Let’s say the prices on roasts (beef chuck, pork butt) were REALLY GOOD at Whole Foods, and so you bought 3 of each. How would you cook them? I need some ideas!
Here’s what I have planned and for the rest, it’s all up in the air.
Smoked pulled pork.
Japanese beef curry.
Some kind of hearty beef and veg soup with grains to have sitting in the fridge for lunches.
This is what Mom called goulash: In a heavy Dutch oven, brown chunks of beef chuck. However much the meat weighs, add the same weight of coarsely chopped or sliced onion. And a bay leaf plus 4 peppercorns for every pound of meat. Salt. Stir. Cover, cook on medium heat on stovetop or oven for several hours, until meat is very tender and the juices have reduced to the thickness of applesauce. If stovetop, stir every hour. If oven, stir after 2 hours, to submerge the crusty side of the meat. Simple but scrumptious. Similar to a carbonnade of beef but without alcohol.
On the rare occasions we get a beef chuck roast, I’ll braise low it and slow with basic seasonings with the idea of portioning out the roast to use in different dishes.
Some might go into a beef and butternut squash chili. A beefy stew with pearl onions, petite peas, potatoes, and carrots. Or a shortcut Bolognese-ish pasta sauce with shreds of beef, tomato, onion, garlic, rosemary, and (optional) a generous slug of cream to finish.