Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics Food, Drink and Cooking Wonder what the poor folks are eatin' tonight?

Do you plan to cut that chuck roast up into shank slice-sized pieces, or just do it whole? (I don't know how well braising can reach into big hunks of meat.) Fabio's recipe looked pretty easy to me, other than the assumption that we all have a quart of demi glace already sitting in the fridge!

But that's okay. I can just make up some 4X concentrated beef stock using beef base from a bottle. Seems a bit redundant to add espagnole sauce to that, since we already have the veggies and tomato paste in the bed. Maybe just make a lot of veggies, and use half for the bed and half for the demi glace?

Last time I did it I reduced two quarts of beef broth to one quart and added a little flour and butter. This time I probably wont bother.

OH OH!!!oH!... I have all of the leftover liquid from the last time I did it frozen! I'll just use that.

So, yeah. Just use Beef stock this time and save the liquid for next time. I'd be a little careful of the salt in that concentrate if you do it 4x. If it's low sodium it's probably okay.

I wont cut it up at all. I would consider that stewing rather than braising. The heat will penetrate the whole thing and the internal fat should keep it from drying out. Properly braised meat should be very moist.(Unlike my mother's godawful pot roasts)

Another great braising liquid is described in Tom Valente's Lambshanks
I've done that recipe a bunch of times and it's fantastic.
Next time I do lambshanks I'm gonna seal 'em up and not do all that turning.

You might try the white bean puree too, tinned Cannellini beans work fine for that.

I'm not concerned about the heat penetrating: Two hours in the oven should take care of that. What I am wondering is how well the surrounding liquid penetrates, once the muscle fibers have relaxed and started soaking up liquid. That elaborate liquid concoction is there for a reason! It gets all the way into a shank sliced to be a couple of inches thick. Does it get all the way to the middle of a whole chuck roast?

I wasn't contemplating cutting the roast up into stew cubes. More like cutting it into four or six pieces.

Chuck roast is usually a flat cut.

The ones I have are a bit thicker than this.

I'm not sure about the primal cut this comes from but if you have a much thicker(longer) piece then by all means cut it into 2 inch chops. Don't cut it longways with the grain, always cut across.

The braising pan should be sealed completely with parchment paper and foil. It should balloon up slightly in the oven so that the meat is actually almost pressure cooked. I'm not completely sure what purpose the parchment paper plays, my best guess is that aluminum is reactive and the braising liquid acidic.

That's what I guessed, too. I was actually thinking of cooking it in a covered glass casserole dish, since that would be a better fit for my chuck roast. (I don't want to need a gallon of liquid for a small roast floating in the middle of a half-tray.) I have one of those white Corning Ware 8" by 10" oval by 4" deep dishes, with a clear glass cover.

Come to think of it, all of my disposable half-trays are also aluminum.

What do you think about just buying Campbell's Beef Broth in cans, which is already 2:1? Seems like a very cheap and easy shortcut. Is homemade going to be worth the effort?

Cambell's is a little salty I think. But there's no need for homemade. I use Kitchen Basics brand. If you look at Tom Velente's recipe he doesn't require demiglace. I think that's a case of Chef Show-off, because he knows we don't have the instant demiglace that he uses in his restaurant. Yes it comes in powder form. I wouldn't sweat that particular detail. Like I said just use beef stock this time then strain and save the leftover braising liquid for next time.
Hell ya, use the Corning Ware. I just measured my stainless steel half pan and the lip is about 10 1/2 x 12 3/4 it's 4 inches deep. Ya oughta get you one, they're pretty cheap and way better than those disposable things.
Like tortillas, braising aint rocket science.

I was gonna cook mine today but ran into some emergency gardening that had to be done and never got a chance to get it started. Now I got no suppers...;^;

I always use the Kitchen Basics low sodium broths when cooking. It comes in beef, chicken and vegetable. I have a Vegan friend that I'll have over for dinner. I make a root vegetable stew with the vegetable broth and it comes out very well. I serve it with a homemade flat bread that she likes. I add beans for some protein.

Shepherd's pie-I had some leftover tri tip, so I cubed it, mixed it with some carrots, onions, parsnips, peas, corn and mushrooms. I also made a brown gravy and cooked it all in my slow cooker. Then I poured it into a casserole dish, topped it with mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese and bacon pieces. I broiled until the peaks of mashed potato were nice and golden brown. Mr. Scoutgal and I had that and a mixed green salad for dinner last night.

Well, PIA, it's back to the drawing board with the chuck roast.
The braising liquid is wonderful. The meat no good at all.