Clementine Picanha
The smell of orange peel will fill your kitchen as the culotte slowly makes its way to just the right temperature, awaiting its final sear. I’ve left the fat cap on, scoring it so that it is crosshatc...
Matambre, as far as I can tell, is an Argentine mash-up of “kill” (matar) and “hunger” (hambre), and it is sumptuous and substantial enough to do exactly that. It also refers to the Argentine cut of beef, like a flank but not exactly. In any case, I use a flank here because it’s easy to find — besides, that’s what my friend Brad used when he cooked it up on a surprise drop-in at my place. Like me, Brad is fond of big, deep flavours, and his matambre recipe does not disappoint. Serve with creamy polenta or mashed potatoes, and a little of the
deep-red braising broth ladled on top. Your dinner guests will leave immensely sated and eternally grateful. I know I was that night my epicurean friend dropped by.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon nice frying fat (goose fat, duck fat, lard, tallow)
- 1 each leek, onion and shallot, roughly chopped
- 5 each pitted green and Kalamata olives
- 8 sun-dried tomato halves, half of them finely chopped
- 6 anchovy fillets, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon dried Aleppo or gonchugara pepper
- 2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 flank steak (about 2 pounds), butterflied
- 4 strips bacon
- 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, cut into strips
- 2 cups tomato passata
- 2 cups dry vermouth
- 2 cups beef or chicken stock
- 4 bay leaves
Preparation
Preheat your oven to 275F.
In a large frying pan, heat fat of choice. Sauté leek, onion, shallot, olives, sundried tomatoes, anchovies, garlic, and Aleppo pepper until the onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and parsley, and then remove pan from the heat and set aside.
Place flank steak on a clean work surface. Arrange a single layer of bacon and red pepper strips in flat rows across the steak. Top with half of leek mixture, gently spreading it as evenly as you can (transfer remaining mixture to a bowl and set aside, and reserve pan). Starting at one short end, carefully roll up steak like a sleeping bag. Tie each end quite tightly with butcher’s string, closing it like a sausage. Secure the remaining parts with four or five lengths of string to help it maintain its shape.
Add a little more butter to the frying pan you used to sauté the filling, and brown the rolled-up flank on medium-high heat until a nice crust develops.
In a large pot or roasting pan, combine passata, vermouth, stock, bay leaves, and the remaining filling mixture. Add prepared flank and roast, covered, for 3 hours. Your matambre will be very tender but will still hold its shape without falling apart when you lift it. Carefully slice and serve with a spoonful of braising liquid.
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