Chuck Steak in Port Wine with Creamy White Mushroom Sauce // Bife do Acém em Vinho do Porto com Molho Cremoso de Cogumelos Brancos

What I like the most about this dish: the difference the lemon juice and tarragon make in the mushroom sauce and the succulent meat which melts in your mouth. Ingredients: A chuck steak per person a pinch of black pepper 1 dessert spoon of glu tai moto 1 onion olive oil 1 glass of Port Wine (I used a Burmester Tawny) olive oil 200g white mushrooms 200ml cream a pinch of salt 1 dessert spoon tarragon juice of half a lemon Season the chuck steak with the pepper and the glu tai moto. Soften the onion rings in a pot with olive oil over medium heat. Turn the heat to high and add the meat. Cook it until it is sealed. Add the glass of Port wine, cover the pot with a lid and let it cook for about half an hour. In medium heat cook the mushrooms in a frying pan with olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add the cream and a few moments later, the salt, the tarragon and the juice of half a lemon. Let it cook until the sauce reduces a bit. I served this dish with a physalis fruit, which made an interesting contrast both in colour and flavour with the meat and the sauce. Enjoy!

Aquilo de que gosto mais neste prato: a diferença que fazem o sumo de limão e o estragão no molho de cogumelos e a carne suculenta que se derrete na boca. Ingredientes: 1 bife do acém por pessoa uma pitada de pimenta preta 1 colher de sobremesa de glu tai moto 1 cebola azeite 1 copo de Vinho do Porto (usei um Tawny Burmester) azeite 200g cogumelos brancos 200ml natas uma pitada de sal 1 colher de sobremesa de estragão sumo de meio limão Temperem o bife do acém com a pimenta e o glu tai moto. Amoleçam os anéis de cebola num tacho com azeite em lume médio. Em lume alto, adicionem a carne. Cozinhem-na até estar selada. Acrescentem o vinho do Porto, cubram o tacho com uma tampa e deixem cozinhar durante cerca de meia hora. Em lume médio cozinhem os cogumelos numa frigideira com azeite durante cerca de 10 minutos. Juntem as natas e pouco depois, o sal, o estragão e o sumo de meio limão. Deixem cozinhar até que o molho reduza um pouco. Servi este prato com uma physalis, que proporcionou um interessante tanto em termos de cor como de sabor com a carne e o molho. Bom apetite!

Chuck Roast - the unsuspected stranger

If I may say so, I might have lost a couple of pounds this morning, after sweating so much to make everything just about right. And I don't mean just the end product: I don't know if the same happens to all of you, but there's something about trying to cook at my mom's house that is somewhat nerve-wrecking. Well, it might be her saying "Don't you want me to put some olive oil in it?" "No, mom, this recipe doesn't need olive oil, thanks anyway" "Are you sure?" [Imagine a loooong pronunciation of that "u" sound in the last word, with some very disapproving and scary eyes. Got it? Yes, that's it.]

How I did it? With a bit of a juggle here, a bit of a distraction there, you know: the usual. 

While I sliced the onions and garlic cloves much to my darling mom's distress ["Don't you want me to do that for you?"], I asked her to bring me the hot sauce because I "didn't know where it was". 

Then I added a generous pinch of salt and some of the hot sauce [2 coffee spoons will do the trick]. 

I noticed my mom's questioning eyes while I added about 5 spoons of margarine into it, but that was ok: I knew the end result would convince her. 

Finally, I poured a bottle of beer. You can pour wine if you want to, but I tend to find beer provides a lighter and sweeter taste to the meat and potatoes, which I prefer.

Then it was time to take care of the meat: two big pieces of veal chuck, cut in smaller pieces. I placed it all in an oven-proof dish.

Then I poured some of the dressing [just a little bit, because the potatoes I was going to add later would need to be drier rather than soggy to roast well]. Then I asked my mom to open the oven [pre-heated to 180º] and place the dish there.

By then, my mom was even more excited than I was, so I invited her to do the part I dislike the most: cutting the potatoes. So, after about 45 minutes of cooking to 210º and turning the meat over and over so it could get that beautiful "sun-tanned look", she [yes] added the potatoes, with a little more of that juice - again, not too much: you can start adding it later, when the potatoes start getting a delicious golden colour.

I let it cook for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, giving it a little turn every 20 minutes. 15 minutes before I turned off the oven I cooked rice [just water and salt] and asked my mom to prepare a lettuce and onion salad [in a salt, oil and vinegar dressing] - that is one thing I will never do as well as her, no matter how hard I try to get the portions right.

This was the result:

Except for the veal, it's not an expensive dish. It might take a while to cook, but as soon as you taste the flavour you'll know why I say it's worth it. Besides, it's a nice and easy one to make for the whole family. If you try it, do say how it all went.

Enjoy!