I was reading an article in Self magazine that was written by a nutritionist, who said that people who eat a serving of beef everyday lose weight faster than those who do not. Well, who knew? So I bought a chuck shoulder which cost about $6 and it was so lean that I was sure it probably wouldn't be good. I sprayed it with olive oil Pam and coated it with a little flour, salt and pepper. I browned it up in a tbsp. of olive oil, and added some carrots because carrots just seem to make broth very rich. I added some beef stock and garlic and let it bake for 3 hours at 325 degrees. I took it out and let it cool, then sliced it as thin as I could and put it away in the fridge for overnight. The next morning I scraped the oil from the top of the jus, and put the whole thing back in the oven for an hour.
We ate it on big Portuguese rolls with mustard and horseradish, like a beef on wick without the salt. It was absolutely fab. Tasty and tender. As Alton Brown would put it, cheap beef has lots of connective tissue that must be broken down with heat and time. There's not much meat that's tastier than chuck. My mom used to make chuck roasts with parsnips, onions, potatoes and carrots. She would put a can of stewed tomatoes over the whole thing and zip it into the oven for a couple of hours. That was the best roast, and the potatoes would absorb all the juice from the meat and tomatoes, so very tasty. To this day my sis and I cannot duplicate the tastiness of her roasts!
My mom wasn't a complicated cook... lets just say she had a strong line of British in her... but she did a couple of things really well. Besides chuck, she had a way with chicken and rice. I can't get that one down either. Whatever she used came out creamy and good. What is your signature dish that you want to pass down to your kid(s)?
IMy kids have always liked my meatloaf, so I hope this would be the one food they would remember from home. I never measure for foods that I make like this so I will just put down the ingredients. I now use lean ground beef, garlic, ketchup, mustard, worcestershire sauce, beef broth, oatmeal, onion and eggs. Sometimes I will use dry onion soup or mushroom and onion (dry) for added flavor. Of course salt and pepper. I would say add whatever you wish for your own taste. It is just an old standby that is made special by whatever moms wish to add.
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