Thursday, December 10, 2009

Not Pierogis

Kelleresque pasta. Recipe scored here.

Braised grass fed beef cheek. From Millgate Farms at NUFM. Heated some pork fat, browned the cleaned cheek, set cheek aside, sauteed diced carrot, onion, celery, and pancetta, added red wine, chix stock, half a can of tomatoes, and some thyme. Seasoned at each step. 1.5 hrs covered in a 325 oven. Cheek removed and picked/chopped apart, added back, and everything simmered hard to reduce. Went well with the pasta.

The dining companion said it tasted like goulash (she swore it was a compliment). I was going for beef bourguignon (minus the onions and mushrooms). Whatever, it was tasty.

6 comments:

Nancy Heller said...

What - no photo of the finished dish? No fair!

The CFT said...

Sorry Nancy. It was finished up in another kitchen. Nothing too pretty, I assure you.

Heidi Robb said...

Oh, just what I want to eat in this weather. I think goulash was a compliment.

The CFT said...

I hope so, it was tasty. Many a more braise to come. Thanks for reading Heidi.

Steve said...

Hey Tomato, How much wine was used? Most recipes that I use for Beef Bourguignon call for a whole bottle of wine, but also would be to serve 4-6 people. I also agree with Heidi that Goulash isn't a bad tasting result either.

The CFT said...

Hey Steve. Prob used just shy of half a bottle. All that pasta and meat served two good eaters with some leftover cheek for the companions lunch the next day. The goulash thing didn't hurt my feelings. All that stuff is comfort food anyhow, so what's better than it bringing up memories.

As for good goulash, if you should find yourself downtown at lunch time a Hungarian place opened up in the Colonial Marketplace. I tried some of their paprikash and spetzel today and both were insanely good, but for full disclosure I was quite hungry and am far from an expert in that type of cuisine..