Liana Krissoff

Beef with Winter Savory and Cipollini

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Preparation info

  • Difficulty

    Easy

Appears in

Slow Cook Modern

Slow Cook Modern

By Liana Krissoff

Published 2017

  • About

WITH roasted Brussels sprouts and shiitakes

ALSO GOOD WITH garlic sautéed dandelion greens OR skillet potatoes

Winter savory is my mom’s pet herb: She’s been encouraging me to experiment with it more for years, and keeps sending dried savory from her huge kitchen garden in Washington State. Its flavor is distinctive and not easily described, like a combination of woody herbs (rosemary, oregano, thyme …) plus grassy mountain mint. If you don’t have any on hand, you can use a sprig of fresh rosemary or a teaspoon of crumbled dried rosemary in its place, but you should definitely seek it out, if you can, for this pot roast. It’s also great with roasted vegetables and in bean-based soups.

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds (1.4 kg) beef chuck roast or steaks, trimmed and cut into small fist-size chunks
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, or more, if needed
  • ½ cup (120 ml) red wine
  • 1 cup (240 ml) beef stock or water
  • 8 ounces (225 g) cipollini onions
  • 1 heaping teaspoon crushed dried winter savory

Method

Morning

Season the beef with salt and pepper. In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add half of the beef and cook, turning, until the chunks are nicely browned on two or more sides, about 5 minutes total; transfer to the slow cooker. Brown the remaining beef in the oil remaining in the skillet (add a little oil, if needed); transfer to the cooker. Pour the wine into the hot skillet, scraping up any browned bits, then pour into the cooker, along with the stock.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the cipollini, and blanch for 30 seconds, then drain in a colander and cool under running water. Trim off the roots and tops and slip off the peels, then add the cipollini to the cooker, tucking them in around the beef. Sprinkle in the savory. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Evening

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef and cipollini to a platter. Spoon some of the liquid from the cooker over everything and serve.

© 2017 All rights reserved. Published by Abrams Books.