Beer Braised Shredded Chuck Steak with Spaghetti

Chuck steaks. Not always the most glamorous cut of beef. But, there are good and bad ways to treat this meat. While some might think to treat it like a sirloin and sear it off to a medium rare, or grind it into burger, I decided to take advantage of chuck's classic interpretation: braised and shredded, served with a starch. 

     Since I had some thin spaghetti noodles left from the weekend, I chose to use the last hoppy and citrusy IPA I had in the fridge (also a straggler from the weekend) and do a spin on braised beef pizziola.

I got some olive oil and butter working in a hot dutch oven and seared off the steaks.

Once they had a good sear, I removed them and set them aside to rest and added a pile of sliced onions and peppers. When those had cooked down about 8 minutes, I added tomato paste, whole smashed garlic cloves, Italian seasoning (herb blend), and the beer, in that order.

Once the beer had reduced a bit and the floral and citrus notes came through after that initial bitterness of hot beer smell, I added a can each of beef broth and tomato sauce and let that simmer a bit before adding a couple tablespoons of sugar to cut the acidity.

I then returned the steaks to the sauce, put the lid on the dutch oven and put it in the oven, which was preheated to 325 degrees, for 2 hours.

(2 hours seems like such a long time when all you have to do is wait!)

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Finally, 2 hours had past and the steaks were falling apart and easily shredded with 2 forks.

I immediately got my spaghetti cooked and put the braising liquid into a pan heated over medium heat. I tossed the spaghetti in the pan with the sauce and added a few pats of butter and some fresh parsley.

Eat up! This one's tasty!

Beer Braised Shredded Chuck Steak with Spaghetti

2lbs Chuck steaks or roast cut into manageable chunks

1 12oz beer, preferably a  lighter IPA or bolder pale ale

2 bell peppers, sliced

2 large or 4 small yellow onions, sliced

6-8 garlic cloves, smashed

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 can beef broth

1 can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 lb thin spaghetti noodles, cooked to al dente

1 stick salted butter

Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and season steaks with salt and pepper. Melt a half a stick of butter into 3-4 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a dutch oven. Turn heat to medium high and sear steaks on both sides. Remove from pot and set aside.

2. Add the bell peppers and onions. Season with salt and pepper and stir to coat with butter and steak drippings. Cook about 8-10 minutes then add the tomato paste, stirring to coat, then the garlic cloves and Italian seasoning. Cook about 2 minutes.

3. Add the beer and cook down until the heavy bitter beer smell has calmed. Add the beef broth and tomato sauce and cook another 2 minutes, stirring to combine. Stir in the sugar.

4. Return steaks to pot, cover, and place in the preheated oven for 2 hours.
5. When the beef is done, cook noodles to al dente according to package directions (or make fresh pasta with the time it takes to braise, which is what I should have done and will try to do next time). Shred beef with two forks, adding a few spoonfuls of the braising liquid to keep it moist, and set aside.

6. Heat a large pan over medium heat and add the braising liquid. Pour in your noodles and toss with the sauce, then add the remaining half a stick of butter, cubed, and mix it in until the sauce and noodles have that sexy buttery sheen.

7. Serve noodles immediately topped with the beef. 

--Alongside I did garlic parsley crostini with some hearty sourdough by toasting the slices in the oven slightly, then slathering garlic butter (fresh minced garlic and parsley, butter and a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper) and baking another 2-3 minutes or until golden.