Brasato al Barolo ~ Braised Beef With Red Wine

Barolo is the king of Italian wines, is supposed to give the maximum flavour to meat and other dishes. Good Scottish beef, full of wonderful taste and tenderness, combines perfectly with the wine, producing this outstanding dish. I served this dish to friends of ours a few years ago, to this day they still talk about it saying it was the best beef dish they have ever had, the one draw back is that it is quite expensive to make, you have to way up how much you would pay in a restaurant, then it seems quite good value. I should also say that using cheaper wine does not work, trust me I tried! This is one of my favorite Antonio Carluccio recipes.

Ingredients

• 3 Ib/ 1.3 kg rump steak cut thick in one piece or sirloin.
• good 1 OZ/ 2 tbsp/ 30 g each butter and lard
• 1 large spring onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot
• 2 celery stalks
• small sprig of fresh rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 5 sage leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick, 1 1/2 in/ 4 cm long, or 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• the grated peel of 1ft. lemon
• 1 pint/ 2 ½ US cups/ 600 rnl Barolo wine
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a little stock (optional)

Method

1. In a heavy casserole just bigger than the piece of steak, heat the butter and the lard together.
2. When very hot add the steak and brown on all sides to seal in the juices.
3. Remove the meat and put to one side.
4. Fry the sliced onion, garlic, the split carrots and the celery stalks for a few minutes, and then add the herbs, cinnamon, lemon peel and the Barolo wine.
5. Stir well, deglazing the sides and bottom of the casserole
6. Now replace the steak in the sauce, season with salt and pepper and cover the casserole.
7. Simmer very gently for 1 ½ hours.
8. Turn the steak frequently so that it cooks evenly, and make sure that it is always covered by the sauce.
9. Add a ladle of stock if necessary.
10. When the steak is cooked, leave it to cool.
11. Strain the sauce to remove the herbs, cinnamon, lemon peel and vegetables. (You may wish to reduce the sauce by increasing the heat and boiling for 5 minutes or more before adding the steak.)
12. Very gently reheat the steak in the sauce just before serving with creamy polenta. I cut it into thick slices with the sauce spooned over it.
13. I found that you can put this in the oven about 160 degrees and check it every 40 mins to turn steak, cook for about  2 hours 30 mins or until very tender.