Boiled Beef
Adapted from Laurie Colwin’s More Home Cooking
Please see notes, below, before cooking.
Prep time: about 10 minutes. 3-5 hours cooking
Yield: 3-4 servings. Easily scaled upward.
1.5 pounds/about half kilo bone-in short ribs, trimmed to fit your pot, beef chuck, or shin
2-3 carrots, scrubbed if organic, peeled if not, sliced
1-2 parsnips, peeled and sliced
1-2 white or yellow onions, peeled and sliced
2-5 potatoes, any kind, peeled or not (scrub if unpeeled) and chunked
Additional vegetables are suggested in notes, below
2-6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
bay leaf
salt and pepper
a few dried cepes, optional
water or unsalted chicken broth
You will need a large lidded braising pot to make boiled beef. I used a Staub 5 quart/liter braiser.
Preheat the oven to 325F/160C
Put the beef, vegetables, and garlic in the pot. Add the dried mushrooms, if using. Season with one teaspoon paprika, two teaspoons salt, and a generous grind of black pepper, or a generous teaspoon.
Add the water or broth, filling the pot about 3/4 full; don’t submerge the meat.
Place in oven, uncovered, or atop stove, and cook, 3-5 hours. Add lid only if food is browning rapidly or liquid is evaporating. This is unlikely.
While the beef cooks, immerse yourself in the suggested reading, below.
Serve boiled beef with bread, green salad, horseradish and strong mustard.
Leftovers will keep, refrigerated, up to five days. The beef and broth may be frozen up to three months. Remove the vegetables, as they will turn to mush in the freezer.
Notes:
A variety of beef cuts work in this dish. The unifying element is they’re all tough and require long cooking to become edible. I used short ribs, but rump, chuck, or shin, even stewing beef would work.
You can use a few vegetables or a lot. This is a dish that does well with root veg like turnips, rutabagas, and potatoes. Radishes, which are just coming into season, are delicious roasted. Try them.
Don’t use brassicas, as long cooking turns them sulfurous and unpleasant.
I cooked my beef in chicken broth, and you can, too, provided your broth isn’t too salty. Beef broth would also work. But good old water is just fine.