Brasato di Manzo

I LOVE TO COOK. 

If there was anyway to turn back time, I would have gone to culinary school. My favorite recipes are the complicated ones. I love things that need to marinate, braise, roast for long periods of time. The more ingredients, the better!

Last night I made Brasato do Manzo which means "braise of beef" in Italian. This is from the Oct 31, 2001 issue of Wine Spectator with Angelo Gaja on the cover (great article on him by the way!) and the Chef who donated this amazing recipe was Chef Michael White from Osteria Morini in New York. 

Short Rib seasoned with sea salt and pepper

The mis en place was easy to gather so I didn't feel like I had to replace anything I couldn't find in the supermarket. The only thing that I can say was "fancy" was that I had to get plate-cut short ribs and then trim down myself but I just bought them pre-packaged according to how much I thought we were going to eat. 

2 tablespoons of canola or vegetable oil

1 cup yellow onion (chopped)

1/2 cup carrot (peeled and chopped)

1/2 cup celery (chopped)

1 28-oz can diced Italian tomatoes, undrained

1 bottle of hearty red wine such as Chianti or Sangiovese

3 bay leaves

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

4 to 6 cups of beef stock

fresh grated horseradish

I fried up the short ribs until brown on all sides in a large dutch oven. They were set side-by-side on the bottom of the pan so they all had some frying time. I did it in two batches. Then set them aside in a bowl. In the same pot, the onions (which I put in first so they can soften), the carrots, celery, tomatoes, wine, bay leaves and rosemary were thrown in there. I returned the short ribs in there and then poured enough stock to cover everything. Brought it up to a boil, then down to a gentle simmer, put on the cover and left it there for 3 hours. 

The apartment smelled AMAZING with all this going on, everything felt so warm at cozy!

I took the short ribs out and put them on a plate with aluminum foil tented over them to retain the heat. Then I took the pot and poured everything through a fine strainer into a saucepan. I had to throw the vegetables out which was a little sad because I hate throwing out food but what else can I do with it? All that was left was reducing the liquid to about 2 cups over high heat for 45 minutes. 

I returned the short ribs to the reduced liquid to warm them back up and I also wanted them to absorb some of it. When plated, I grated the horseradish and served it up! We ate it with tuscan bread and Chianti. Its usually suggested to drink the same type of wine that you cooked with and I think that advice is perfect when it comes to appreciating a great food & wine pairing. I bought a less expensive Chianti to cook with and the guy at the wine shop was a great help. A good salesperson would suggest the same thing and then a better quality when it comes to drinking with the meal.

Tenuta Di Arceno, Chianti Classico, 2007