Boiled Beef

Simple and tasteful — a dish for those tired of fancy fare. Plain boiled beef is a regular on my table. This tasty, wholesome meat is a source of essential amino acids. I don't use the broth from this recipe afterward, but as we go I'll explain how you can change that.

UnicornSteak

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Beef fillet

700

Water

Onion

Carrots

Salt

Bay leaf

Allspice

Parsley (stems)

Cilantro (stems)

Fresh herbs (lovage or celery stems)

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 50 % 5 g

Fats 40 % 4 g

Carbohydrates 10 % 1 g

49 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you boil beef? Wash the meat and trim away any membranes and fat. For this recipe I chose beef tenderloin — it comes already clean and very lean.
Step 2:

Pour cold water into a pot and bring it to a boil. As soon as the first bubbles appear, add salt to taste.
Step 3:

Put the beef into the boiling water. Cooking it this way makes the beef tastier, since it gives up less of its flavor to the broth. If you'd rather have a flavorful broth too, put the meat into cold water from the start.
Step 4:

As it boils, foam will form on the surface. Skim it off — I find an ordinary tablespoon handy for this.
Step 5:

Half an hour after the boil begins, add a peeled carrot and a medium-sized onion to the pot.
Step 6:

Also add the washed stems of lovage, parsley and cilantro. You can tie the stems tightly with white kitchen twine if you plan to use the broth — that makes the herbs easier to fish out of the pot. Cook the meat over low heat, covered, for an hour and a half.
Step 7:

Twenty minutes before it's done, add the bay leaf and allspice berries. Check the meat for doneness with a knife: if the knife slides easily into the thickest part, it's ready. Remove the onion, herbs and spices from the broth. I save the carrot for later — for plating, for example.

When you can, buy meat from a trusted, honest butcher. Meat from a young animal is tastier and needs less time to cook. Feel free to swap the lovage for celery stalks. If you don't like cilantro, add dill stems. I don't care for meat broths, so I always cook beef this way. The meat comes out soft and easy to pull apart into strands. And because the beef is cooked together with vegetables, herbs and spices, it takes on their flavor notes too. There are tons of uses for beef like this — from simply serving it on its own, say with mustard, to slicing it for sandwiches or salads. Boiled meat keeps in the fridge for up to three days. It's best stored right in the broth, so it doesn't dry out and stays looking appetizing.