beef, it's what's for dinner (every night this week)

I rarely purchase, or eat really, red meat (except for making cheeseburgers!). So I don't know much about the different cuts. But I learned on Wikipedia just now that chuck comes from the neck/shoulder area of a cow. Also, it contains a lot of connective tissue such as collagen, which breaks down during cooking and gives the meat a more intense flavor.

This recipe is a bit involved. Actually, the active time is not too long, but unless you are comfortable with leaving your oven on while you are not home, you are going to need to block out about five hours to make this. Luckily for me, my roommate Jenn babysat this dish while I ran off to the gym (so that I could justify eating it twice a day until it ran out...).

So I usually don't include information for how many a recipe will feed. It never seems accurate. But Gourmet said that this would feed 12 people. I would guess even more. I mean, it has 9 pounds of meat and vegetables in it alone!

Beef Stew (adapted from Gourmet)

5 pounds boneless beef chuck (not lean), cut into 1 and 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 carrots, quartered
3 medium onions, quartered
1 head garlic, halved crosswise
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 (750-ml) bottle dry red wine (about 3 3/4 cups)
2 bay leaves
2 thyme sprigs
2 rosemary sprigs
1 tablespoon cloves
3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
3 cups water
2 1/2 pounds small boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 wedges
1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1 inch pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season chuck with 2 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon ground pepper.

Heat olive oil in large, wide pot (one that can hold 6-8 quarts) over medium-high heat. Brown the chuck in separate batches, about 8 minutes per batch. Turn to make sure it cooks evenly. Remove from pot and transfer to large platter (one that won't allow the juices to run off).

Reduce heat to medium. Add a bit more salt and pepper to the pot. Add the first batch of carrots listed in the recipe, and also the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring every so often, until thoroughly browned, about 15 minutes.

Move vegetables to the side of the pot. Cook tomato paste in the remaining side of the pot, stirring occasionally, for two minutes. Stir into vegetables.

Add balsamic vinegar and let cook for 2 minutes, stirring.

Add bottle of wine, bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary. Let cook for about 10-12 minutes, until wine has cooked down to two-thirds.

Add broth, water, beef, and whatever juices that were on the platter. Bring to simmer. Then cover with tight lid and braise in oven for 2 1/2 hours until meat is tender (as in, it is basically falling apart).

Remove from oven and let it cool down for a few minutes, as this next step is a bit tricky (and even more so, if it's boiling hot. Set a large colander in an even larger bowl on a sturdy surface. Pour the contents through the colander so that the liquid ends up in the bowl and the meat and vegetables are left in the colander. This task might take two people since when I first attempted it, the liquid splashed out all over the place. Pour the liquid back into the pot. Pick out the meat and return to the pot. Discard the rest of the solids.

Add carrots and potatoes to the pot, making sure they are covered in liquid. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender (about 45 minutes).