Smothered Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and sear
Wipe the beef with a clean wet cloth.
Sear all cut surfaces in a smoking-hot skillet.
Braise
Place the beef in a kettle and add 1 cup of hot water.
Cover closely and cook just below boiling until tender.
Add more boiling water as needed to prevent burning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Beef
- Tough connective tissue breaks down slowly during gentle moist cooking, becoming tender and juicy.
- Hot water
- Creates moist steam and liquid in the kettle that keeps the beef from drying and scorching.
The step that matters
Cook just below boiling. Boiling toughens meat proteins and can dry the beef out, while a gentle simmer lets collagen slowly convert to gelatin for tenderness.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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