Braised Beef In Barolo Crock Pot Food

SLOW-COOKER BEEF AND BARLEY

Steps:

• Combine the beef, barley, mushrooms, celery, carrots, leeks, thyme, beef broth and soy sauce in a slow cooker. Add 1 cup water, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover and cook on low, undisturbed, 8 hours. Uncover and skim off any excess fat. Transfer the beef to a cutting board, let cool slightly and slice or shred by hand into bite-size pieces. Thin the vegetable-barley mixture in the slow cooker with some water, if desired. Divide among shallow bowls and top with the beef. Serve with horseradish, if desired.
• Photograph by Antonis Achilleos

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 WINE (BRASATO)

Steps:

• Begin the day before you plan to cook the meat. Slice the onion, celery, and carrot, and put them in a bowl with the meat, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Pour the wine over the mixture and marinate it until the next day, turning the meat occasionally.
• Remove the meat, reserving the marinade, and pat the meat dry.
• Strain the marinade, bring it to a boil, and cook it until it's reduced by half. In the meantime, tie the meat with string so it keeps its shape and brown it in a pot with the butter.
• Once it's well browned on all sides, season the meat with salt, pour the reduced marinade over it, add the vegetables that it marinated with, cover everything, and simmer over a low flame until the meat is done, about two hours.
• When the meat is done remove it to a platter and remove the string. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and either put them through a food mill or blend them.
• Degrease the sauce, stir the blended vegetables back into it, pour it over the meat, and serve. The meat should be so tender it could be carved with a spoon.
• Serve it with mashed potatoes or a steaming polenta, and the other vegetables you prefer. And, of course, a bottle of Barolo.

BEER BRAISED BEEF FROM A CROCK POT

Steps:

• Cut stew beef cubes into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Place cubes in bottom of crock pot.
• Combine all other ingredients and pour over beef.
• Cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours or on High for 4 - 5 hours.
• Before serving, you can thicken broth with some flour and water. Turn crock pot to high and stir in flour mixture.
• Serve over cooked egg noodle pasta.
• Note: I like to use Negro Modelo which is a dark Mexican beer for this recipe. The dark beer is really nice to cook with.

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 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 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.