Karen Swaine's Dilemma
Spicy Warm Shredded Beef Spread (Keema Gosht) - Astrid Bear
Susan Collicot's Suggestion
John Meyn, Butcher
Karen Swaine's Dilemma
Hello you gourmets and gourmands out there..... can you help save my boeuf bourguignon?
OK. here's the dilemma: I'm a good cook, but I have a problem at the moment. The other day at COSTCO I bought 6 pounds of (3" thick) CHUCK (for pot roast). Got home and cut it up for "stew" (boeuf bourguignon to be exact) . Browned the meat, added salt, pepper, 2 chopped tomatoes, a cheesecloth bag of chopped carrots, onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaves, poured in a bottle of wine and a quart of beef broth......... and now after cooking at a simmer, both on top and in the oven.... for at least 6 hours........ I'm desperate! The meat, although it's starting to "fall apart", is inedible as far as I am concerned. It's like chewing on and trying to swallow ROPE!
So....WHAT's going on? Is it the grade of meat? At this point I'm ready to bring back all the cooked meat and ask for my money back. I'll save the "gravy" which by now is fantastic; I'll cook something else in it... (sigh) all those fine recipes that require a really good beef stock? well, now I've got it, but my mind's blank as far as what to do with it!
But here's the real problem: this was made for a seder to be held tomorrow (Saturday) evening.... but I cannot bear to serve it. Even if I shred the meat, and serve it over rice, it will still have the same mouth feel. Even if I save it for another day - say - for stuffed poblano peppers or shepherd's pie, it will STILL be awful.
I always use chuck for stews and pot roasts, but usually buy chuck steaks on the bone, even if they're only an inch thick, to make pot roast, and they are always moist and tender.....
.... at this point, I'm thinking of roasting a turkey tomorrow, or perhaps I should make a giant meat loaf... cannot see how to correct this stew -- so anyone have any ideas, suggestions, whatever.... shall I dump it in the trash? I wouldn't even want to bring this to a "soup kitchen" for the homeless!!
Spicy Warm Shredded Beef Spread (Keema Gosht) - Astrid Bear
My guess is that it was cooked too long, but the meat may not have had enough connective tissue (which is what makes the "moist-cook" meats so toothsome) to begin with. So, no, there is likely nothing you can do to this existing meat, except maybe run it through the food processor then mix it with some sort of fatty binder -- butter would be out of question, I imagine, but maybe chicken fat -- anyway, spice it up and turn into a meat spread for an appetizer. There's a really good Indian recipe from "Moghul Microwave" by Julie Sahni, which is what I'm thinking of. Taking the idea of spices and onion, and grinding the meat might get you somewhere. Good luck!
Spicy Warm Shredded Beef Spread (Keema Gosht)
2 t. ground coriander
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 turmeric
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
3 T. vegetable oil
3/4 c. finely chopped onion
1 T finely chopped garlic
1 T. finely chopped fresh ginger
3/4 lb. Stewing beef, chopped into cubes, excess fat removed
1 C. finely chopped tomatoes
1 C. water
1 t. salt
This is designed to be cooked in a 700 watt microwave. Adjust times as needed.
Combine dry spices and set aside. Place the oil in a microwave safe skillet and heat for 3 minutes. Add onion, garlic, and ginger, mix, and cook for 9 minutes or until onions are lightly browned. Blend in the spice mixture and cook for another minute. Add beef, tomatoes, water, and salt, mix well, and cover. Cook for 24 minutes until the beef is cooked dry and the sauce is thick, stirring once.
Remove from microwave, stir and let sit covered for 5 minutes. Then transfer beef and sauce to a food processor and process until coarsely ground.
Susan Collicot's Suggestion
If not a meat spread, how about grind/process it, add fat and spice like Astrid suggested (any number of spicy combinations), and put small portions into puff pastries? Or grind it and put it in pot pies. Or into home-made sausages!
John Meyn, Butcher
Well here's a pretty kettle of fish, I have to reveal another facet of my varied career. Several years training as a butcher and provisions hand for David Greig, Waitrose, The LCS and others, final rating, 'shopman cutter'.
The problem may lay in the word 'COSTCO'.
Butchery is a trade and a skill. Unless cut correctly, the best meat in the world will not give of its best.
Meat has a 'grain', much like wood, and much of the skill of the butcher is ensuring that the meat is prepared so that when cooked, the meat is carved across the grain, rather than along it as I fear may be the case with your beef.
The other thing is this 'tendercook' beef and its varieties.
Injecting an animal just before slaughter with enzymes that will tenderise the meat, was widespread at one time, although I'm not sure if it's still legal, it's still practiced.
No thanks.
The best way is to go to a tradesman butcher, if you can find one. A butcher who chooses his meat himself and butchers it correctly.
Ask his advice, tell him what dish the meat is for, and invite him to dinner if necessary.
For Boeuf Bourguignon, use top rump, topside or silverside. cut it into cubes, marinade it overnight, then cook it gently for just long enough for the meat to become tender, and stop cooking before it falls apart.
Spicy Warm Shredded Beef Spread (Keema Gosht) - Astrid Bear
Susan Collicot's Suggestion
John Meyn, Butcher
Karen Swaine's Dilemma
Hello you gourmets and gourmands out there..... can you help save my boeuf bourguignon?
OK. here's the dilemma: I'm a good cook, but I have a problem at the moment. The other day at COSTCO I bought 6 pounds of (3" thick) CHUCK (for pot roast). Got home and cut it up for "stew" (boeuf bourguignon to be exact) . Browned the meat, added salt, pepper, 2 chopped tomatoes, a cheesecloth bag of chopped carrots, onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaves, poured in a bottle of wine and a quart of beef broth......... and now after cooking at a simmer, both on top and in the oven.... for at least 6 hours........ I'm desperate! The meat, although it's starting to "fall apart", is inedible as far as I am concerned. It's like chewing on and trying to swallow ROPE!
So....WHAT's going on? Is it the grade of meat? At this point I'm ready to bring back all the cooked meat and ask for my money back. I'll save the "gravy" which by now is fantastic; I'll cook something else in it... (sigh) all those fine recipes that require a really good beef stock? well, now I've got it, but my mind's blank as far as what to do with it!
But here's the real problem: this was made for a seder to be held tomorrow (Saturday) evening.... but I cannot bear to serve it. Even if I shred the meat, and serve it over rice, it will still have the same mouth feel. Even if I save it for another day - say - for stuffed poblano peppers or shepherd's pie, it will STILL be awful.
I always use chuck for stews and pot roasts, but usually buy chuck steaks on the bone, even if they're only an inch thick, to make pot roast, and they are always moist and tender.....
.... at this point, I'm thinking of roasting a turkey tomorrow, or perhaps I should make a giant meat loaf... cannot see how to correct this stew -- so anyone have any ideas, suggestions, whatever.... shall I dump it in the trash? I wouldn't even want to bring this to a "soup kitchen" for the homeless!!
Spicy Warm Shredded Beef Spread (Keema Gosht) - Astrid Bear
My guess is that it was cooked too long, but the meat may not have had enough connective tissue (which is what makes the "moist-cook" meats so toothsome) to begin with. So, no, there is likely nothing you can do to this existing meat, except maybe run it through the food processor then mix it with some sort of fatty binder -- butter would be out of question, I imagine, but maybe chicken fat -- anyway, spice it up and turn into a meat spread for an appetizer. There's a really good Indian recipe from "Moghul Microwave" by Julie Sahni, which is what I'm thinking of. Taking the idea of spices and onion, and grinding the meat might get you somewhere. Good luck!
Spicy Warm Shredded Beef Spread (Keema Gosht)
2 t. ground coriander
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 turmeric
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
3 T. vegetable oil
3/4 c. finely chopped onion
1 T finely chopped garlic
1 T. finely chopped fresh ginger
3/4 lb. Stewing beef, chopped into cubes, excess fat removed
1 C. finely chopped tomatoes
1 C. water
1 t. salt
This is designed to be cooked in a 700 watt microwave. Adjust times as needed.
Combine dry spices and set aside. Place the oil in a microwave safe skillet and heat for 3 minutes. Add onion, garlic, and ginger, mix, and cook for 9 minutes or until onions are lightly browned. Blend in the spice mixture and cook for another minute. Add beef, tomatoes, water, and salt, mix well, and cover. Cook for 24 minutes until the beef is cooked dry and the sauce is thick, stirring once.
Remove from microwave, stir and let sit covered for 5 minutes. Then transfer beef and sauce to a food processor and process until coarsely ground.
Susan Collicot's Suggestion
If not a meat spread, how about grind/process it, add fat and spice like Astrid suggested (any number of spicy combinations), and put small portions into puff pastries? Or grind it and put it in pot pies. Or into home-made sausages!
John Meyn, Butcher
Well here's a pretty kettle of fish, I have to reveal another facet of my varied career. Several years training as a butcher and provisions hand for David Greig, Waitrose, The LCS and others, final rating, 'shopman cutter'.
The problem may lay in the word 'COSTCO'.
Butchery is a trade and a skill. Unless cut correctly, the best meat in the world will not give of its best.
Meat has a 'grain', much like wood, and much of the skill of the butcher is ensuring that the meat is prepared so that when cooked, the meat is carved across the grain, rather than along it as I fear may be the case with your beef.
The other thing is this 'tendercook' beef and its varieties.
Injecting an animal just before slaughter with enzymes that will tenderise the meat, was widespread at one time, although I'm not sure if it's still legal, it's still practiced.
No thanks.
The best way is to go to a tradesman butcher, if you can find one. A butcher who chooses his meat himself and butchers it correctly.
Ask his advice, tell him what dish the meat is for, and invite him to dinner if necessary.
For Boeuf Bourguignon, use top rump, topside or silverside. cut it into cubes, marinade it overnight, then cook it gently for just long enough for the meat to become tender, and stop cooking before it falls apart.