions and pancetta or bacon until golden, about 7 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper, add the carrots, bay leaves, cloves, and rosemary, and stir. When the carrots are wilted, remove the contents of the pot using a slotted spoon and set aside.
Blot the meat, season it with salt and pepper, and add it to the fat remaining in the pot. Over medium-high heat, brown the meat on all sides, about 15 minutes in all. Reduce the heat, return the onion mixture to the pot, add the tomato paste, stir well. Add the wine and simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, turning the beef occasionally.
Add the plum tomatoes, the porcini and their liquid, and about 5 cups of the stock, or just enough to reach close to the top of the meat. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered (setting a piece of parchment paper just above the level of the food), until the meat is tender, about 2.5 hours. (Alternatively, you can start the meat on the stove and then place it in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 hours.) The meat should be pretty tender when done.
Remove the meat from the pot and set it aside for the moment. Pour the sauce through the sieve, pressing on the solids to extract all the goodness.
Return the meat and strained sauce to the pot, and simmer slowly, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by about a third and the meat is extremely tender, another 30 to 60 minutes.
Rest the meat on a cutting board for 15 minutes, then cut it crosswise and on an angle into 1/4-inch slices (an electric knife is great for this).
Arrange the meat on a serving platter on top of polenta, and pour the sauce over it."
- "Good Meat: The Complete Guide to Sourcing and Cooking Sustainable Meat, by Deborah Krasner