Looking for a new way to prepare chuck roast today, I came across this recipe that I copied from Yankee Magazine a few years ago. It's such an unusual preparation technique I was curious to know if the results are so special that it is worth all the extra work. I'll tell you up front: it's not.
It involves soaking the meat for 30 minutes, salting it and standing for 45 minutes, then par-boiling for 2 minutes before draining, then starting with the meat in cold water to simmer for 1 1/2 hours, and then brown it in a hot oven. Whew! I kept wondering why it was necessary to do all that.
The result was meat cooked to very well-done. It was moister than I'd expected, and it had a nice flavor if you like garlic, and browning it in the oven gave the outside a steak-like texture that was more interesting than my pot roast usually has. It would be a lot easier to throw the meat in the crockpot the whole time and brown it in the hot oven at the end. I'm not going to delete it yet, but will mark it questionable.
Braised Beef
2 pound beef chuck roast
Cold water
Kosher salt
6 large cloves garlic
3 tbsp oil
6 peppercorns
Remove the solid fat from the roast.
Soak the meat in cold water for 30 minutes. Drain off the water and cover the meat with a light coating of salt. Let stand for 45 minutes, then wash off the salt.
Bring enough water to cover the meat to a boil in a large pot. Add the meat and simmer for two minutes, drain in a colander, discarding the water. Rinse the meat in cold water, then return to the pot with enough cold water to cover. Add the garlic, oil, peppercorn, cover the pot, and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat to maintain a steady simmer, and cook the meat, covered until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Transfer the meat to a roasting pan and spoon about 2 cups cooking liquid over it. Roast the meat, basting with more liquid, until well browned, about 30 minutes. Salt the cooking liquid to taste. Serve the meat in thin slices with noodles and cooking liquid.