If I had a Barbecue, I might (might) sear the outside on high for 5-7 minutes a side, to get it all nice and brown. There are essentially three sides to this thing, so that would take a short half hour. And then, I'd slow cook this slab of meat... forever.
In other versions of make-believe, I might use a water bath (su vide... or something similar) but I don't believe this is where that method shines... or adds anything.
And I don't have a slow cooker big enough for this, so oven roasting it is.
Cutting the factory sealed meat (which I tend to like, as the chance of spoilage seems to be lessened if the meat is hermetically sealed at the factory) directly into the cooking dish, I added water halfway to the top of my pan (so 3-5 cups), dusted with a thick layer of salt (heavy crystals), and a reasonable amount of pepper. I then covered the exposed side with aluminum foil. The other up side of the triangle being a thick layer of fat, which does not need protection.
Some folks like to start the oven high. But a Barbecue is the way to go if a person is looking for that effect, which I don't have, so I will pass.
In 6-8 Hours, I will look at the cooked meat for the first time. At which point, I have every belief it will be plenty tender.
If I'm around on the 'morrow and meat is not completely fall-apart-tender, I will cook again.
So, that's it for now.
I'll catch up with you later. Hence, the skipping of these next few lines...
After so many hours the first day and so many the second (at least ten, quite possible fourteen or more in total), the meat was still a bit tough. I'll be cooking it all day tomorrow in an effort to transform it into fall-off-the-bone tender.
However, it did have a delightful crust. And with a bit of Sour Cream and Horseradish, the meat was very tasty.
Salt and Pepper to taste, but of course.
Covered in a full tent of tinfoil (so, like, a blanket that covered all the meat and descended down into the water), I cooked the meat at 225° for a full ten (more) hours... or will, so maybe that time and temperature will be adjusted slightly. It's very possible, I will reduce the temperature even further.
Also, I should note that the meat resides in a full water bath (I just got done adding another four cups of water) that fills the baking dish. At some point (in the eating experience, once I've consumed enough gravy so the flavour will be diluted if I add more water), it will be a mistake to keep on adding water. (In other words, I don't want to add-use-add water in a continual cycle.) I don't think I've reached the point where adding more water makes any difference (you know, since I only siphoning off a mere tablespoon or two for last night's meal). And besides, I'm expecting to freeze great big hunks of the roast, tonight... sans any gravy, save for what drips off the meat. So, like, the gravy doesn't have to go as far as one might expect.
Cheap Chili
A hunk of Beef, a can of Beans, and the dregs of some Spicy Cashews, served with Chips, Salsa, and Sour Cream.
The Meat is plenty tender, now. The last meal was Meat, Coleslaw, Bread, and Smashed Potatoes. In fact, we've had a few meals like that, as the Smashed Potatoes are leftovers from another (very similar) meal. Oh, and I poured the leftover Cheap Chili Bean Gloop back into the Gravy (Drippings, whatever you want to call it). So, that's getting a little thicker. Next meal or so, I should probably turn this all into a more comprehensive stew.
Beef Stew
- Beef
- Maybe two baseball size hunks
- Partially Shredded
- Beef Stock
- Four Odd Cups
- The Good Stuff
- Water
- Four Odd Cups
- Green Onions
- An eighth of a cup
- I'm cleaning up
- Dried Fruit
- Two Dates
- Sliced
- Raisins
- A Small Handful
- Dried Cranberries
- A Small Handful
- The intent is to add some sweetness
- Mashed Potato Salad
- Frozen Leftovers
- It will add some spice and thicken the mixture
- Tomatoes
- Five Small Wrinkled
- Diced Small
- Use them or lose them
- Potatoes
- Seven Small
- Eyeing Out
- Diced Small
- By the end of the cooking cycle, they will have completely turned to mush... only their skins remaining intact in the stew
- Sweet Onions
- Two Medium
- Sliced Thin
- Spices
- 20 Turns Pepper
- Big Dash of Salt
- Touch of Red Pepper
- More Than a Bit of Cumin
- Solid Teaspoon of Fenugreek
- More than anything else...
- By Far
- More than anything else...
It's a nice sweet mellow stew.
The stew is tasty enough (and the gravy thick enough to absorb more meat), so I added another 2lb hunk of beef from the freezer to the pot. Thus, it will be in this stew, in which most of the beef from the roast will be consumed.
I froze half of what remains of the stew (maybe a bit more): two bags worth. And to the remaining (unfrozen part), I added:
Five Thick Chopped Carrots
Three Sliced Green Onions
More Water
Salt & Pepper
One slice of Roast Beef remains.
I wonder if I will ever record what became of it...
August, 2019