Beef Brisket

For flavorful, fall-apart protein-rich goodness, this inexpensive cut brings much richness. And it makes for the best beef sandwiches with the leftovers... if there are any. It may be more than 1hr per lb, but this is a good starting place. The thing to look for really is how tender it is or how tender you want it to be.

Spice Mix

2 Tbsps. chili powder

2 Tbsps. salt

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 Tbsp. onion powder

1 Tbsp. ground black pepper

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsps. dry mustard

1 bay leaf, crushed

Roast

Beef brisket (4lbs. recommended, but any weight is fine)

1½ cups beef stock

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Make a dry rub by combining chili powder, salt, garlic and onion powders, black pepper, sugar, dry mustard, and bay leaf.
3. Generally season the raw brisket on both sides with the rub.
4. Place in a roasting pan and roast, uncovered, for 1 hour.
5. Add beef stock and enough water to yield about ½ inch of liquid in the roasting pan.
6. Lower oven to 300F, cover pan tightly and continue cooking for the equivalent of an additional 1 hour per lb, or until fork-tender, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 180 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. 
7. Allow to rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
8. Trim the fat and slice meat thinly across the grain. Top with juice from the pan.

Oven-caramelized Potatoes

The potatoes are incredible, having absorbed all the liquid and transformed into sometimes creamy, sometimes crunchy little starch candies.

Olive oil, plus a little more for the potatoes

2 lbs. potatoes, sliced about the width of your little finger

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup veal or beef stock (and more if it dries out too quickly)

1. Heat the oven to 450F. Toss the potatoes on a baking sheet or roasting pan with a little olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Pour the stock over the potatoes. Position the oven rack on the lowest setting.
2. Roast the potatoes for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 400F and continue roasting for 40 minutes to an hour more. Pour a little more stock or water onto the potatoes if they look dry at half-time. They are done when they are soft and nicely caramelized, glossy and sticky.

Lamb roast with Caramelized potatoes

I find that cooking meat using internal temperature much more satisfying. We bought a boneless lamb leg roast at the farmer's market on Comox street and I had to figure out what to do with it. Here's what I came up with.

5 lb. leg of lamb/lamb shoulder, boneless

3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

1 tsp. salt and pepper

2 Tbsps. lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil, plus a little more for the potatoes

Several handfuls of herbes de Provence

2 lbs. potatoes, sliced about the width of your little finger

1/2 cup veal or beef stock

1. Several hours before cooking the lamb, make slits all over it with the tip of a sharp knife and slide a sliver of garlic into each slit as you go. Stir together the salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil. Now, pat the herbs all over the meat to cover completely. Cover and leave to marinate for several hours in the refrigerator (I wrap it up again in the brown paper the roast came in). Let come to room temperature an hour before roasting.
2. Heat the oven to 450ºF with the top cooking rack mid-way, and another rack beneath it two notches down. Toss the potatoes on a baking sheet (with sides) or roasting pan with a little olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the stock. Put the potatoes on the lower oven rack and the lamb roast directly on the rack above it, so that drippings will fall through directly onto the potatoes. During cooking, pour a little more stock or water in on the potatoes if they look dry at half-time. They are done when they are soft and nicely caramelized, glossy and sticky.
3. FOR BONELESS SHOULDER: Roast the lamb 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 400ºF and continue roasting (Laura says 40 minutes but for the boneless shoulder roast, this is too much. Take temperature reading after 20 minutes to work out the correct time) before checking with a meat thermometer - 140F for rare, 155F medium, 165F well done (temperature will rise about 5 degrees out of oven).
4. FOR BONE-IN LEG: Preheat oven at 450°F. Roast the leg for 20 minutes and then lower heat to 325°F for the rest of the cooking time of 2 hours (CHECK after 60 minutes, then every 20 minutes). The roast is done when an instant read thermometer inserted into thickest part of leg reads at least 140°F (for rare, see chart link, above) (temperature will rise about 5 degrees out of oven).
5. Rest the meat 10 minutes before carving. The meat will continue to cook, the internal temperature rising even more during this time, and at the same time the juices will flow back to the edges of the meat. Serve with the potatoes.

Boeuf aux carrottes

This is an odd recipe. While cooking, it smells good, then smells really bad, then smells good again.  But power through, because it's a really, really tasty stew. And it's good to be surprised.

Boeuf aux carrottes

4 lbs. stewing beef, cut into chunks (bones left on if there are bones)

salt and pepper to season

1 oz. of (preferably thick) bacon, cut into paper clip-sized pieces

2 Tbsps. oil, more if needed

2 medium onions, sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 Tbsps. Jerez vinegar or red wine vinegar

3 cups beef stock

3 cups dry red or white wine

1 bay leaf

1 celery stalk, cut into two

1 bouquet parsley (small bunch tied together with string to be removed later)

1 bouquet thyme (small bunch tied together with string to be removed later)

4 black peppercorns

3 lbs. large carrots, thickly sliced

1. Season the meat on both sides with salt and pepper. In a large casserole, fry the bacon until cooked, 7 minutes. Remove, and set aside. Add half the oil and fry the onions until soft, adding the garlic towards the end, 10 minutes total. Remove into the same bowl as the bacon. Add the remaining oil to the pot and brown the meat well in batches on both sides, 3 minutes per side. Remove into the bowl with the bacon and onions.
2. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, scraping up the good bits from the bottom. When the vinegar has almost disappeared, add the wine. Now, put the meat, bacon, onions, and garlic back in the pot. Pour over the stock, adding more water if needed to cover.
3. Wrap the bay leaf, celery, parsley, thyme, and peppercorns together in a bundle, and tie with a string. Add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for an hour and a half.
4. Add the carrots and continue cooking for half an hour, until they are tender. Discard the string-tied bundle of flavourings.
5. Cool the contents completely, cover, and refrigerate overnight. (You can actually eat it straight away, but it's one of those things which is always better the next day.) To serve, bring to a simmer for half an hour, until the sauce has reduced to gravy consistency.

Carbonnade à la Flammande - Beef and Beer Stew

Last weekend someone broke into our apartment and stole my laptop - the one with all my recipes on it... So now I'm starting from scratch and saving the ones I like to this blog. One such recipe is Carbonnade à la Flammande. I'd found a version of it on a few different sites and tried them all. They were all good, but then I tried Laura Calder's version (I'm afraid that my blog will become a fan site for Laura!) and it was great. I made it again last night for Keven, my brother-in-law visiting from North Hollywood, and it was ok, but didn't compare to the first one I'd made; instead of caramelizing the onions, I cooked them until soft and brown from the beef residue, making them sweeter. Here is Carbonnade à la Flammande or, as Laura has called it, Beef in Beer.

2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter, more as needed

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

3 lbs sirloin tip, cut into cubes

3 onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 Tbsps. flour

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 and 1/2 cup beef stock

2 cups beer

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Bouquet Garni (I usually use parsley, thyme and a couple of bay leaves)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325F.
2. Melt the butter and oil together in a sauté pan and, working in batches, brown the beef strips on all sides. Remove. In the same pan, fry the onions until soft and brown, about 10-15 minutes, then add the garlic one minute. Set aside. (Check if there is fat in the pan. If not, add a good tablespoon of butter and let it melt.)
3. Add the flour and sugar to the pan and cook 1 minute to make a roux. Gradually whisk in the stock and bring to a boil. Add the beer and the vinegar to the boiling stock, and bring back to the boil, cooking until thickened, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.
4. In a large casserole, layer the onion mixture alternately with the beef, seasoning each layer as you go with salt and pepper (don't skimp on the salt as the beer is quite sweet). Tuck in the bouquet garni and pour the liquid over. Cover and bake for 2-1/2 hours. If you can wait a day before eating; cool the dish completely when it’s out of the oven, and refrigerate overnight. The flavour will be even better when you reheat it.

EXPERIMENTATION: I haven't really paid attention to the kind of beer used, and would like to pin down if an ale is better than a stout or vice-versa.