Pressed Beef

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5 to 6 quart (4.7 to 5.7 litre) heavy pot
• •8½ by 4½ inch (21 by 11 cm) metal loaf tin
• •Rigid rectangle cut flush with the loaf tin, wrapped in foil and parchment
• •5½ to 6½ lb (2½ to 3 kg) of stable pantry weights
• •Shallow roasting dish for the ice-water bath
• •Fine-mesh sieve and damp cheesecloth
• •Long sharp slicing knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Temper the salt

   Rinse the beef thoroughly under cold water, then set it in a snug 5 to 6 quart pot and add enough cold water to cover it by about 2 inches. Bring the water up slowly, skim away the grey froth, and lower the heat until the surface barely trembles. After 20 minutes, taste a teaspoon of the liquor. It should be distinctly salted but not punishing; if it tastes fiercely briny, drain the pot, cover the beef with fresh hot water, and return it to the same gentle tremble. Correcting the salt now rescues the whole dish.

   Never let the pot gallop. A hard boil tightens the muscle fibres and knocks the pieces about, while a bare simmer softens the brisket without destroying the broad layers needed for pressing.
2. 2

   Simmer until yielding

   Cover the pot partly and cook the beef at the barest simmer for 2½ to 3½ hours, turning it once and adding hot water whenever the surface threatens to emerge. It is ready when a thin skewer enters the thickest part with very little resistance, yet the meat still holds together when lifted. Tender, not shredding. Reserve 1½ cups (360 ml) of the cooking liquor in a shallow container, cool it promptly, then cover and refrigerate it for the glaze.

3. 3

   Stack the warm beef

   Lift the beef out and let it drain for 10 minutes, only until it can be handled comfortably. Line an 8½ by 4½ inch loaf tin with a wide parchment sling. While the beef remains warm, cut it into two or three large rectangles matching the inside of the tin, keeping the grain running in the same direction, then stack them snugly one upon another. Place any substantial offcut in a central gap, but don't crumble or shred the meat. Cover the surface with parchment and set the fitted pressing board directly on top.

4. 4

   Press and chill

   Load the board evenly with 5½ to 6½ lb (2½ to 3 kg) of pantry cans or other stable weights. Set the weighted tin in a shallow roasting dish and pour ice water around it, keeping the water safely below the rim. Cool under pressure for 30 minutes, changing the ice water if it grows warm, then transfer the entire weighted setup to the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Check the stack after the first 10 minutes; if it has slipped, lift the weight, square the pieces while they are still pliable, and press again. Ça se rattrape. The fitted board spreads the force, while the cold fixes the compressed fibres into a sliceable block.

   Pressure is not optional, but the dedicated press is. A rigid rectangle cut flush with the tin and several pantry cans do the same work when the weight is centred and stable.
5. 5

   Clarify the liquor

   When the beef is fully cold, remove every trace of solid fat from the reserved liquor. Loosen the egg white with a whisk, stir it into the completely cold liquor, and place the mixture over medium-low heat. Stir gently as it warms; once the white gathers into a floating raft, stop stirring and hold the liquor at a bare simmer for 5 minutes. Pass it carefully through a damp cheesecloth-lined sieve without pressing the raft, which would cloud it again. Measure 1 cup (240 ml) of clear liquor, topping it up with water if necessary. Taste it cold; if the salt remains harsh, replace a little more with water.

6. 6

   Set the gelée

   Sprinkle the powdered gelatine evenly over the ¼ cup (60 ml) cold water and leave it for 5 minutes to swell. Warm the clarified liquor until hot but not boiling, remove it from the heat, and stir in the bloomed gelatine until completely dissolved. Add the carmine and caramel colouring drop by drop, stopping when the liquid is transparent red-brown, like pale mahogany rather than opaque gravy. Set the bowl over ice water and stir occasionally until the gelée thickens enough to coat a cold spoon. If it sets into threads or lumps before you are ready, warm it very gently until fluid again. Nothing is lost.

7. 7

   Trim and glaze

   Lift the pressed beef from the tin by its parchment sling and trim every side with a long sharp knife, making a neat square or rectangle as the source requires. Set the cold block on a rack over a tray. Spoon or brush over a thin coat of syrupy gelée, chill it for 10 minutes, then repeat until the top and sides hold three clear, even coats. Turn the block carefully onto fresh parchment and coat the base once so the meat is covered entirely. If the gelée slides off, either the beef is not cold enough or the glaze is still too warm. Chill the block for 15 minutes, cool the gelée until it coats the spoon, and begin again. Ça se rattrape.

8. 8

   Slice for the table

   Chill the finished block for at least 30 minutes after its final coat. Dip a long slicing knife into hot water, wipe it dry, and cut the bœuf pressé across the grain into ¼ inch (6 mm) slices, cleaning and warming the blade between cuts. Arrange the slices generously rather than fussily, with mustard, cornichons, and good bread at the table. Keep the remaining block cold and slice more as people ask. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for an uncooked salt-cured brisket flat from the breast end. Ready-cooked deli corned beef has already lost too much moisture and won't bind into the same close, clean layers under pressure.
• •Salt cures vary enormously. If the butcher recommends soaking, follow that direction; otherwise the early taste of the cooking liquor tells you what to do. Draining and replacing fiercely salty water is correction, not betrayal.
• •Carmine is made from cochineal and can cause allergic reactions in some people. Use only labelled food-grade colouring and tell your guests it is present. Omitting it leaves the flavour and set unchanged, but the glaze will be amber rather than the source's intended red-brown.
• •For the cleanest slices, keep every slab's grain running in the same direction and cut across it at service. A hot, dry knife passes through the gelée without dragging it from the meat.
• •For a picnic, carry the bœuf pressé below 40°F (4°C) in a well-iced cooler and return leftovers to the cold promptly. Serve it with Dijon mustard, cornichons, pain de campagne, and a light red wine served cool.

Advance Preparation

• •Begin one day before serving. The beef needs at least 8 hours under pressure in the refrigerator, and an overnight rest gives the firmest, cleanest slices.
• •The beef can be cooked and pressed up to two days before serving. Leave it weighted and wrapped, then trim and glaze it the day before or the morning of the meal.
• •The finished glazed block keeps for up to four days under refrigeration, tightly covered after the gelée has set. Do not freeze it, as thawing makes the glaze weep and loosens the pressed texture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 155g)