Wine-Braised Beef - 2 ways

I grew up in a meat and potatoes family, my husband is Italian. Roasts were a regular part of the menu plan growing up. Typically they were prepared simply, roasted in the oven and served with delicious pan dripping gravy and mashed potatoes and a side of some vegetable. When I tried to make a roast for my husband, he wasn't really into it. This bummed me out, I certainly couldn't make a 2-3# roast for myself. I would have to eat it for weeks. Despite this, a few weeks ago when the chuck roasts were on a BOGO sale, I picked two up.

I started searching for some recipes that I thought could work for my husband. I found a recipe that used a Wine-Braised Beef in a Shepherd's Pie. I made some simple adjustments, but mostly followed the braised beef portion. I wanted to keep it simple, so I made the beef, the potatoes and the peas and we built deconstructed Shepherd's Pie...especially important for me who doesn't eat peas. My kids didn't care for the Shepherd's Pie approach, so we came up with a sandwich that was similar to the Mongolian Beef with Spicy Mayonnaise that we had experienced at the Epcot Food and Wine event...not a perfect match, but we hadn't found any other options.

Wine-Braised Beef
Ingredients:
2 pounds beef chuck pot roast cut into big hunks
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large carrot
1 stalk celery
1 large shallot
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups sherry
15 ounces beef broth
3/4 cup water

Directions:
Heat oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Season beef on all sides liberally with salt and pepper then place inside pot and sear for 3-4 minutes on the top and bottom, until a golden brown crust has formed. Add carrots, celery, and shallots then cook until vegetables are tender, 6-8 minutes. Sprinkle in flour then stir and cook for 1 more minute.

Pour in sherry, beef broth, and water then bring to a boil. Place a lid on top of the pot then turn heat down to medium-low and simmer for 2 - 2-1/2 hours, or until beef can be easily shredded, turning beef over halfway through. Remove meat then shred. If liquid is not thickened, turn heat up and simmer until thickened then return beef to the pot.

To make deconstructed shepherd's pie, prepare mashed potatoes and peas. Assemble in a dish, layering the beef, the peas and the potatoes.

To make braised beef sandwiches, prepare some siracha mayonnaise (1/2 c mayo, 1-2 tbsp siracha) and serve beef on a roll, with a smear of the siracha mayonnaise.

Disclaimer

Braised Short Ribs

Last weekend, we went out to dinner with friends and I tried a meal that included braised short ribs, some fish and polenta. The fish was okay, but the short ribs were amazing. I decided that it was a meal that I would love to make at home. So, as I tend to do, I did a search on the internet. No one recipe that I found was really quite what I was looking for, so in my typical style, I combined several recipes to get to one that worked for me.

I forgot to buy the polenta, so we served it with rice and corn on the side. I used the braising liquid to make a quick gravy to serve as a sauce for the meal. The meal was met with great feedback from the whole family.

I think that next time, I might swap out my braising liquid and use 1 cup strong coffee and 1 cup beef broth or 1 cup red wine and 1 cup beef broth. I definitely will try making it with polenta too.

Braised Short Ribs

Ingredients:
2 pounds boneless beef short ribs
1/4 cup flour
salt
pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 medium onion, diced
10 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme
12 fluid ounces soda pop
1/2 cup beef broth

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.

Dry the ribs off, season with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.

Pour the olive oil into a skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the ribs, about 5 minutes on each side.

Place the garlic, onions, tomatoes, and thyme in the bottom of a roasting pan.

Top with the ribs and then pour in the pop and beef broth.

Cover tightly with foil.

Place in the oven for 3 hours. Allow the meat to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

Disclaimer

Salisbury Steak

Salisbury Steak is one of those dishes that I have always enjoyed, but generally only ever have as part of a frozen meal. Looking for some new flavors to interject into our menu, I decided to try some Salisbury Steak for dinner. I had my ideas about how to make a Salisbury Steak and as I looked across various sites, discovered that I was headed in the right direction.

20 oz Ground Turkey (you could use beef)
1 can French Onion Soup
1/2 c breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tsp minced garlic
salt and pepper, to taste
flour, for dredging
1/4 c white wine
1 small onion sliced
1/4 c ketchup
1 tsp Worcestershire
1/4 c water
brown gravy, packet prepared as directed or canned

In a bowl, combine the turkey, 1/2 the can of soup, the breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, salt and pepper. Shape into patties (I got about 8). Place flour on plate, dredge the patties in the flour.

Add a small amount of oil to a skillet. Add the patties and brown on both sides. Remove from pan.

Deglaze the pan with the white wine. Reduce heat to medium and add the onions and the remaining flour from the plate. Allow to saute for a couple of minutes.

Combine the remaining soup, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, water and gravy. Whisk together until smooth. Add to the pan.

Place the patties back into the pan and allow to cook for about five more minutes.

Serve with mashed potatoes or buttered noodles.

I really enjoyed this dish, as did my kids. My husband was not a big fan. I should say that he doesn't like meatloaf and the gravy tasted very meatloaf like to me. I likely would omit the ketchup next time, in hopes that it would be more appealing to my husband.