Stracotto: Tuscan beef (soul food)
I am convinced that Italians cook soulfood and are not aware of the proper term for their culinary delights. Italian food is talked about, and often argued about, before shopping. There could be two cooks discussing the right way or best way to cook it, this is actually fun to do and hear. Then the food is picked with the utmost attention to faults, quality and freshness. It is attentively cooked and too many cooks in an Italian kitchen can cause all day culinary feuds. Then it is eaten while talking about every aspect of it. "This meat is tender but the meat from Modena is better because the cows there are healthier. However, this ricotta is the best you can find in the country. Can you taste the difference between this and that acidic junk your uncle likes?" and "I wouldn't recommend going to that grocery store, or farmer because they don't know how to choose good vegetables. My neighbor went and got the worst stomach ache from their broccoli." And a business tanks.
Fast food is looked on suspiciously. Instant food is often called "plastic food". Herbs are best fresh but dried are acceptable. All, yes all fruit and vegetables should be bought fresh, not frozen. Why? Because, the idea is, that you don't know what it looked like fresh, how they washed it and you are better off washing your own veggies, cooking them perfectly then freezing them accordingly till you need to use them. I have gotten in the habit of doing this and have recently found myself standing around the produce section in the grocery store with other people who are openly criticizing the wilting lettuce."It is a SHAME that with this economy they are forcing us to buy rotting lettuce. I wouldn't even buy that lettuce for fertilizer in my garden." I would hate to be the store owner or the lettuce in these cases. They usually get trashed or bought by some elderly man who claims he knows how to save it in an award winning soup, and he is probably right.
So it is clear that food is precious. People have a personal relationship with it: how it is treated, washed or "bathed" as I like to hear my family say, cooked and enjoyed. My favorite method to bathe veggies is to fill a large mixing bowl with lukewarm water, add some baking soda and let the veggies float around, then I check each one for dirt, rinse the tub out and bathe again in clear water before cooking.
Time consuming but clean food as a result. A few months ago we had the opportunity to eat at a small trattoria (restaurant) that presented "Stracotto" or Tuscan beef on their menu. My hubby who has superior taste in food opted for that while I got tortelli. I got what seemed like 2 pieces of tortelli while he got a steaming plateful heaped with penne pasta and the most intoxicating good roast beef I have smelled in my life. That good. Better than enjoying candies on Halloween night as a child. Better than being spoon fed like an Egyptian goddess. Amazing stuff. However, I would stay there are a few other things that would give it a run for its money:
1. My dads homemade meatloaf. I don't know how he does it but it always comes out perfect. His culinary critique of it would be as sophisticated follows: One sniff at it when it comes out of the oven, an exclamation of "Good grub! Grab a plate and dig in!" and that is it. Beautiful American cooking at its finest.
2. My moms apple crumb coffee cake topped with brown sugar and fresh ground cinnamon. I would wrestle someone for a slice of this today.
3. Ethiopian Doro wat with ingera bred at Lalibellas in Washington DC. Gooey delicious food from the birthplace of civilization. Yum. It is enough to make me want to do an Ethiopian Eskista (dance) for it.
4. My old bosses buttermilk biscuits. She was an angel and her biscuits were heavenly. I was so sad when she retired. It was like a hurricane blew her away with her buttermilk biscuits. I will never get the trick right to cutting the Crisco into the flour.
That day we ate the Stracotto, Hubby shared with me (more than I would have been willing to share) and we decided to try to make it at home. Go figure this recipe takes around 2 days to complete. So we waited for the cold weather to start and now that the air is chilly and we feel like winter hybernation has started, we decided to cook it. Here is the English translation for the Sracotto Recipe that is truly worth making and enjoying. I would recommend starting on a Friday night (after work if you work) and letting it cook over Saturday. You might want to check the weather report first just so you don't get stuck cooking a 10 hour dish when it is sunny and cute outside. A rainy weather report is much better for this.
Things you will need:
1. A sturdy pan or french oven. (I invested in a Le Creuset french oven from an exclusive cooking store called Craigslist. Totally worth it, just use wooden tools when cooking so you don't ruin it and always hand wash.)
2. Two quart size bowls
3. One wooden spoon
4. One ladle like for soup
5. chopping board
6. chopping knife
Ingredients:
2 pounds of beef (belly;
3 tablespoons of real salted butter;
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil;
4 slices of bacon OR proscuitto of Modena (only fat);
1 cup dry red wine (i used 3. The alcohol will evaporate as it cooks, so no worries about getting drunk)
1 shot of tequila (optional. I just had a lot leftover from our wedding. Whiskey or rum would also work)
1/2 cup stewed tomatoes (from the can is ok)
1 rib of celery
2 small white onions (the size of a tennis ball)
2 carrots
4 cloves of garlic;
1 stick of cinnamon
4 cloves
salt and pepper to taste
Steps:
1. Puncture the meat and let it marinate overnight with the wine, half of the vegetables cut into small pieces, cinnamon, garlic and cloves.
2. In a saucepan with butter, olive oil and prosciutto, saute the other half of the chopped vegetables thoroughly and when it is cooked (about 5 minutes) remove from heat and set aside. Take the vegetables out and keep aside.
3. Remove the meat from the marinade without throwing away the liquid, and brown in the frying mixture (butter and olive oil) over a strong fire for about 30 minutes. To obtain a uniform crispness on the edge, turn the block of meat often .
4. Lower the heat, add the half of the wine sauce, tequila, tomatoes and all of the vegetables. Keep the other half of the wine sauce aside.
5. Continue cooking, paying attention every now and then to pour the remaining wine sauce and broth over the meat to keep it soft. In about 6 hours of heat, the stew is ready.
Serve hot with a garnish of mashed potatoes or buttered spinach.(I prefer to serve it over penne rigate, or you can make a delicious gravy by mixing one cup of the finished wine broth with 2 tablespoons of flour and serve it over mashed potatoes.)
.
Fast food is looked on suspiciously. Instant food is often called "plastic food". Herbs are best fresh but dried are acceptable. All, yes all fruit and vegetables should be bought fresh, not frozen. Why? Because, the idea is, that you don't know what it looked like fresh, how they washed it and you are better off washing your own veggies, cooking them perfectly then freezing them accordingly till you need to use them. I have gotten in the habit of doing this and have recently found myself standing around the produce section in the grocery store with other people who are openly criticizing the wilting lettuce."It is a SHAME that with this economy they are forcing us to buy rotting lettuce. I wouldn't even buy that lettuce for fertilizer in my garden." I would hate to be the store owner or the lettuce in these cases. They usually get trashed or bought by some elderly man who claims he knows how to save it in an award winning soup, and he is probably right.
So it is clear that food is precious. People have a personal relationship with it: how it is treated, washed or "bathed" as I like to hear my family say, cooked and enjoyed. My favorite method to bathe veggies is to fill a large mixing bowl with lukewarm water, add some baking soda and let the veggies float around, then I check each one for dirt, rinse the tub out and bathe again in clear water before cooking.
 |
| My Mamma-in-law passing the washed veggies into clear water for one last rinse. |
Time consuming but clean food as a result. A few months ago we had the opportunity to eat at a small trattoria (restaurant) that presented "Stracotto" or Tuscan beef on their menu. My hubby who has superior taste in food opted for that while I got tortelli. I got what seemed like 2 pieces of tortelli while he got a steaming plateful heaped with penne pasta and the most intoxicating good roast beef I have smelled in my life. That good. Better than enjoying candies on Halloween night as a child. Better than being spoon fed like an Egyptian goddess. Amazing stuff. However, I would stay there are a few other things that would give it a run for its money:
1. My dads homemade meatloaf. I don't know how he does it but it always comes out perfect. His culinary critique of it would be as sophisticated follows: One sniff at it when it comes out of the oven, an exclamation of "Good grub! Grab a plate and dig in!" and that is it. Beautiful American cooking at its finest.
2. My moms apple crumb coffee cake topped with brown sugar and fresh ground cinnamon. I would wrestle someone for a slice of this today.
3. Ethiopian Doro wat with ingera bred at Lalibellas in Washington DC. Gooey delicious food from the birthplace of civilization. Yum. It is enough to make me want to do an Ethiopian Eskista (dance) for it.
4. My old bosses buttermilk biscuits. She was an angel and her biscuits were heavenly. I was so sad when she retired. It was like a hurricane blew her away with her buttermilk biscuits. I will never get the trick right to cutting the Crisco into the flour.
That day we ate the Stracotto, Hubby shared with me (more than I would have been willing to share) and we decided to try to make it at home. Go figure this recipe takes around 2 days to complete. So we waited for the cold weather to start and now that the air is chilly and we feel like winter hybernation has started, we decided to cook it. Here is the English translation for the Sracotto Recipe that is truly worth making and enjoying. I would recommend starting on a Friday night (after work if you work) and letting it cook over Saturday. You might want to check the weather report first just so you don't get stuck cooking a 10 hour dish when it is sunny and cute outside. A rainy weather report is much better for this.
Here we go: Stracotto di Manzo
Prep time: 1 hour
Marinating time: 8-10 hours
Cooking time: 6-8 hours
Total time: around 20 hours. Start the night before.
Serves 4
Things you will need:
1. A sturdy pan or french oven. (I invested in a Le Creuset french oven from an exclusive cooking store called Craigslist. Totally worth it, just use wooden tools when cooking so you don't ruin it and always hand wash.)
2. Two quart size bowls
3. One wooden spoon
4. One ladle like for soup
5. chopping board
6. chopping knife
Ingredients:
2 pounds of beef (belly;
3 tablespoons of real salted butter;
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil;
4 slices of bacon OR proscuitto of Modena (only fat);
1 cup dry red wine (i used 3. The alcohol will evaporate as it cooks, so no worries about getting drunk)
1 shot of tequila (optional. I just had a lot leftover from our wedding. Whiskey or rum would also work)
1/2 cup stewed tomatoes (from the can is ok)
1 rib of celery
2 small white onions (the size of a tennis ball)
2 carrots
4 cloves of garlic;
1 stick of cinnamon
4 cloves
salt and pepper to taste
Steps:
1. Puncture the meat and let it marinate overnight with the wine, half of the vegetables cut into small pieces, cinnamon, garlic and cloves.
 |
| Miss Beef in her wine bath after soaking all night |
2. In a saucepan with butter, olive oil and prosciutto, saute the other half of the chopped vegetables thoroughly and when it is cooked (about 5 minutes) remove from heat and set aside. Take the vegetables out and keep aside.
 |
| Butter and olive oil. Good stuff. |
 |
| Sautee the veggies and 2 ears of garlic |
 |
| Remove after cooking |
3. Remove the meat from the marinade without throwing away the liquid, and brown in the frying mixture (butter and olive oil) over a strong fire for about 30 minutes. To obtain a uniform crispness on the edge, turn the block of meat often .
 |
| Meat after a nightlong wine bath |
 |
| Brown on high heat |
4. Lower the heat, add the half of the wine sauce, tequila, tomatoes and all of the vegetables. Keep the other half of the wine sauce aside.
 |
| Add half of vino and all veggies |
 |
| Lower heat |
 |
| cover and keep some wine broth to spoon over time |
5. Continue cooking, paying attention every now and then to pour the remaining wine sauce and broth over the meat to keep it soft. In about 6 hours of heat, the stew is ready.
 |
| keep it moist by spooning broth over the meat |
Serve hot with a garnish of mashed potatoes or buttered spinach.(I prefer to serve it over penne rigate, or you can make a delicious gravy by mixing one cup of the finished wine broth with 2 tablespoons of flour and serve it over mashed potatoes.)
 |
| Good grub. Dig in :) |
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