(The Atlas Room)
The Atlas Room in Washington, D.C. brings a modern touch to its seasonally based menu.
Duo of Beef is a plate with braised short ribs and grilled flat iron steak, served over parsnip-potato purée, roasted beets, swiss chard,topped with a mulled red wine bordelaise sauce. This dish has been the singular constant on The Atlas Room menu since day one, evoking the deep flavors of beef in a rich and refined manner. Try this for the holidays -- friends and family are sure to be impressed.
Cook Time:2 hours30 min
Prep Time:1 hours
Total Time:3 hours30 min
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 lb. beef short rib
1 lb. flat iron steak
1/2 cup each diced celery and onion
1 clove of garlic, sliced thin
1 bottle decent red wine (We would pair with our McKinley Springs, Cabernet Sauvignon, WA ['10])
1 quart stock-poultry or veal
1 bunch thyme
1 cup butter
1 lb. parsnip
2 cups heavy cream
1 lb. Idaho potato
2 bunches red swiss chard
1-2 lbs. red beets
Orange, cinnamon and clove to flavor
1 piece fresh ginger
1 lb. butter (unsalted)
Extra virgin olive oil
Preparation:
Season the meat with salt then brown all sides in hot braising pan, remove short rib from pan and set aside --then add onion, celery, garlic and thyme to the pan and briefly sauté.
Deglaze vegetables with red wine and reduce by half, then place short rib back into pan and add a rich poultry or veal stock just to cover the meat.
Place in 350' oven for approx. 2-2.5 hours. It is done when tender and fairly easily pulled apart.Ideally the meat should be cooled in the braising liquid to allow it to absorb the cooking liquid back into itself a bit, but if there is not time then just remove the meat from the pan and reduce the remaining liquid to a sauce consistency.
Strain through with as fine of a strainer as you have on hand. Pour liquid back into pan and whisk in butter while simmering over a medium heat, remove the pan from heat and reserve sauce warm to finish the dish.
To serve the short rib either slice it into rectangular pieces or just pull it into chunks and fold in some of the red wine sauce to enrich it before plating.
Trim steak of silver skin and sinew as needed. Season with salt and pepper then rub with EVOO.Grill to desired temperature, let the meat rest for 5 minutes or so and slice against the grain for presentation.
Cut to a uniform 1 inch dice or wedge and place in pressurecooker on high setting with timer set to 12 minutes.Add an inch of water, a few cloves, a stick of cinnamon, crushed 1-inch piece of ginger, and a few peelings of orange zest. When timer goes off carefully release pressure and remove the beets from the liquid and spices, set aside. Just before serving, sauté in brown butter and thyme.
Wash the swiss chard 3-4 times in warm water to removedirt. Pull the green tops off the red stems and roughly chop. Take the stems and cut into small dice, then saute in butter and olive oil until tender, add tops and wilt them. Adjust seasoning to your taste.
Peel the parsnip and slice into even 1/4 inch rounds and place in 2 cups of cream, simmer until tender and puree in blender till smooth.
Peel and evenly 1 inch dice potatoes, place in cold salted water [like ocean water] and bring to a simmer for 7-8 minutes.
Strain and push thru a potato ricer or food mill into a tall sided pot. Then add the parsnip puree until the resulting mixture has a rich creamy consistency [there may be more parsnip puree than needed].
Adjust seasoning to your taste.
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