Recipe: Braised beef knuckle - sous-vide and traditional

Got beef?  How'd you like a big fat knuckle sandwich?  I always wanted to say that, and at the moment at our house we're dishing out knuckle sandwiches like Burt Reynolds at a cowboy bar.  When I set my mind to doing it the other day, I didn't anticipate the difficulty in getting the knuckle itself with the meat on it - most butcher shops cut the meat for stew and save the bone for stock.  I had to take my car to the shop, so I was on foot, no matter since I was close to downtown and it would be easier to hit multiple butchers than if I was driving.  I gave three of the major supermarkets a try just because they were right there - nothing.  I tried two of the "trendy" butchers - best suggestion was buy an oxtail and some stew meat.  I then hit the T&T Asian supermarket and about five butchers in Chinatown - that was a shocker, I thought one of them would hook me up for sure - no.  I made my way back to our neighborhood where we've got a couple old school butchers - I thought if I have to order it special, it might as well be close by.  

I got to the very last shop just in time - he had just split a knuckle on the bandsaw and was about to strip it for stew meat and stock bones.  Of course I saved him the work.  He was pretty excited to see me buy it as he hadn't sold one in about five years and was interested in my plans for it.  He was expecting a traditional English style roast, but was intrigued by the thought of Latin inspired pulled meat.  Butcher shops have to be one of the only places you can get a good laugh saying that your wife is in for a knuckle sandwich.  Moral of the story - order the knuckle from your butcher, but you can rest assured you are serving something your guests haven't had in a while, maybe never.  You don't need to make sandwiches (this would make a lovely terrine or presse) but if you do, I recommend getting as close to a Latin torta bun as you can - Portugese buns are closest, ciabattas are nice - I went to our local Latin bakery and got the buns they make.

smoking gun at work

Getting down to it, I made this recipe special for the occasion, and it's best done with a couple days to prepare.  I wanted something aggressive, so it's a bit spicy.  Considering what usually fuels a knuckle sandwich, it's also got coffee, whiskey and smoke in it.  I don't have a smoker, but I do have a "smoking gun", so I filled the sealed marinating bowl with smoke a bunch of times to replicate it.  A quality liquid smoke can also be added to the broth if you like.  I decided to do a traditional braise because I wanted to get a good amount of broth out of it and used my slow cooker (it can hold a nice sub 200F temperature) but I've included the methods if you choose to use the oven or sous-vide.  The knuckle has a lot of cartilage in it - it's delicious.  If you aren't used to cartilage, give it a try, you may want to eat it on it's own - I chopped it up and put it back in the mix with the meat once it was pulled.

You will need:

1                       beef knuckle (2-2.5kg / 5lbs)

4                       medium onions

2                       carrots

2                       stalks of celery

4                       cloves of garlic

2L / 8qt            beef stock

796ml / 28oz    canned tomatoes (1 can)

45g / 1.6oz       Oaxacan chocolate (it's spicier)

1                       pack Starbucks "Via" instant coffee

60ml / 4Tbs      whiskey

2                       bay leaves

to taste             kosher salt

as needed         olive oil

spice rub: (feel free to be generous, all measurements are "at least")

5ml / 1tsp          cumin

5ml / 1tsp          smoked paprika

2.5ml / 1/2tsp    cayenne

5ml / 1tsp          ground black pepper

5ml / 1tsp          garlic power

10ml / 2tsp        brown sugar

you will also need a smoker, smoking gun, or liquid smoke

Method:

 - rub the meat with a bit of olive oil

 - apply the spices evenly to all sides - massage them in

 - if you have a smoker - smoke two hours

 - julienne two of the onions

 - place the meat in the bowl with the onions and toss around for coverage

 - if you didn't have a smoker, but have a smoking gun - seal the bowl with plastic wrap and pipe smoke in  and re-seal - repeat process a few times over a few hours

 - let the meat marinate overnight

 - clean the onions off the meat (save them) and season well with salt

 - sear the meat well in a hot pan and set aside

 - unless the pan is excessively burnt, julienne the other two onions and caramelize along with the originals in the same pan

 - peel and chop the carrots and celery, mince the fresh garlic

 - when the onions are browned, set aside and caramelize the carrots and celery, adding the garlic at the end

 - return the onions to the pan

 - deglaze with whiskey

 - puree the can tomatoes and strain the seeds out

 - add the tomato puree to the pan

 - add the chocolate and coffee and dissolve both

 - add the bay leaves

Note if cooking sous-vide:  at this point, turn off the heat, cool, then add the cold stock and mix well.  Set the water bath for 183F / 84C for a six hour cook (or 172F / 78C for a 12 hour cook).  If you are pulling the meat, you can even go longer for a softer product.  Put the meat in a bag and surround it with all the vegetables and some of the broth (the rest of the broth can be reduced for sauce) and seal on a looser setting to prevent blowout.  Set the bag in the bath, cook for the prescribed time, then ice down to cool and rest one day.  Pick up the rest of the procedure after the days rest in the traditional method.

 - set the oven to 250F / 121C

 - bring the broth to a simmer

 - return the meat to the broth

 - cover and place in the oven and cook for 5 -6 hours (slow cooker was about the same)

 - check the meat - it shouldn't feel tight and the fibers should separate when squeezed

 - remove from the oven and cool on a rack in the liquid

 - rest in the liquid overnight in the fridge

 - remove from fridge and remove fat cap from the broth

 - gently warm up the broth - this helps pulling the meat apart

 - remove the meat from the broth

 - strain the vegetables out of the broth and set it to reduce to a sauce

 - separate the meat from the bone, remove the fat and set aside the cartilage

 - put the bone in some water and make a remouillage stock - there's still flavour in it

 - pull the meat apart with your fingers

 - chop the cartilage and add to the meat

 - put the meat in a pan and keep warm

 - moisten with the reduced sauce to taste and desired juiciness

 - dish out some knuckle sandwiches!

the knockout punch

note:  the final sandwich was dressed with our pickled red onions, candied poblanos, cheddar cheese and some of the adobo from Abuela's chipotles - pure goodness!