Beef in Barolo

I'd like to do Beef in Barolo this week and have a decent size topside of beef and some Barbaresco that will deputise ably for the Barolo in the cooking.

I've looked up the Silver Spoon recipe, but I didn't fancy it. My basic plan will be...

Friday evening: Marinade the Beef in the Barbaresco and a few herbs overnight.

Saturday lunchtime: Using a hot frying pan, brown the beef. Keeping the liquid to one side. Once browned, use some of the liquid to rinse the pan, putting that, plus the beef and the rest of the liquid in a casserole dish.

Cook on a medium/low heat (with or without a foil cover?) for about 4-5 hours, with some carrots / other veg thrown in with a couple of hours to go. Just before serving, remove the liquid to thicken (if needed) and serve as a gravy over the (sliced) beef.

Will be serving with Barolo/Gattinara

Any amendments/suggestions/alternative from the chefs or anyone else that's done this?

Thanks in advance

Ian

Betsy has done a few variations on this. She generally does a combination of recipes, one I think from Biba Caggiano's "Biba's Northern Italian Cooking" and this online one:

http://www.made-in-italy.com/winefood/f ... tm#ricetta

Sounds fairly similar to your basic plan.

Look forward to report

Ian, the marinating might be overkill for a long roast like this. And once soaked it will be hard to get a good browning.

Here's my two cents...I'd skip the marinade and jump right to step 2 (saturday lunchtime), brown the meat really well, then brown some veg in the same pan (mirepoix), toss in some wine to scrape out all the goodies into your casserole if you dont have a stove top to oven pan. Then pour in wine half way up the thickness of the meat, add some thyme, and cook low and slow, flipping the meat every 30mins until tender.
Once done you can remove the meat and reduce the liquid at a simmer to the desired thickness, but last time I made something like this the sauce was a wonderful consistency just calling for bread to be dunked in it when the meat was done. Oh, and you may want to tie up the meat to keep it from falling apart while cooking.

Thanks folks especially for the speed of response that is so typical of this forum - I'm away from the PC for a couple of days from tonight, so you've saved me running around doing my headless chicken impression.

With the logistics (rushing back down from York) I definitely like the idea of no marinade and will go for that variation. From the other recipe, it's reminded me we have access to a thriving rosemary bush to add with the other herbs I had in mind.

Will report back, including on the wines!

regards

Ian

I actually love to do the same but using hare. I marinate it with some sage, rosemary, oil and barolo for at least 6 hours .... actually I would add in the hare blood if I would get it from the butcher.
Taste quite good with some polenta!

Francesco

Tell us... what was the result?

Tell us... what was the result?

Jeff
Sorry - I think I posted the overview in a separate thread ... aha here
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/vil ... +gattinara

The result was a resounding victory for stovetop cooking rather slow-bake in the oven. The Beef wasn't bad, and with the gravy it was pretty tasty - but the pigeon showed me the way I'll go in the future.

regards

Ian

In my experience the key points are the cut of meat and the temperature of the oven. I use chuck, and I start at 300 degrees and check to see if the liquid is more than juuust simmering. If it is I turn it down a touch. If it boils the beef will taste like old boot.

One very Piedmontese touch is a small piece of cinnamon stick. I know it sounds odd, but try it.

Dolcetto makes a superb brasato if you don't want to waste the Nebbiolo.

I've been using a Batali recipe that calls for boneless short ribs. Sear them well, put aside, saute onions, celery, and carrot in the same pan, add wine, some tomato sauce, and put the beef back in. Cook just at a simmer until the beef is falling apart. Then pull the beef back out and skim and reduce the sauce.

According to Mario, his recipe makes four servings. I think these are "Mario servings" as it ends up being at least six servings for us.


Mike