Because he is insane, my uncle bought a 5+ pound beef chuck roast that was...well, frankly, it looked like that had been one hard-workin' cow. Loads of connective tissue, weird marbling, etc.
So I did a crazed braise that turned it into sweet, buttery-soft lusciousness.
You'll need:
roast beast
red wine x 2
fresh rosemary and thyme
carrots/celery/onion, diced
garlic, minced
tomato paste
lemon
flat-leaf parsley
olive oil
butter
S&P
1. Bring the roast to room temperature, pat dry, and salt generously. Brown well in olive oil in large pot. (No, really. Brown it well. That's where you get the fond, and the fond is the way and the truth and the light.) Remove from pot, tent with foil.
2. Add more oil to pot. Caramelize carrots/celery/onion. Add garlic and tomato paste (for that monstrous roast I used about a tablespoon of sun-dried tomato paste, the sort in the tube). S&P aggressively. Deglaze pot with, oh, about two thirds of the first bottle of wine (I used an Aussie pinot); add heaping handfuls of herbs. Zest the lemon, cut in half, and add half to pot. Return roast to the pot, lid it up, and simmer, simmer, simmer like a simmering thing. For a long time. Couple hours at least.
3. Mince together reserved lemon zest, garlic, and parsley to make a gremolata, if you want. Go crazy and throw some of the fresh rosemary in there if you feel like it.
4. Remove roast from pan. Remove herb stems and lemon from remaining liquid. Increase the heat and boil to reduce by about half; stir in tablespoon of butter. Serve slices of roast with reduced braise and a sprinkle of gremolata, if desired. Also, this is where the second bottle of wine comes in handy, along with some bread to sop up the love.
I'd love to try this with mutton, but I've got no experience with the stuff. Is it too fatty for this method? Anyone?
Wow, that sounds really good. I need to try that some time.
I dunno about the mutton, it's kind of hard to find actual mutton roast around here. But i think this would work pretty well with a leg of lamb.
Leg of lamb! That's an excellent idea. Lots of connective tissue to gelatinize. Sexy.
Holy hell fuck yeah! Me love me some good, lovelingly cooked roast with exactly these ingredients. Also, I use herbes de Provence and a bay leaf. Mm mm good.
You speak the troof, Jenne. Herbes de Provence are lurvly. I totally cheat and buy 'em pre-mixed, though. I like the blend from Morton & Bassett San Francisco, which sounds all sorts of la-di-da fancy but is available at your standard issue grocery store, so no big. 'S where I got mine. They have lavender flowers in the mix, and eating flowers just strikes me as seven sorts of sexy.
William Sonoma sells the herbs by the container, I think.
OM NOM NOM! I'm picky about my "connective tissues" (ew) and even I think that sounds good.
"connective tissues" are awesome if you stew them long enough.
they turn into gelatine and create that smooth texture that makes good stews great. if you do it right, they'll be mostly dissolved.
(and unfortunately turns out to be the reason why you can't freeze stew, cause when you reheat it, the gelatine appears to be broken down .. taste is still pretty much the same, but it doesn't look as good anymore)
I got my herbes from provence direct. Yes, that makes me snobbish a bit, but I dunna mind it.