Beef, pork or lamb? Whole roast, or cubed? Flavors: Italian, French, Texan, Central American, Yankee?

I've done a braised pork shoulder that leans italian. Beef chuck would be fine. I haven't done traditional Yankee pot roast much. Cynthia lived and cooked in New England, so she probably has one.

For me, there are some key elements:

- Brown the meat.  "Brown" doesn't mean "a tannish color that is no longer pink". It means sepia or umber. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepia_(color)  That means about 3 minutes per side on high heat in a heavy pan or . Ventilation is important.

- Stock. A home-made brown stock is the gold standard. Some meat shops will sell something called "bone broth". This is probably stock without the vegetable component. "Brown stock" is made with ingredients that were browned (sepia) by roasting or sauteing. Stock made with the cut up bones from beef shank give an awesome beefy taste. A couple times a year I make a few gallons of pork/chicken stock. Very tasty and versatile.

- Long cook time. Meat gets tougher as it cooks, then gets more tender over time. You want to be in the 180-190 range for hours to tenderize the meat, break down the connective tissue, render the fat.


- mark 10-04-2016 5:11 pm





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