Breakfast: Oatmeal (make it with milk, not water. tastes better that way).
Lunch: A diesel piece of yellow cake with vanilla frosting. Carrots.
Dinner: I tried to make red-wine braised beef, but it came out so gross. I'm talking, "let's-go-get-a-slice-of-pizza-instead"-type gross. To be fair (to myself?), the reduction was on point: the wine, aromatics, and beef juice reduced into a nice little sauce. But the beef...yuck! I was told that a chuck roast works well for this type of cooking (the connective tissue and fats break down nicely when cooked slowly in a liquid), but for whatever reason mine cooked to fast and was hella chewy. After I seared it, I put in the liquids etc., then covered it and stuck it in the oven at 300 degrees (probably even cooler in my old oven). Half an hour later it felt almost done cooking, which seems like way too quick for such a big piece of meat. What did I do wrong? Only thing I can think of is too much liquid, since I'm pretty sure <300 isn't too hot.
What am I missing?
4 comments:
Aww D, that's kind of funny - your despair is cute! I think you just didn't let it cook long enough - it probably needs to be in there for at least a couple hours, since that's how the tendons and muscles break down. What made you decide it was done? I don't think it really matters how much liquid you use as long as you cover it at least half way...I would say give it another try on a Sunday or something when you can stick it in the oven and leave it there for a few hours. Good call on the oatmeal, I had some blazing steel cut oatmeal from Judie's today - they make it with milk, brown sugar, currants, and apples - it's awesome.
yeah, i know you are supposed to leave it for a while, but that ish was real tough after only 30 mins...is it supposed to go from tender (raw) to tough to raw again?
DJ, It usually takes at least 2 to 3 hours for a tough cut from the chuck to become tender in a stew or braise cooked at 300. Bringing it to a simmer on the stove first before putting it in the oven saves you about 20 minutes of cooking time. Braising is a low and slow cooking process, meaning you could even drop the heat to like 180 and cook it overnight, for like 8 hours or so. also, you shouldn't totally cover the meat. the liquid should come up only about 3/4 of the way. try the same recipe but cook it a little longer and i'm sure it will get nice and tender.
D - in a word, yes. It goes from raw (which I guess you could call tender) to tough (just after searing it) to tender once you cook the bejesus out of it. you just got a little antsy :) try it again, and report back!
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