Braised Beef with Garlic and Rosemary

Last night was a December Wine Workshop at Lily's

The main course was Old Ackley Farm stewing beef

braised in red wine with garlic, rosemary and spices

I served it over mashed sweet potato and butternut squash

(recipe can be found in a November post of this blog)

with sautéed beet greens from the garden which

I had blanched and frozen at the end of the season

Ed and Barbara of Wine Traditions in the Washington DC area

 presented delicious wines with my food and we instantly became part

of a mutual admiration society

Lydia asked me for the recipe for the beef, so

I thought I would share it with everyone

Before I go, I want to give you a link to 

Alewive's Girl.  Rhea has posted some beautiful photos

 of her home on a pre-baby nesting day

Enjoy!

BRAISED BEEF WITH GARLIC AND ROSEMARY

I made this dish intuitively, so the amounts here are approximate

4 lbs of stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 medium red onions, peeled and diced

1 head of garlic, top cut off

1/2 cup diced pancetta, or bacon

5 peppercorns

6 whole coriander seeds

2 whole allspice

2 bay leaves

Kosher salt

3-5 small sprigs of fresh rosemary

Fresh ground black pepper

1/2 bottle of a dry red wine

(I used Marcillac and it really came through)

2-3 cups chicken stock

Toss cubed beef with salt to lightly season

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees

In a heavy bottom dutch oven, 

heat a few tablespoons of oil over medium high heat

Add pancetta and cook until beginning to brown

Add onion,

 keep cooking until pancetta is golden and onion is translucent, about 5 minutes

Add beef and stir to coat with oil, onion mixture

Pour in wine and bring to a boil

Add garlic, peppercorns, coriander seeds, allspice and bay leaves

Simmer until the wine is reduced by half

Add stock and rosemary,

 taste your braising liquid at this point and add salt if it needs it

Bring to boil, take off heat, cover and place in heated oven

(I use Molly Stevens method of putting parchment paper over

 the beef and liquid before putting the cover on)

Cook covered until meat is tender and sauce has thickened

This took about 2 hours in my oven, might take 3 in yours

I took the cover off for the last 20 minutes to brown the meat and richen the sauce

I let the braise stand at room temperature for an hour, 

squeezed the roasted garlic from the skin, 

removed my stems and leaves and allspice,

 added some fresh cracked black pepper, stirred to combine

and reheated it before serving

This would be even better if cooked a day ahead and if there had been any

leftovers I bet they would taste even better today.

Kyra

http://alewivesgirl.blogspot.com/2012/12/around-house-pre-baby-edition_11.html