Slow-Braised Chuck Roast

(SERVES 6, with generous portions)

adapted From the New York Times recipe “Boeuf à la Mode” By Tamar Adler

INGREDIENTS

  • Kosher salt to taste

  • 1 4-pound chuck eye roast

  • 1⁄2 to 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

  • 2 tablespoons Olive oil (for the pan)

  • 1⁄2 cup onion, chopped or sliced

  • 1⁄2 cup carrot, chopped

  • 1⁄2 cup celery, chopped

  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste

  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled

  • 1 bottle good, light-bodied red wine

  • 1⁄3 cup cognac or brandy

  • 1 beef marrow bone, beef knuckle (or pig’s foot!)

  • 1 bouquet garni of a few sprigs of thyme and a small handful of parsley stems

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 1⁄2 to 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms

  • 2 to 4 cups beef stock

OPTIONAL: SERVE WITH GREMOLATA (CLICK HERE for our Gremolata Recipe)


PREPARATION

  • ONE DAY AHEAD: salt the roast very generously. Rub with the nutmeg and allspice. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

  • Bring the roast to room temperature before cooking.

  • Heat oven to 300 degrees.

  • In a heavy casserole, heat olive oil until it shimmers over medium-high heat. Brown the roast 2 minutes on the sides and ends (10 to 12 minutes total). Remove roast from heat.

  • Add the onion, carrot, celery and tomato paste to the pan and stir well to deglaze, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon.

  • Add the garlic, wine, and cognac, and cook over high heat at a boil until reduced by half.

  • Add the roast, marrow or knuckle bone, bouquet garni, bay leaves, mushrooms, and enough beef stock to cover roast about halfway.

  • Move to oven and cook, covered, 3 to 4 hours, until totally tender.

  • Option 1: To serve it immediately: remove the roast, strain the broth, and skim the fat as best you can from the surface of the broth with a ladle.

  • Option 2: To serve the next day: allow to cool overnight in its broth in the refrigerator. Remove the fat that has settled on top. Remove

    the roast, warm all the braising juices, the pig’s foot and the vegetables, and then strain it through a fine sieve, so that only the glossy broth remains.

  • Taste the broth. If it tastes too acidic — as it may or may not, depending on your taste and on the wine used — add up to another cup or 2 of beef broth. Adjust your seasonings to taste. Return roast to the broth until ready to reheat and serve.

TO SERVE:

  • Reheat roast and broth over medium heat on the stovetop,

  • Remove roast to a cutting board, and with a sharpened knife cut into thick slices (they’ll fall-apart a bit!).

  • Plate the slices and pour sauce over all of them. Serving more sauce at the table.

  • Top with gremolata, if desired.