Chris Berry On The Net

If you read my post on the arduous process of making demi-glace, you’ll understand that I’m the kind of cook who doesn’t believe in taking shortcuts. Some dishes are simply worth the extra effort required, and this is definitely one of them. If you don’t have homemade demi-glace, you can leave it out, but your dish will not have the same character and depth of flavor that you can achieve with it.

The best substitute for the demi-glace would be a beef base, of which Minor’s is far and away the best brand available. Stay away from the typical grocery store brands like Better Than Bullion. Add one or two spoonfuls in concentrated form, but be careful not to overdo it. The beef flavor is very intense, and these products also contain a lot of salt. Be sure to keep that in mind as you adjust your seasonings.

There are plenty of places on the web to find instructions for making fresh pasta, so I will trust you to find that on your own.

Ingredients

1 boneless chuck roast approximately 3 pounds
2 medium onions diced
2 carrots diced
2 ribs celery diced
6 cloves garlic smashed
3 tablespoons tomato paste
¼ cup all purpose flour
14 ounce can beef broth
12 ounce can V-8 juice
2 cups red wine
3 tablespoons veal demi-glace
1 ½ cups very finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1 bouquet garni
Salt
Olive oil
1 pound fresh Tagliatelle pasta

Essential Tools

You will need either a 5 or 7 quart enameled iron Dutch oven to prepare this dish. To grate the cheese to a very fine consistency, use a Microplane grater. This will produce huge heaps of very fluffy cheese that looks like a lot more than you need. If you don’t have a Microplane, cut way back on the amount of cheese you use. A pasta machine will be required if you are planning to make your own Tagliatelle.

Technique

Cut the roast into 3 or 4 large pieces, and trim away any excess fat. Season with salt on both sides. Preheat a Dutch oven over medium heat for at least 5 minutes, then add just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan with a very thin layer. Add meat to the pan and sear on all sides until very dark brown. Be patient as this will take at least 20 minutes to achieve the kind of caramelization you’re looking for. Remove meat from pan and set aside.

Add diced onion, carrots and celery and cook until slightly softened. Add smashed garlic cloves and cook for an additional minute or two. The vegetables should partially deglaze the pan as you stir. Add tomato paste and cook for 3 or 4 minutes until it takes on a dark rusty color. Lower heat if necessary and be very careful not to allow the crust you are developing on the bottom of the pan to burn. Brown is good; black is bad.

Add flour and cook for at least 5 minutes while stirring constantly. At this point you should have a very thick brown crust built up on the bottom of the pan. Add red wine and scrape up all of this cooked roux and tomato mixture. A wooden scraper spoon is the best tool for this job. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. If the mixture thickens too quickly, add some of the beef broth to thin it out. You want to be sure to give this a few minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate.

Add beef broth, V-8 juice, and bouquet garni, then add demi-glace or beef base. Whisk thoroughly to make sure the concentrate is dissolved. Cover pot and simmer for at least 10 minutes. Sample the mixture and adjust your seasonings. Keep in mind that you will be adding prodigious quantities of salty Parmigiano Reggiano cheese at the end, so be careful with the salt.

Return meat to pan and cover. Place in 325 degree oven for two hours. At the end of two hours, remove from oven and be very careful when you take the lid off the pan to avoid being burned by the escaping steam. Remove the meat and set aside. Strain the sauce and discard the cooked vegetables. Cut the meat into smaller chucks and return to the pan along with the strained sauce. Place back in oven for another hour.

At the end of three hours, you should be able to shred the remaining chunks of meat with a fork. If it doesn’t fall apart easily, return it to the oven for another 30 minutes then try again. Once meat is fully shredded, add the grated cheese and stir thoroughly to blend. It should melt very easily into the sauce.

Serve over Tagliatelle.

Variation

You can prepare this using beef short ribs instead of chuck roast. They are incredibly flavorful and tender, but they are also very fatty.