It may appear from the other posts on this site that we only eat cake, cookies, and chocolates, but in reality, we do in fact eat 3 regular square meals a day. Most of the time, we need to make quick meals, so the grill is our friend. On occasion, when I have more time on my hands, I pull out my Dutch oven and do some long, simmer-type cooking. In this beef dish, I braised the beef with onions. Mix beef with onions, and you are bound to get tasty results.
I cut up a roast into thick slices and pounded each slice in between plastic wrap. I wasn’t looking to pound the slices thinly–just to get them beaten up a bit and a little tenderized.
Then I heated up a frying pan with some oil. Meanwhile, I sprinkled salt and pepper over each slice and dredged the slices in flour.
In the pan they went.
I heated them long enough to brown them on both sides. I had to do this in a couple of batches.
Then, in the same pan, I sautéed some onion slices.
I layered the onions with the beef in the Dutch oven.
Then I poured over the top a mixture of sherry or wine and soy sauce.
I covered the pot and reduced the heat to simmer. I let it all cook for a couple of hours. But right before the meat and onions were done cooking, I briefly sautéed some mixed bell peppers to arrange around the beef on a platter. I love the colors! Just a few years ago, it used to be that I could only find green bell peppers. Then there was a shift to red peppers. Now, it’s common to see yellow and orange peppers, which is what I chose for this dish.
I made a gravy from the juices in the pot. After skimming off the fat, I thickened the juices with a cornstarch slurry (and added a little bit of sugar) in order to make the gravy. Then I arranged the beef, onions, and peppers on a platter, pouring some sauce over the beef.
You can make this a meal by preparing a side dish of quinoa, couscous, buckwheat, or boiled potatoes.
We ended up adding more vegetables–our usual broccoli and cauliflower–to complete the meal. Bon appetit!
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- 3 large bell peppers (green, red, yellow, orange, or mixed)
- olive oil for sauteeing
- 3 pounds beef, rump roast
- flour for dredging
- 1 large onion
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
Ingredients
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- Cut roast into 1 inch - 1 1/2 inch slices. Wrap in plastic wrap and briefly pound on both sides with meat tenderizer. Salt and pepper and dredge in flour. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown beef slices on both sides in batches, 2-3 minutes per side. Set aside.
- In the same saucepan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and saute onions over medium heat until tender-crisp and beginning to caramelize. Transfer 1/2 of the onions to a 6-quart Dutch oven. Place beef slices over onions. Cover beef slices with remaining onions.
- In a small bowl, fork mix sherry, soy sauce, and water. Pour over beef and onion. Place Dutch oven over medium high heat and heat until boiling. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. While simmering, check 2-3 times and add more water if dry.
- About 15 minutes before beef is ready, wash and cut peppers in half, removing seeds. Slice into 1/2 inch strips. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, saute peppers in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until tender-crisp. Remove from heat and set aside.
- When beef is done, transfer beef and onions from pot to a serving platter and tent with foil. Pour pan juices into a 2-cup measure or gravy separator. Let stand one minute for the fat to separate. Pour off fat and return juices to Dutch oven set over medium high heat. Add water if necessary so that the juices measure 1 to 1 1/2 cups. In a teacup, mix together cornstarch, sugar, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix into juices. Heat until boiling and mixture begins to thicken.
- Arrange peppers around beef and drizzle sauce over beef and serve with quinoa, couscous, boiled potatoes, or buckwheat. Pass around remaining sauce separately in a gravy boat.
