Potted Beef
Please read notes before cooking
adapted from Dorothy Allhusen’s recipe for potted steak in A Book of Scents and Dishes
Yield: 14 ounces/400g yielded 6 ramekins. The ramekins were 5 ounces/125 ml each. Feel free to scale up or down
Prep time: The meat took about 70 minutes in a low oven. Potting it took another half hour or so.
You will need kitchen muslin and either a small food processor or mortar and pestle for this recipe.
approximately 1 pound/16/ounces/454 grams lean beef: flank, rump steak, or something comparable (I had 14 ounces/400g)
one pound/16 ounces/454 grams sweet butter
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 300F/150C
Cut the beef into small strips, as if stir-frying. Lay these in your cooking vessel, which should be deeper than wide. Salt and pepper the meat rather highly. Add enough water to just cover.
Cover loosely (foil is fine if your pan has no lid) and cook, checking after an hour. If the water level is really coming up, remove the lid. If the beef is cooking too quickly, and is nearing done but rather tough, turn heat down 25 degrees and let it cook another half hour or so. You want tenderness without coloring.
Cooking time should be 70-90 minutes total. Beef should be very tender.
While beef cooks, clarify butter.
Place butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Allow to melt, then cook. After about 15 minutes, the white milk solids will brown and rise to the top of the pan. Turn heat off. Let rest for a few minutes
Spread muslin across a strainer. Set strainer in bowl. Gently pour butter through strainer. The butter in the bowl is clarified.
When beef is tender, remove from oven and strain broth. Reserve for another use.
While beef cools, prepare six ramekins or one larger loaf pan to store the potted beef.
Beef may be minced with a mortar and pestle or with a food processor. I used a mini-processor. If you use the processor, take care to leave some texture.
Pound or process the beef, then spoon lightly into very clean pots, ramekins, or loaf pan, distributing contents evenly.
Pour butter over each evenly, ensuring tops are covered. Tap lightly on counter to clear any air bubbles. Cover with foil or plastic wrap. Cool for a few minutes, then refrigerate.
Delicous with bread, toast, mustard, and cornichons. Serve with green salad for a light meal.
Provided the beef is kept cold and covered, it should keep at least two weeks. Do not freeze.
Notes:
It’s hard to give amounts; I used 14 ounces/400g lean steak, and got six ramekins 5 oz/125 ml out of it. Initially I clarified 8 ounces/227g butter, but I ended up needing more. Better to have extra and use it elsewhere.
You can also finely chop the beef, if you have a large knife and a lot of patience.
You will be adding butter to the meat, so don’t use an overly fatty cut.