These recipes are brought to you by Trevor Bird, chef & owner at Fable Kitchen (Kitsilano, Vancouver) for the following cuts from Meatme: 

1. Brisket
2. Short Rib / Chuck flat
3. Pot roast
4. Shank meat
5. Stew meat

These meals should be planned well ahead of time, as preparation may take several hours. These cuts are good for a slow cooker and are meant to last you for a couple of meals/dinners.

All braised meats behave the same way. Below are the basics of braising, serving suggestions and easy to follow recipes. If you prefer hyper-efficient cooking, feel free to cube up all this meat and braise it at once in one huge batch, then freeze it in 2 cup containers and pull it out as needed.

Basics of Braising

1. Season your braising meat well with salt and pepper. If you like a thicker sauce toss the meat into a bowl of flour after seasoning.
2. Sear the meat in a large pan over high heat until the meat is golden brown on all sides making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Cook one layer at a time. When the meat is seared remove to another bowl and repeat until all the meat is coloured.
3. For every 2 cups of browned or raw meat Add in (1 each), sliced onions, garlic, carrot, and 1 branch celery. Caramelize until brown and soft, and then add in 1 large tbs of tomato paste. If you don’t have time this step can be removed: forget the caramelizing, just add in the vegetables and tomato paste (what chefs call mirepoix).
4. Add in some wine (up to a L, depending on how rich you want it), and reduce by half. If you are not using wine just add stock to deglaze the pan.
5. Place all ingredients in a pot large enough to accommodate all the ingredients. If you don’t have enough stock to cover the ingredients, you can supplement with a little water to cover.
6. Preheat oven to 250F (at this temp it will take 4-6 hours to cook, you can turn the heat up for a shorter cooking time, which may result in drier beef). If you would like to cook it overnight for 8-10 hours while you sleep, place your oven at 200F for the best results. 
7. If you cook the beef overnight, let it cool on the counter for 2 hours. Portion it into storage cups and then place in the fridge. When cool place in freezer.
8. To reheat, place in an oven at 250 for 30 minutes, or place in a bowl with a little bit of juice from the braising liquid. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave for 3 minutes.

1. Braised Brisket Sandwiches

• 1 pc Braised brisket
• 1 cup bbq sauce
• Braising liquid from brisket
• 1 cup your favourite coleslaw (2 cups shaved cabbage, 100ml white wine vinegar, 100ml olive oil, salt)
• 2 hamburger buns

Procedure:

1. In a pot combine the stock and bbq sauce, reduce on med heat, by ½ until it’s very thick. This will take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how thick your initial sauce is.
2. Once the brisket is braised and cooled, thickly slice the meat.
3. Place the brisket in a pot and add in the BBQ sauce. Heat gently.
4. Toast hamburger buns, place the hot brisket on the bun and top with cole slaw.
5. If you feel like adding some mayo on the bun it’s not a bad idea.

 Serve with potato chips or potato salad.

2. Short Rib/Chuck flat

The short ribs and chuck flats are essentially the same cut;the only difference is the chuck flats have less fat on them, and no bones. Braising the chuck flats should be done over the slowest, longest braise possible to ensure the meat is juicy. If your meat is looking a little dry, try lowering the heat braising it for a longer period of time. 

Adobe Style Short ribs

• 1 Meatme share of Short ribs or chuck flats
• 2 onions sliced
• 1 head garlic
• 100ml Soy sauce
• 100ml Honey
• 200ml White wine
• 100ml White wine vinegar
• Water as needed
• 1 knob fresh Ginger sliced
• 2 apples
• 1 jalapeno if you like spicy

Procedure:

1. Follow the basic braising procedure, to step 3. Along with the onions, add in the ginger, garlic and jalapeno.
2. Add in all other ingredients and if the liquid is short of covering the meat fill with water to top up.
3. Cover tightly in a container and follow the rest of the braising procedure.
4. When cooked, the meat is ready to eat. If desired, the sauce may be thickened by removing the meat and placing the pot on high heat. This will reduce the sauce to ideal consistency and taste, try every 5 minutes. 

Serving suggestions:

Serve with a neutral side dish like mashed potato or rice since the sauce itself is very intense. Steamed Broccoli would also go well with these flavours.

3. Pot roast

Pot roast is a little different than the other braises. You don’t want to cover the roast completely with liquid. Just 2 inches of liquid in the bottom of an oven safe casserole dish will do. Place the coloured roast on top and make sure that you can cover tightly with aluminum foil, so no moisture escapes.

• 1 piece of Meatme pot roast

Procedure:

Follow the braising procedure, slice pinky finger thick and serve with mashed potatoes and any vegetables you feel fit, carrots, broccoli, parsnips depending on what’s in season. Serve in a bowl and use the liquid as a sauce.

With the left overs you can make sandwiches, or add a little more stock and make a soup with the cubed up meat. Add in some kale, canned beans and season with a good amount of salt and lemon juice. Don’t forget the herbs.

4. Shank and stew meat

This is a great meat for a traditional recipe of Beef bourgingon. 

• 1 portion meat me shank and stew meat cubed 1 inch cubes
• 1 bunch of thyme
• 1 bottle cheap red wine (shiraz)
• 4 pieces bacon, sliced (optional)
• 12 small round potatoes, cooked (do not use russets, they will fall apart)
• 4 Carrots cut into large chunks, cooked and cooled.
• 3tbs red wine vinegar
• salt

 Procedure:

1. If you are using bacon add the sliced bacon in the pan and crisp up, remove from pan and set aside. If you are not using bacon go straight to step 2.
2. Using the bacon fat (if not using bacon, just use oil), follow the basic braising method to step 3, making sure you coat your meat in the flour. Continue with the braising method adding in the onions and garlic to brown.
3. Add in the bottle of wine and reduce for 30 minutes, or until it’s almost all gone, maybe ½ cup left. 
4. Add in the stock, thyme and coloured beef and follow the temperatures for basic braising.
5. When finished, add in cooked potatoes and carrots, season with salt and a dash of red wine vinegar.
6. Serve in a bowl with crusty French bread and butter.

5. The whole shebang

This is if you want to get all of the braising meat out of the way in one big cook. You should get about 12-15 meals out of this if not more.

Cube up all the braising meat labelled in the Meatme box (including the pot roast). For every 2 cups of cubed meat: 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 branch celery and ½ head garlic, 1 tbs tomato paste. Follow the basic braising instructions. If the stock doesn't reach the top of the meat add enough water to cover. Follow the instructions and use this as a base for future meals once frozen.