Projo Football Food & Spirits

The family gathers at my house for Pats games, and I made this winter dish for tonight's game against Baltimore. I'm stilled keyed up after this sloppy squeaker (27-24) of a win, so I'll give you the recipe instead of trying to sleep. Guests asked to take some home, so I guess it really is a winner.

I adapted this from a recipe found widely on the Web for Moroccan Braised Beef. The ingredients are not too different, but I changed it enough that I'll put my version on top, and the original below. (The original called for a cup and a half of raisins -- since I don't like sweet beef, this had to go -- and it doesn't use a crockpot.)

Moroccan Pot Roast

3 Tablespoons olive oil (separately)
2.5 to 4 lbs beef pot roast (chuck or shoulder roast is fine)
3 onions, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon garam masala*
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
half teaspoon turmeric
half teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 cup dry red wine
half cup dry sherry
1-2 cups beef or chicken broth (see note)
1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes in juice
Vegetables for stew (store-bought assortment is okay -- a couple of coarsely chopped carrots, parsnips, turnips, one of the onions plus a few small potatoes)

Put your vegetables, including one of the onions and the potatoes, into the bottom of the crockpot.

Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a heavy skillet. Whilst the oil is heating up, sprinkle your meat with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, put your meat into the pot and sauté until brown. This should take about 5 minutes.

Put the meat on top of the vegetables in the crockpot and then put another spoon of olive oil into your pot. Sauté your onions until brown. Then add the garlic, masala, paprika, cumin, turmeric and pepper. Stir this mixture for about a minute or so. Add the wine and sherry and bring to a boil; boil gently until you no longer smell alcohol coming off it. Stir in the tomatoes and juice, then add the broth.

Pour this mixture over the beef in the crockpot, pushing the solids down around the sides of the meat. Cook overnight on low, about 12 hours. Refrigerate until ready to eat, then slim the fat and reheat, uncovered, on low heat to thicken the broth a bit.

Season to taste. (I added salt.) One of my guests really dislikes hot pepper, so I skipped the cayenne, but I think a little would spike the cinnamon/nutmeg nicely. The juices will be thin, because of the crockpot -- I might use less broth next time, although I could at this point cut the pot roast into chunks and call it all "stew."

* You can buy garam masala -- an Indian spice blend that varies widely, even in India -- at many well-stocked spice racks, including Whole Foods. If you want to make your own, here's an easy recipe for about 3 tablespoons of it. (Keep the rest for another recipe such as Indian Butter Chicken I like to mix a tablespoon of garam masala, a couple of tablespoons of garlic powder and enough olive oil to make a thin paste, then rub it on the outside of a whole chicken or turkey before roasting. The aroma is terrific and it makes for crisp, tasty brown skin.) Purists roast the spices, but this will do:

Easy Garam masala:

1 T ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

The original recipe is not too different, but it's sweeter, hotter, with chunks of meat in a thicker gravy, since it's not cooked in a crockpot but in an open pan on top of the stove.

Moroccan Braised Beef

3 Tablespoons olive oil (separately)
2.5lbs beef (cut into quarter inch cubes)
2 cups of onions, chopped 3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon garam masala (chopped)
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
half teaspoon turmeric
half teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup dry red wine
half cup dry sherry
2 cups beef broth
a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes in juice
1.5 cups gold raisins

Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a big pot. Whilst the oil is heating up, sprinkle your meat with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, put your meat into the pot and sauté until brown. This should take about 5 minutes. Put the meat into a bowl and then put another spoon of olive oil into your pot. Sauté your onions until brown. Then add the garlic, masala, paprika, cumin, turmeric and pepper. Stir this mixture for about a minute or so. Add the wine and sherry and boil until a light glaze. Stir in the tomatoes and juice, broth and raisin. Add the beef to this mixture. Reduce the heat and boil for about an hour uncovered until the mixture is thick, stirring occasionally.
Serves 6-8.

Comments

bob said:

how big is your crock pot?

Link | December 4, 2007 11:24 AM
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Sheila said:

It's 6 quarts. (Had to get the model number off the bottom, then put that into a search engine that found it for sale, where its size was noted. It wasn't anywhere on the crock pot.)

Link | December 5, 2007 2:48 AM
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bob said:

wow... thanks for the effort! now I definitely have to make it. i'll report back on results... it sounds tasty.

Link | December 5, 2007 12:00 PM
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