Today we will be sharing with you a recipe that is incredibly easy, adaptable, and, most importantly, delicious—our Sunday braised beef! After just a few hours of mostly hands-off work, you can turn inexpensive meat into one of the most delicious meals you’ve ever had. Trust us, this recipe is one to remember.
The flavor of this dish comes from the time that you take to let it slowly cook, allowing all of the wonderful flavors to mesh together into something truly beautiful. To start, you need to grab your meat. We prefer beef, and this time we went with beef shank. However, chuck, short rib, or other tougher cuts are also great. We will be braising the beef, which is going to turn those tough meats into some of the juiciest and most mouth-watering bites you will ever have.
Prepping Your Beef
Whatever cut of meat you have, the first thing that you will want to do, assuming that you want to maximize flavor, is to salt the meat thoroughly with kosher salt at least an hour before you start cooking. This step takes only a minute, but it will drastically improve the final product. Salt is the key to unlocking flavor, and by salting the meat before cooking, it does two important things. First, it helps to draw the moisture out of the meat, which, once you pat it off, will give you the best sear of your life. Second, salting early allows time for the salt to penetrate deeply into the meat, unlocking a huge depth of flavor. As small of a step as it may seem, give it a try. I promise you won’t regret it!
Whenever you are ready to begin cooking, you want to grab your Dutch oven (or any heavy bottom and oven-safe pan) and turn the heat on your stove on high. Before braising our beef, we want to give it a hard sear. To do that, we want to make sure the outside of our beef is nice and dry, which will help us to develop a beautiful crust. Do this by patting off the outside of your cut with a paper towel. You may also consider cutting your meat up into large but manageable chunks to increase the area that you can give a flavorful crust.
Put the meat in the pan with a bit of oil—we usually use beef tallow or ghee. Let it sit, checking occasionally and flipping when needed, until a perfect and deep brown crust has formed. Do not worry about overcooking your meat, the braising process will allow the meat to stay moist regardless of how long you seared it for. During the time that your meat is searing, it is the perfect time to cut and prep everything else needed for this wonderful roast.
Vegetable Base for your Perfect Sunday Braised Beef
Next, we will be prepping our vegetables. Again, ideally, we are prepping these while the meat sears. We will be prepping a traditional French mirepoix. Don’t know what that means? No worries! To put it in English, we are going to be adding yellow onion, carrot, and celery. Finely dice all of the ingredients. Once all of the meat is done searing, turn the heat to medium-low and put in your veggies. Let them lightly simmer and cook until they are soft and golden, about 15-20 minutes.
The next step is to add a couple of minced garlic cloves. Do not add it with the other veggies or it will burn. Add about a tablespoon of tomato paste and mix until evenly distributed throughout. Let the mixture simmer for another minute or two. The tomato paste imparts deep flavor to the dish.
After everything has been simmering for a minute or two, pour just under half of a bottle of red wine into the pot. We prefer using a pinot noir or cabernet sauvignon. Turn the heat up to medium and allow everything to reduce for about 10 minutes. During this time, make sure to deglaze the pot by getting any of the stuck brown bits off. Do not throw these bits away. This fond is full of flavor.
As the wine is reducing, grab your herbs. Here, we are using rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves. It is recommended here to put these herbs in either a bouquet garni or a sachet. Put simply, tie your herbs together with a bit of butcher’s twine or wrap them up within cheesecloth and then tie them. For this recipe, we are using a sachet because we are also going to be adding a small handful of whole black peppercorns. The bouquet garni or sachet helps to give flavor and aroma to the final dish while also allowing easy cleanup at the end. Once our dish is ready, we will simply grab it out instead of having to fish out each individual herb.
Now that the wine has finished reducing, it is time to turn on your oven and preheat it to 315°F. Grab your beef stock and pour it into the pot. At this time, feel free to salt everything to make sure you are seasoning in layers. Finally, add in your seared meat. You do not want the liquid to completely cover the meat. Instead, you want it to mostly cover it. Add in your herbs, and bring the dish to a light simmer. Your goal here is to avoid bringing it to a boil, as it will dry out the meat.
Once everything is at a light simmer, cover with a cracked lid and put into the oven. Let it braise for at least a couple of hours or until you lose patience. Check on your creation occasionally, stirring and testing the tenderness of the meat. The longer you let the dish braise, the more tender it will be. Read a book, clean the house, say some prayers, or anything else you want to do. This dish takes time, but the final result is more than worth it.
After the meat is extremely tender, take out of the oven. Technically, you could serve here. If you do so, we promise that everything will be extremely delicious. However, if you put in just a bit more time, this dish goes from a weekend staple to something truly special.
Assuming you want to maximize your flavor, return the pot to the stove on medium-high heat. Take out the meat and veggies with a sieve or colander and set these aside. Also, make sure to take out your bundle of herbs. At this point, if you want to shred your meat, take two forks and go to town. Everything should be extremely easy to take apart. Keeping the braising liquid on medium-high heat, allow it to reduce by almost half. By doing this, you are condensing all of the beautiful flavors, creating a thick and delicious sauce. This process should take anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes.
We are so close! Once the braising liquid has reduced, add back the meat and veggies. Let everything sit for at least five minutes. During this time, the hot braising liquid is warming back up everything, and even more flavor is getting absorbed. At this point, taste and decide whether you need to add any more salt. Just before serving, add a bit of freshly cracked black pepper.
This dish can be served over rice, over mashed potatoes (we will have a recipe coming soon), or by itself. Enjoy this wonderful dish that has become a favorite of ours. This meal pairs wonderfully with your favorite red wine. What’s even better is that this dish is arguably better after being refrigerated and eaten the next day. If you like leftovers, this dish is your best friend.
With just a bit of active cook time, we know you will love this delicious Perfect Sunday Braised Beef!
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