Peposo Alla Fornacina Recipes

PEPOSO ALLA FORNACINA (TUSCAN BEEF & BLACK PEPPER STEW)

Steps:

• In a small herb bag (or using cheesecloth/muslin), wrap the herbs and black peppercorns. Set aside.
• Heat the oil in a large casserole pan until hot. Add some of the meat pieces and brown on all sides (around 3-4 minutes), remove and fry the remaining pieces.Add all the meat back to the pan and then add the garlic, and herb/pepper bag.Pour in the whole bottle of red wine, plus a little water to help cover the beef.Let the liquid come to a simmer then reduce the heat to very low, so that the sauce is very gently bubbling.Pop on a lid and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.Remove the lid and cook for another 30 minutes to reduce the liquid. If after 30 minutes the liquid needs to be reduced more, just turn up the heat and reduce until the sauce is reduced enough to cling to the meat.Remove the herb/pepper bag and serve.
• I like to serve mine with lashings of creamy, cheesy polenta. I'll also often serve with creamy mashed potato too and on occasion, nothing more than a loaf of crusty bread. You decide.

PEPOSA DELL'IMPRUNETA (TUSCAN BLACK PEPPER BEEF)

Steps:

• Place meat in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle all sides generously with 1 tablespoon kosher salt.
• Place chopped garlic and a pinch of salt in a mortar and mash with pestle until pastelike. Add tomato paste; mash until blended. Transfer mixture into bowl with beef and rub onto all sides of meat. Add crushed peppercorns and ground pepper. Distribute evenly over all sides of beef. Transfer to a deep skillet or Dutch oven bone side down. Tuck sage leaves, rosemary, and dry bay leaves between pieces of meat. Carefully add wine along the side of the pan to avoid washing over the top of the meat.
• Place pan over high heat and bring to a simmer; reduce heat to low. Cover tightly. Cook until meat is fork tender, turning pieces every 30 minutes or so, about 3 1/2 hours. Transfer pieces of meat to a warm bowl.
• Increase heat to high and bring braising liquid to a boil. Simmer until liquid is reduced by about half or until slightly thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove bones from meat.
• When sauce is thickened, transfer meat back to skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low and spoon sauce over meat. Cook until until heated through, about 5 minutes.

PEPOSO ALLA FORNACINA

Steps:

• Place the meat in a deep pot with the garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper and cover it all with cold water.
• Cook for about 2 hours stirring occasionally.
• Add the wine and let it cook for about another hour.

PEPOSO

Steps:

• Cube the meat into fairly large pieces, weighing a couple of ounces each. Put them in a pot with the pepper, garlic, and salt, and heat over a medium flame, turning occasionally, until the meat has browned and almost all the water it gives off upon being heated has been reabsorbed -- for this volume of meat figure close to an hour. Add enough wine to submerge the meat by an inch (2.5 cm) or so; if the wine is not enough add warm water or broth -- vegetable, but meat will work, as will unsalted bouillon. Add the bay leaves, cover, and simmer over a very gentle flame for at least 4 hours, giving the pot a stir every now and then.
• When the time is up, let the meat cool and remove it to a bowl, leaving the liquid in the pot. Cover the meat and refrigerate both the meat and the liquid in the pot (you could put the liquid in a second bowl to save space if need be). The next morning a layer of congealed fat will have risen to cover the surface of the liquid. Remove and discard this fat, and return both the liquid and the meat to the pot to reheat it before serving it.