WAGYU CHUCK BRAISED IN RED WINE WITH GREMOLATA AND POTATO PURÉE

Serves 4

We buy whole bodies of David Blackmore’s Fullblood Wagyu, so along with all the wonderful grilling and rotisserie cuts come the secondary or braising cuts. Our braises end up with the most unique texture because of the heavy marbling of the Wagyu. We’re so lucky to have these cuts of such high quality; the brisket, chuck, round, silverside and short ribs are not secondary cuts to us, but meat that we feel privileged to have.

At the restaurant we vacuum-seal the chuck and braising mixture in a Cryovac bag and steam it in our Combi Oven at 70°C (158°F) for 18 hours. I’ve included an alternative method to simulate this slow-cooking process at home.

BRAISED WAGYU CHUCK

1 x 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) piece of Wagyu chuck

80 ml (2½ fl oz/¹/₃ cup) extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, cut into large dice

1 carrot, cut into large dice

1 stalk celery, cut into large dice

1 head garlic, halved

50 g (1¾ oz) prosciutto, chopped

500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) port

1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cups) red wine

10 sprigs thyme

2 fresh bay leaves

10 black peppercorns

Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F/Gas 2).

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based ovenproof saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and prosciutto and cook for 10–15 minutes or until the vegetables are very caramelised to bring out their natural sugars — this is one of the main flavours you’re trying to achieve in your sauce. Once coloured, add the port and cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Add the wine, thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns and continue cooking until the liquid has reduced by half again.

Just as the braise is nearly ready, heat a large heavy-based frying pan over high heat until very hot. Add the beef and seal on all sides.

Add the beef to the braise, cover and cook in the oven for 3–4 hours or until the beef is fork tender. (Alternatively, gently simmer the beef, covered, over low heat.)

Remove the beef from the sauce and keep warm. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve placed over a bowl and discard the solids.

TO SERVE

80 ml (2½ fl oz/¹/₃ cup) extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

1 stalk celery, finely diced

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 leek, white part only, finely diced

2½ tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar

soft brown sugar, to taste

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

potato purée, to serve

gremolata, to serve

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and leek and cook for 10 minutes or until starting to colour and caramelise.

Add the strained sauce from the braised Wagyu chuck and vinegar to the pan and cook until the sauce has reduced to form a thick glaze. Add a little sugar to sweeten , if needed, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, cut the beef into 4 pieces and place each on a plate. Serve with a quenelle of potato purée and sprinkle with the gremolata.