So Much Beef

I already told you all how much I love meat. And normally I’m good, and limit our red meat quantity to at most once every other week. However this week is the Anniversary Bonanza. The Husband and I celebrate four years of marriage and nearly nine years of being together (side note: Where has all of this time gone? I know I’m 30, but I really feel like I’m just 21 with more money and better taste). 

Anyway, to continue on with The Bonanza, I thought I would defrost one of our delicious pieces of meat from Quarter Circle 7 (see previous post: I Heart Beef).  I pulled out the Chunk Roast and decided to riff off a Food & Wine recipe I received recently. Of course I changed a few things, but was really happy with the end result. Especially since The Husband took one taste, beamed and asked to take the leftover for lunch the following day.  And I can say, since I'm terrible at microwaving leftovers,  it’s delicious cold too.

Ingredients:

One 4-pound chuck eye roast or other chuck roast, tied (many of them come tied!)

2 TBS olive oil

1 Onion chopped

3 Garlic cloves, minced

3 Cups low sodium Beef Broth

12 ounces Amber Ale

12  Thyme sprigs- 6 for the meat, 6 for the sauce (these 6 should just be leaves, not whole sprigs)

2 Bay Leaves

4 Parsnips, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 small bag of Baby Carrots

1.5 TSP Corn Starch

1 TBS Ice Water

Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder to taste

1 lb Egg Noodles

Cover the roast with salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a medium pan,  heat 2 tablespoons of the oil.  Add the roast; cook over moderate heat, turning, until browned all over.

In your slow cooker, add the stock, ale, carrots, parsnips, onions, thyme, bay leaves, garlic (basically everything but the corn starch and the egg noodles) and the browned roast.  Place on high for 6 hours and do something fun…or go to work.

About 45 minutes before you are ready to serve, bring a large pot of water to boil for the noodles. While you are waiting for the water to boil, strain (use a slotted spoon, it's much easier) the meat and vegetables from the broth and place the remaining broth into a large sauce pan. It's okay if there are a few veggies or some meat left in the broth.

With the flame on high, reduce the broth to about 3.5 cups. This should take you about 20 minutes or so.  During this time, you should gently pull apart the meat. It should be very tender and should probably just fall apart with the touch of a fork. Remove the ties and mix up the meat with the vegetables.  After you pull apart the meat,  combine the ice water and the corn starch until there are no lumps. When the broth is reduced, add the corn starch slurry, the remaining thyme along with salt and pepper to taste into the broth. Stir until it thickens, about 5 minutes.

Drain the egg noodles, at it to the meat and vegetable mixture and then cover with the sauce and serve!