– About a pound of veal shoulder, bone in. (local cost $2.95). Looks like a large steak. Let meat come to room temperature before browning, but don’t’ leave it out for too long.
– Three medium carrots
– ½ cup of leek slices from the mid-section of the leek
– two medium-large onions
– several whole garlic cloves (they will disappear in cooking, and cooked this way you won’t even taste the garlic – just enhances flavour)
– salt, pepper, a pinch of dried thyme
– 2/3 to 1 cup of homemade tomato sauce (like you use for spaghetti) made from tomato paste. (Always keep some in the fridge – made from onion, fresh only garlic, thyme and tomato paste and a little chicken broth. It keeps for a long time in a glass covered stainless steel container.)
– ¼ cup butter
– 4 tablespoons favourite cooking oil
– Shiraz red wine (ideal is Obikwa from South Africa) – Full bodied, almost dry, this wine keeps in the fridge, tightly covered, for a very long time. Never toss out leftover part bottles of wine. Save for cooking.
Slightly brown the butter and oil on high heat (just golden not dark brown). Be careful not to burn. Lay the flat meat into a heavy very hot stew pot. Salt and pepper the meat. Brown both sides quickly and turn down the heat right away or the meat will get tough. (If you miss and this happens, don’t dispose of the meat; use it to make a pate – a recipe for another day). Stay with the pot during browning. Quite dark brown.
While the second side is browning, lay the garlic (whole) pieces on top of the meat. Leave the garlic in that position permanently. Turn down the heat to medium, and cover for about 10-15 minutes. Turn the meat only once more, near the end of cooking.
Wash carrots and chop into bite size pieces. Split onions in half and remove skin. Split in half lengthwise again. Slice the leek into thin coins and wash well in a sieve or strainer to make sure all the sand is out. Add the vegetables to the pot. Add a little salt.
Let simmer, covered, on medium high heat for about 10 more minutes. Watch carefully. Add the tomato sauce. Cover and leave on very low heat, lowest setting for one hour, checking occasionally to make sure it is not burning. Sticking to the bottom of the pot is okay. Resist the urge to stir too much.
Then pull the meat off the bones using two forks. Boil the bones in a half cup of cold water for a few minutes and strain the broth into the meat pot. Leave the meat in the pot. By now the texture should be like a goulash. The carrots still whole, but the onions and leeks will have almost disappeared. Stir, scrape the bottom of the pot. Cover and return to heat for at least a half hour. Taste to adjust salt.
Pour into the meat pot, about 2/3 cup of Shiraz. Stir once. Cover. Return to lowest heat setting for about 10-15 minutes. Watch carefully. Remove lid and stir once. Cover. Turn off heat. Let sit until you can test without burning your mouth. Yummmm. Pour into a glass (only) container and cover the container with plastic wrap and place the lid on the dish. Let it sit on the counter for a half-hour or so (not in summer weather), and then store overnight in the fridge. You can serve this dish right away, it just gets better later. Will keep for several days. Remove from the fridge at least an hour before serving time. Reheat gently (not in microwave) in a heavy bottom saucepan on very low heat. Watch carefully so it does not stick and burn. The Shiraz is not terribly sweet, but adds just the right amount of palate teasing sweetness to the dish. AMAZING flavour!
Serve with spaetzle (pasta), egg noodles, rice or creamy whipped potatoes. Looks like a goulash. Carrots and green beans make best side serve dishes.
If you wish, stir in a half cup of sour cream just before serving (do not reheat after the sour cream is added; it might separate). Not necessary at all, but just a different version to turn this into a party dinner.
Enjoy!
The working title for Carolyne’s Gourmet Recipes cookbook is From Lady Ralston’s Kitchen: A Canadian Contessa Cooks. This kitchen-friendly doyenne has been honoured and referred to as the grande dame of executive real estate in her market area during her 35-year career. She taught gourmet cooking in the mid-70s and wrote a weekly newspaper cooking column, long before gourmet was popular as it is today. Her ebook, Gourmet Cooking – at Home with Carolyne is available here for $5.99 US. Email Carolyne. Scroll down to the comments at each recipe column. Carolyne often adds complimentary “From Lady Ralston’s Kitchen” additional recipes in the Recipes for Realtors Comments section at REM.
