Wholly Cow! Deborah Krasner's Wine-Braised Beef Pot Roast

I bought a whole grass-fed steer.  As usual, it was from my friend Mary Pettis-Sarley (barngoddess@dishmail.net).  It was so big that when I checked the load specs for my Prius, I realized that I couldn't bring it home by myself unless I could teach the steer to drive.  Naturally, I was sharing the cow with Ondine and several other people.  Ondine has a big station wagon, so she drove and I navigated, and we both watched in amazement as the guy at Ibleto's cut and wrap facility in Cotati loaded over seven hundred pounds of beef into the back.  Phew.

Mary's beef is unusual in that she raises if for several years before it gets harvested; most animals don't stick around that long.  Then the flavor is really fully developed; really, really beefy.  Oh, and by the way, really, really BIG.  So, even with several friends sharing the wealth (and boy, were they happy when they picked up their shares!) there are a lot of white-paper wrapped packages in my freezer.  So far, everyone who has cooked some of their share has said the same thing - this is the best beef we've ever had in our lives.  That being the case, one really wants to use recipes that do it justice.

I swear by my Bruce Aidell's cookbook, The Complete Meat Cookbook, (which I lovingly refer to as the "big book of meat.")  It gives you a ton of information about beef, lamb, and pork, how to cook the different cuts, maps of the animals, cutting charts, all the different cut names you might run across.  I really think everyone who eats meat should have a copy.  But when I wound up with the pork belly, trotters and pig's head I've mentioned in my earlier post on scrapple, I wanted something on pastured animals and more recipes for the funky cuts, so I wound up buying Deborah Krasner's Good Meat.  I highly recommend that you buy her cookbook as well; it's full of good, creative recipes (bacon popcorn! e.g.)  Meanwhile, here is a taste of her wares: her recipe for wine-braised pot roast is one for the ages. 


Red Wine-Braised Pot Beef Roast with Porcini, Rosemary and Cloves

This is the essence of good home cooking, the food your children will remember you for, and any friend lucky enough to eat at your table will reminisce about this meal for years!  Have a coffee filter ready to strain the mushroom water, and plan to make polenta while the stew cooks.  Use a good red wine here; it doesn't need to be great - the flavors do come through.

Can't you just smell that?

Serves 6-8

1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups minced onions
2 TB pancetta or bacon
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup shredded carrots
6 bay leaves
6 whole cloves
2 sprigs rosemary
3-4 pounds grass-fed beef round or other pot roast cut
1 TB tomato paste
1 bottle (750 ml) good red wine
1 cup coarsely chopped drained canned plum tomatoes
6 cups beef or chicken stock

1.  Heat about 1 cup of water and soak the porcini in it until soft, about 1/2 hour.  Strain the soaking liquid through a paper coffee filter and reserve the liquid for later.  Dice the mushrooms and set them aside.

2.  In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over low heat and sweat the onions and pancetta or bacon until golden, about 7 minutes.  Season lightly with salt and pepper, add the carrots, bay leaves, cloves and rosemary and stir.  When the carrots are wilted, remove the contents of the pot with a slotted spoon and set aside.

3.  Blot the meat, season with salt and pepper, and add it to the fat in the pot.  Over medium-high heat, brown the meat on all sides, about 15 minutes in all.  Reduce the heat, return the onion mixture to the pot, add the tomato paste, and stir well.  Add the wine and simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, turning the meat occasionally.

4.  Add the tomatoes, porcini and their liquid, and about 5 cups of the stock, or just enough to reach close to the top of the meat.  Bring to a simmer and cook, covered (setting a piece of parchment paper just above the level of the food), until the meat is tender, about 2 1/2 hours.  Alternatively, you can start the meat on the stove top and and then place it in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 hours.) The meat should be pretty tender when done.

5.  Remove the meat from the pot and set it aside for the moment.  Pour the sauce through a sieve, pressing on the solids to extract all the goodness.

6.  Return the meat and strained sauce to the pot, and simmer slowly, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by about a third and the meat is extremely tender, another 30-60 minutes.

7.  Rest the meat on a cutting board fro 15 minutes, then cut it crosswise and on an angle into 1/4 inch slices.  (An electric knife is great for this.)

8.  Arrange the meat on a serving platter on top of the polenta, and pour the sauce over it.

Notes from Christine:  I did not have a coffee filter to strain the mushrooms.  Oh well.  It was fine.  I followed her instructions to cook the vegetables first, rather than brown the beef first (which is how most recipes would have done it) and didn't see a compelling reason to do it that way.  Next time I will brown the meat first.

She also has you discard the stems of the porcini and only use the caps; I used the whole thing.

I followed her instruction to strain out the solids, which I hated to do.  After having dumped most of them into my none-too clean sink, I took a few bites of the remaining solids.  They were delicious, and I regretted throwing the rest away.  Next time, I will set them aside for a special treat for the cook.

And finally, while this sauce is unbelievably flavorful, I found it thin, even after all of the reductions.  I dissolved a few teaspoons of tapioca starch in some cold water and added the slurry to the pot to thicken the gravy.  Yum.

Spaghetti Carbonara

I have made, and eaten, so many different versions of this dish over the years; with bacon, with pancetta, (cured, unsmoked bacon) with guanciale (cured, unsmoked hog jowl) with cream, sans cream, with and without onion, with or without wine..... They have all been delicious, and I have enjoyed them all. However, this particular recipe, which I cut out of Gourmet magazine a few years ago, (and which is published in the Gourmet Cookbook, which I so often tout) outshines all the versions I've tried. All of the flavors are beautifully balanced; rich - but not too rich. Creamy eggs, salty bacon, the use of both Parmigiano and Pecorino Romano cheese, with plenty of fresh ground black pepper to liven the tastebuds... An added bonus is that this version re-heats pretty well, whereas those with heavy cream seem to always separate in a most unattractive fashion. (It is still best when fresh, however.)

On the eggs: - use the BEST quality eggs you can find; truly free-range chickens have access to fresh vegetables and bugs, and their eggs have a bright orange-colored yolk, an unbeatable flavor, and a richness not found in the others. This dish has very simple, straight-forward flavors, and the eggs really shine. Of course, there are all kinds of reasons to get organic, free-range eggs from a farmer you can trust. Flavor and appearance, of course. Then there's YOUR health - "factory farm" raised chickens are crammed in so tight in incredibly small crates that they can't turn around, and salmonella is easily spread. Then, of course, there's the chickens' health - see above. It's just plain wrong to keep animals in these horrible conditions just so we can save a buck a dozen. You can buy great eggs at the farmer's market, or you can befriend a neighbor who is raising them; it's all the rage in Berkeley. Maybe you can trade them some bacon or home-made sausage from your sustainable stash!

On the bacon: the recipe calls for guanciale, which can be purchased from specialty places like Fatted Calf. However, any good quality bacon or pancetta will do. Of course, you know that any pork product needs to be from a sustainably raised pig, right?

On the pepper: it's really worth your while to grind it fresh.

On the pan: Have I mentioned how much I looooove my iron skillets? They hold the heat beautifully, add great color to foods, and when well-seasoned, can cook anything - even eggs - without sticking. The key is to heat the pan up well, with a small amount of fat, BEFORE adding the eggs. I have tossed out all my non-sticks; yuck. For this dish, I use the Big Boy - 12" of black beauty! Amazingly, you can get a really nice quality, pre-seasoned "Emeril Legassi" pan at Bed Bath and Beyond for about $20. Of course, another large, flat-bottomed skillet will do.

On the timing: The timing on this is important; you want the pasta to finish cooking just as the other ingredients are ready. If one pan is getting ahead of the other, turn it down and let the other one catch up. I have laid out the steps carefully here with this timing in mind.

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

From Gourmet Magazine

Serves 4 as a main course
Active time: 40 minutes. Start to finish 40 minutes

1 pound spaghetti or linguine (I prefer linguine)
5 oz guanciale or pancetta (or bacon) cut into 1/4" dice
1 finely chopped medium onion
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 large eggs - best quality
1 1/2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano Cheese (3/4 cup)
3/4 oz finely grated Pecorino Romano
1 tsp coarsely ground fresh black pepper
1/4 tsp salt


1. Set your salted pasta water on the stove to boil over high heat; if it comes to a boil too soon, keep it covered and turn the heat down to medium - you can always bring it back up to the boil quickly. (Some people think the salt is optional - they are MISTAKEN IN THEIR MINDS.)

2. While the water boils, chop the bacon and put it in the frying pan on medium heat.

3. While the bacon cooks, chop the onion. As soon as the bacon fat begins to render, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 10 minutes.

4. While the bacon and onion cook, grate the cheeses and grind the pepper. (Weighing the cheese is a more accurate way to measure it, especially since using the micro-plane - which I adore - grates so finely that the volume is thrown off.) Combine the eggs, cheeses, pepper, and 1/4 tsp of salt in a small bowl.

5. By now, the pasta water should be boiling. If it's not, turn the heat down (or even off) on the bacon/onion pan until the water comes to the boil. If you've turned the pasta water down, now is the time to crank the heat and bring it back to a rolling boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water, stir well.

6. If you have turned down the heat on the bacon/onion mixture, you can return it to medium-low. Add the wine to the bacon and boil it until it is reduced by half. Meanwhile, keep an eye on the pasta, stirring it occasionally. Again, if the wine reaches its desired state before the pasta is ready to drain, reduce the heat.

7. When the pasta is al dente, drain it well in a colander, and add it to the bacon/onion mixture. Using tongs, toss the pasta with the mixture over moderate heat until well coated.

8. Turn off the heat source (remove from heat if using an electric stove) and add the egg/cheese mixture. Use a spatula to get all the good stuff out of the bowl! Using the tongs, toss the pasta with the egg mixture until it is well coated and distributed. The eggs will cook a little and the cheese will melt a little and, in short, it will be delicious.




Wine Match: This is one place where a buttery/oaky malolactic fermented Chardonnay does the trick; it cuts through the richness of the dish, cleansing the tongue to enjoy the next creamy bite.