Slow-Cooked Beef Neck in Red Wine

👨‍🍳 Method

To assemble

1. 1
   Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F).

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 2
   Heat the oil in a wide pot that can go in the oven and brown the neck cubes 3–4 minutes per side. Remove to a plate.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveCast-iron pot

   💡Brown the meat in batches, without crowding: in a crowded pot it stews in its own juices instead of searing.

   💡What you brown (meat, patties, schnitzel) goes into hot oil: in lukewarm oil it soaks it up and comes out greasy. For onion and garlic that you soften, oil heated over medium or low heat is enough; do not wait for it to smoke.
3. 3
   Add the onion, celery and carrot to the oil left in the wide pot and fry 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStoveWide, shallow pot

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
4. 4
   Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.
5. 5
   Add the paprika and fry 30 seconds, until fragrant.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Paprika burns quickly and turns bitter: half a minute in the oil is enough, then move straight on to the next step.
6. 6
   Add the tomato paste and fry 2 minutes, stirring.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
7. 7
   Add the wine, stock, cinnamon stick and cloves and bring to a boil.

   Stove
8. 8
   Return the neck cubes to the pot and season with salt and black pepper, and add the rosemary.
9. 9
   Cover the pot and put it in the oven for 3 hours, until the neck cubes gently separating.

   OvenCast-iron pot

   💡In the oven, heat reaches the pot from all sides, not just from below: a large cut cooks slowly and evenly for hours without sticking to the bottom.
10. 10
    Remove the cinnamon stick from the pot.
11. 11
    Serve with mashed potatoes.