Beef Barola Recipes

BEEF BRAISED IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F.
• Heat oil in pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking.
• Meanwhile, pat meat dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Brown meat in hot oil on all sides, about 10 minutes total. (If bottom of pot begins to scorch, lower heat to moderate.) Transfer to a plate using a fork and tongs.
• Add pancetta to oil in pot and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring frequently, until browned and fat is rendered, about 3 minutes. Add onion, carrot, and celery and sauté, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sauté, stirring, until garlic begins to soften and turn golden, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and boil until liquid is reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Add water and bring to a simmer, then return meat along with any juices accumulated on plate to pot. Cover pot with lid and transfer to oven. Braise until meat is very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
• Transfer meat to a cutting board. Skim fat from surface of sauce and discard along with herb stems. Boil sauce until reduced by about one third, about 5 minutes, then season with salt. Cut meat across the grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices and return to sauce.

BEEF BRAISED IN BAROLO

Steps:

• Heat the oven, with a rack in the center, to 250°F.
• Season all surfaces of the roast with 1 teaspoon salt. Pour the olive oil into the big pan, and set over medium-high heat. Lay the roast in, and brown it on each side for a minute or two, without moving, until caramelized all over. Remove to a platter.
• Still over medium-high heat, drop in the cut vegetables and garlic cloves, toss to coat with oil, and spread out in the pan. Drop in the rosemary, sage leaves, grated nutmeg, peppercorns, dried porcini, and remaining teaspoon salt, and toss all together. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping up the browned meat bits on the pan bottom, just until the vegetables soften, then lower the heat.
• Push the vegetables to the sides, and return the roast to the pan, laying flat on the bottom. Pour in the three bottles of wine and any meat juices that collected on the platter. The roast should be at least half submerged-add beef stock as needed.
• Cover the pot, and heat until the wine is steaming but not boiling. Uncover the pan, and place it in the oven. After 30 minutes, rotate the roast so the exposed meat is submerged in the braising liquid. Braise this way, turning the meat in the pan every 30 minutes, for about 3 hours, until fork-tender. The liquid should not boil&151;if it does, pour in some cold water to stop the bubbling, and lower the oven temperature.
• After 4 1/2 hours or so, check the beef with a meat thermometer. When its internal temperature reaches 180°F-it should be easily pierced with a fork-take the pan from the oven. Remove the meat to a platter, with intact carrot and celery pieces to serve as a garnish.
• Skim any fat from the braising juices, heat to a boil, and reduce to a saucy consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Pour through a sieve set over a clean container. Press in the juices from the strained herbs and vegetable pieces. Pour in any juices from the meat platter, and season the sauce to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. (If you are not going to serve right away, put the meat and reserved vegetables in the sauce to rest and cool, for a couple of hours or overnight.)
• To serve, slice the meat crosswise (easier when it is cool). Pour a shallow layer of sauce in a wide skillet, and lay the slices in, overlapping. Heat the sauce to bubbling, spooning it over the beef, so the slices are lightly coated. Lift them with a broad spatula, and slide onto a warm platter, fanned out. Heat the carrots and celery in the sauce too, if you've saved them, and arrange on the platter. Serve, passing more heated sauce at the table.

BRASATO AL BAROLO - BRAISED CHUCK ROAST IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Place chuck roast, onion, carrots, celery, peppercorns, cloves, garlic, cinnamon stick, rosemary, and bay leaves together in a stockpot. Pour wine over meat and vegetable mixture to cover entirely. Cover stockpot and marinate for 6 hours in the refrigerator. Turn meat in marinade to make sure it is completely covered; return to refrigerator to finish marinating, about 6 hours more.
• Transfer chuck roast from marinade to a plate to rest; pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Pour marinade through a strainer and into a bowl to separate vegetable mixture from wine, reserving both vegetable mixture and wine.
• Heat olive oil in the stockpot over medium-high heat. Brown chuck roast on all sides, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium. Add strained vegetable mixture to stockpot; cook with the chuck roast until fragrant, adding more oil as necessary to prevent burning, about 8 minutes.
• Pour reserved wine back into stockpot; add salt. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer without removing cover for 2 hours. Remove cover, stir, and cook until meat easily shreds with a fork, 10 minutes to 1 hour longer. Transfer meat from cooking liquid to serving platter; tent with foil to keep warm.
• Return cooking liquid to a boil over medium-high heat; simmer until reduced to sauce consistency, 20 to 30 minutes. Discard cinnamon stick, rosemary, and bay leaves. Season with salt; puree mixture with a handheld immersion blender until smooth. Pour sauce over meat to serve.

BRAISED BEEF IN BAROLO (CROCK POT)

Steps:

• Tie the beef with kitchen string & place in a large dish; add the next 10 ingredients and let marinade for 6 to 7 hours.
• Drain the meat, reserving the marinade and pat dry with paper towels.
• Heat the butter, oil & bacon fat in a pan; add the meat and cook over high heat, turning frequently, until browned all over, then transfer to a slow cooker.
• Tip the pan and remove as much fat as possible, then deglaze pan with remaining wine & pour over beef; add marinade & beef broth to slow cooker.
• Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours; the meat is cooked when it feels very tender at the pricking of a knife or fork.
• Remove beef from slow cooker & remove kitchen string; tent for about 10 minutes before carving.
• Make Sauce: Remove bay leaf, stir in cocoa powder & pour liquid into a blender or food processor; being careful with this hot liquid, process until smooth.
• If desired, thicken on stove top using flour, corn starch or arrowroot.

BEEF BRAISED IN BAROLO

Steps:

• Prepare beef roast. Pull roast apart at its major seam (delineated by lines of fat) into two halves. Use knife as necessary. With knife, remove large knobs of fat from each piece, leaving thin layer of fat on meat. Tie three pieces of kitchen twine around each piece of meat to keep it from falling apart.
• Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 300 degrees. Thoroughly pat beef dry with paper towels; sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place pancetta in 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to paper towel-lined plate and reserve. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat; set Dutch oven over medium-high heat and heat fat until beginning to smoke. Add beef to pot and cook until well browned on all sides, about 8 minutes total. Transfer beef to large plate; set aside.
• Reduce heat to medium; add onions, carrots, celery, and tomato paste to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften and brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, sugar, flour, and reserved pancetta; cook, stirring constantly, until combined and fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and tomatoes, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits; add thyme sprig, rosemary, and parsley. Return roast and any accumulated juices to pot; increase heat to high and bring liquid to boil, then place large sheet of foil over pot and cover tightly with lid. Set pot in oven and cook, using tongs to turn beef every 45 minutes, until dinner fork easily slips in and out of meat, about 3 hours.
• Transfer beef to cutting board; tent with foil to keep warm. Allow braising liquid to settle about 5 minutes, then, using wide shallow spoon, skim fat off surface. Add minced thyme, bring liquid to boil over high heat, and cook, whisking vigorously to help vegetables break down, until mixture is thickened and reduced to about 3 1/2 cups, about 18 minutes. Strain liquid through large fine-mesh strainer, pressing on solids with spatula to extract as much liquid as possible; you should have 1 1/2 cups strained sauce (if necessary, return strained sauce to Dutch oven and reduce to 1 1/2 cups). Discard solids in strainer. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
• Remove kitchen twine from meat and discard. Using chef's or carving knife, cut meat against grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Divide meat between warmed bowls or plates; pour about 1/4 cup sauce over and serve immediately.

BEEF IN BAROLO

Steps:

• The night before, put the beef in a large bowl. Pour over the wine, add the herbs, peppercorns and juniper berries, and leave to soak overnight. The following day, remove the beef and pat dry, setting aside the wine and aromatics. (You can skip this step if you don't have time.)
• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Heat 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil in a large casserole. Add the beef, browning all over except for the bone side, then remove and set aside. Add the red wine, herbs, peppercorns and juniper berries. Boil for around 15 mins until reduced by half, then return the meat to the pan and add the stock. Return the mixture to the boil, then cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 2½ hrs.
• Fry the onion and carrot in a frying pan over a high heat until golden brown, then set aside. Remove the stew from the oven and carefully lift out the meat. Sieve the remaining pan contents into a large jug, discarding the contents of the sieve. The fat from the beef will rise to the surface - skim it off. Pour the skimmed sauce back into the casserole dish, then add the browned veg and meat. Cover, then return to the oven for another 1½ hrs, removing the lid for the last 30 mins to let the sauce reduce, then serve with polenta drizzled with truffle oil.

BEEF BIRRIA

Steps:

• Cut each beef short rib through the middle, all the way down to the bone. Cut beef chuck in half; cut each half into 3- to 4-inch pieces.
• Place beef chuck and short ribs into a soup pot and season with salt, black pepper, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, and cloves. Toss very thoroughly until the meat is evenly coated with the spices, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Cover and transfer into the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
• Prep guajillo chiles by snipping off stems with scissors; slice open and scrape or shake out the seeds onto a plate to discard.
• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add dried guajillo chiles and toss in the hot oil, about 30 seconds. Add chopped onion, garlic, and ginger; toss to combine. Add tomatoes and water, raise heat to high, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 30 minutes.
• Turn off heat and use an immersion blender to blend the mixture as smooth as possible, or transfer to a regular blender, working in batches as needed.
• Remove the soup pot with meat from the refrigerator. Strain the reserved chili mixture into the pot using a large mesh strainer. Add bay leaves, honey, vinegar, and chicken broth.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, and then lower to medium-low. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the meat is falling-apart tender, 3 to 4 hours. Skim fat off of the top and reserve for future birria queso tacos.
• Place some chunks of beef into a soup bowl and ladle some of the cooking liquid over top. Top with white onion and chopped cilantro and squeeze lime juice over top.