Kitchen Happenings: Where's the Beef?

A happy New Year to my reader(s?).

Over the last couple weeks, beef has been front and center in the Chairman's Kitchen. Beef, done three ways has made for some fine dining in the ol' apartment. The first, braised beef shanks, sort of leads to the second, beef-vegetable stew. The last is an awesome rib-roast that became Christmas dinner this year.

The braised beef shanks, or osso bucco, is my take of the traditional Italian dish that's generally made with veal. Beef is more affordable for those of us on a budget, but still makes for a tasty dish. Here's the rundown - season it aggressively with salt and pepper. Brown the shanks in olive oil, and place in a roasting pan. I like to sautee a traditional miropoix (celery, carrots, onion) in the leftover drippings to pick up some additional flavor for the dish. This gets seasoned with salt, pepper, a couple cloves of chopped garlic, onion powder, dried sage, rosemary, and some italian seasoning. After some of the liquid has been cooked, the veggies get dusted with maybe a teaspoon or 2 of flour, which needs to be cooked for a little bit. After the flour gets cooked, the addition of some red wine follows. Then, add a can of diced tomatoes. Let this cook a bit, and then pour the liquid into the roasting pan, and taste the liquid, and adjust seasoning as needed. Slightly salty is OK, and you want to make sure that you just cover the top of the meat. Cover in foil, and bake in the oven at 250F for a few hours, and you're good to go. You can serve this over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, polenta, or just about any starch that you want.

So what'll typically happen is that you'll end up with a lot of the braising liquid left. This gives you a great start to an incredible beef-vegetable stew. But set that aside for now. When you want to make the beef stew, go with a chuck roast, and cut it into about 1/2 to 3/4 inch chunks. Season these, and brown the pieces in some olive oil. Pull out the beef, and add the traditional miropoix, as before. Season, cook in the drippings, and add a little flour again. At this point, you've done something very similar to what you had before with the beef shanks. I think that here is where you should diverge. Remember that you're using the left-over braising liquid. If you added more red wine, you end up win an almost too elegant flavor for what you'd want from beef stew. But, you can change it up a little bit and instead add a bottle of beer. This gives you a nice flavor that just seems right for beef stew. Now, add a can of diced tomatoes, and then bring the pot up to a simmer. Then, you can add the beef back in, and let the whole pot simmer for a couple hours. As always, taste as you go, and season as needed. When the stew is just about ready, you can add in some more veggies that don't cook long (corn, peas, green beans is my preferred mix). Let it go for a little longer, and bingo, you've got a nice beef stew.

Over the last few years, I've preferred to make rib roasts, in lieu of the traditional turkey or ham for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter. I think that I've finally gotten it down. The first step is a marinade. Coarse salt, pepper, finely chopped rosemary, finely chopped garlic, and olive oil. You want a nice, thick mixture that you slather on to the roast (that you've already patted dry, of course). Where I think that you can get a nice, flavorful, tender roast is by letting it marinade for 24 hours (or a little more, if you like). When you're ready to go, let the roast come to room temperature (or just don't pre-heat the oven). Roast, covered at 350F until the internal temperature reaches about 100F, and then finish it off uncovered, until the roast hits about 115F. Let the roast rest for about 10 minutes, and the internal temperature will get up to 120F or so. Perfect rare rib roast. Slice that baby up, and you've got some great eats going. Leftovers make incredible sandwiches, as well.

Anyway, that's the latest in my kitchen. I think that the next entry will be a review of The Great Impasta, which should have been done quite a while ago.

-foodgeek