Alcatra (Portuguese Pot Roast)
The Portuguese eat Alcatra year round, but especially during the celebrations in spring and summer, it is the island's signature dish: cuts of beef braised in local wine, smoked pork fat, and dried spices, resulting in something of a heartier, spicier, richer version of France's famed boeuf bourguignon.
Purists insist on using only white wine, specifically those made from Verdelho grapes on Terceira or nearby Pico Island. Historically Verdelho, a white Azorean wine, was the only 'proper' wine for the production of Alcatra.
If I can’t find Verdelho I will use Aveleda Vinho Verde which almost all wine stores and supermarkets have. it’s also a Portugal wine.
Traditionally, Alcatra is baked in wood-burning ovens overnight. This is a slightly faster version of Alcatra, The cuts of beef are pan-seared and then boiled until tender before being oven-braised for around four hours.
I have skipped the lard in this version of the recipe, but you can use lard to coat the cassoulet as well as when searing the beef.
Traditionally Alcatra is simply served with sweet bread (massa sovada), but there is no harm in serving it with some rice or potatoes.
Ingredients
Vegetable oil
3 lb beef chuck roast with a bit of fat, cut into 3 by 1 inch pieces.
1 lb bone-in beef shank
2 1/2 cups white wine (ideally vinho Verdelho from the Azores)
½ cup water
1 tablespoon salt
3 Spanish onions, peeled and diced
1 head garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
5 to 6 oz smoked pork fat diced
10 cloves
1 1/2 tsp allspice
2 bay leaves
8 tbsp butter
Preparation
Heat vegetable oil in a cassoulet pot (or Dutch oven) over high heat. Sear all the cuts of beef in portions, removing and setting aside. Return all the beef to the pot, and add wine, water, and salt.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and rapidly simmer until the beef is just starting to get tender when pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes.
Remove from heat, put the beef and the liquid into separate bowls, and reserve.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
after letting it cool just a little, grease the cassoulet pot. Add half the onions and half the garlic. Top with half the reserved beef, half the smoked pork, half the cloves, half the allspice, half the bay leaves, and a generous sprinkle of salt. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Add the reserved liquid. If it's not enough to come just short of the level of the beef, add more wine to that level.
Cover the cassoulet with its lid and bake for three hours.
After three hours, remove the lid; the dish should be bubbling, the liquid should have reduced slightly and the exposed top layer should be slightly dry. The fragrance will have shifted from cooking wine/alcohol to the rich aroma of melting fat and dried spices.
Increase the heat to 425 degrees, add the butter, and bake, uncovered, for another hour, until the exposed layer is pleasantly browned, and the beef is fall-apart tender.
Keywords: Main Beef
