Chuck

This is a story of a Chuck Roast. Marinaded, Seared, Braised, and eaten.

I sit, enjoying homemade noodles, with a beef version of veloute sauce with a bit of onion powder, some crescent rolls out of a tube, and the Chuck.

He is a good chuck roast. Not tough or rubbery by any means. Pulled apart with forks. A bit winey since I added wine to the braising liquid. Pretty good actually.

This taught me marinading, braising, and how to make homemade noodles. Recipes are at the bottom. And no actual people or animals were hurt in this episode. Well maybe just a little from the boiling water. More on that later.

Walk with me down memory lane, will you?

Saturday I drove, with my son, first to the donut shop, then to Peacock Farms. Mostly because it opens at 9 and we got there too early. And because.... Donuts! (Knapps if you're wondering.)

It's cute,the farm. It has a statue of a peacock in front and the sign is also a peacock. It's their last name, don't worry, they don't serve peacock to eat. (my son asked.)

They do sell beef, and poultry, and bison, elk, seafood, fish, lamb, veal, and pork. They also sell dairy from Crooked Creek if you're familiar with it. Super creamy milk. And frozen vegetables. The prices are going to be higher than at local Krogers, and probably Meijer as well. But the thing is, the animals are raised with no chemicals, no preservatives, the veg no pesticides and no GMOs. Sadly they don't even get the veg from the States because they couldn't get non-GMO here. So they get it from Canada.

So I picked up some Chuck Roast, and some ground beef. The ground beef was amazing and we only made spaghetti with it. Totally worth it.

So I have been looking forward to the Chuck.

I put him in the fridge to thaw (all of the meat and veg is frozen). Then marinaded it in soy sauce, clementine juice (because I had them), and brown sugar. I modified the first recipe below.

I let that sit for about an hour, basically how long it took to make some cod and risotto and have dinner.

Then I seared Chuck in olive oil and butter in a frying pan. I had my dutch oven all ready to go except Mr Chuck was too big! Alas, I still didn't get to try the dutch oven out.

So I had to put him in a baking dish. I added a chopped carrot, 2 chopped celery stalks, 1 cup chopped onion, and 4 crushed cloves of garlic.

Then for the braising liquid, I added the rest of the marinade, a cup of marsala wine (because that's what I had), a cup of chicken stock (left from making risotto earlier).

I covered it with foil since I didn't have a top for the dish.

Then put it in a 275 degree oven for 3 hours. That made it 10pm and I was beat, so I had my husband take it out.

Then next day, I warmed it in a 375 degree oven (because I was also making more crescent rolls - we like those - and thats what it calls for). And then pulled it apart with two forks.

I needed something to go with it, so I went looking for some noodles. But we were out.
How hard can noodles be to make, I thought?

So I googled it and made the noodles. It's really egg, flour, and a bit of milk and salt. That's it. The dough couldn't be simpler, and it rolled out easily, but when I dropped the noodles into the boiling water, I didn't count on splash-back. Ouch! You better be careful when doing this or you'll end up with tiny red pockmarks on your fingers.

They come out fatter than you'd expect but they are really good.

Here's hoping you have as much success and fun as I did.
Happy eating!
--V

RECIPES:
Marinade:  http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/marinated-chuck-roast

Homemade noodles: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/11776/grandmas-noodles-ii/print/?recipeType=Recipe&servings=4

Sauce - my own "recipe":
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp butter
Beef broth
Onion powder
Salt

     Combine both in a sauce pan and mix with a whisk over heat to create a paste. This is a roux if you didnt already know. Add beef broth until you get about an inch of gravy, basically. Add some onion powder and salt. mix continually until it's a thick light tan sauce. Serve over the noodles and beef.