Alcatra – Portuguese Recipe – WEB EXCLUSIVE

Editor’s Note: These recipes are a supplement to the ‘Lowell’s Portuguese Cuisine’
feature found in the January / February 2012 issue of Merrimack Valley Magazine
on sale early January, 2012.
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From Adelaide Gabriel (through Maria Cunha)

Alcatra comes from the island of Terceira in the Azores. It is traditionally served on the Feast of the Holy Ghost, 50 days after Easter.

INGREDIENTS:
- 1 stick soft butter
- 3 large onions, thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, mashed
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ pound slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 5-pound rump or chuck roast, cut into 4-inch pieces
- 1-pound beef shinbone
- ½ teaspoon whole allspice berries
- ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 4 tablespoons firm butter, cut into pieces
- 1 cup water
- 4-6 cups red or white wine

DIRECTIONS:
1. Grease interior of a clay pot with butter. If you do not have a clay pot, a roasting pan can be substituted. Place half of the onions into the pot, followed by half of the bacon and one bay leaf. Add meat, including shinbone, followed by the second bay leaf, garlic and the remaining bacon. End with the remaining onion and scatter allspice, peppercorns and salt over all. Dot the meat with remaining butter. Mix water with one cup of wine and pour over the ingredients, followed by the additional wine to cover the meat by about an inch.
2. Put the pot in a cold oven and set temperature to 400 degrees. When it begins to boil (about 30 minutes), reduce temperature to 300 degrees and cover with foil. Cook until meat becomes tender, about 3½ hours. Serve with rice.

More great Portuguese recipes you can try at home:
Click here for Arroz Doce (Sweet Rice) recipe. >>
Click here for Caldo Verde (Kale Soup) recipe. >>
Click here for Alcatra recipe. >>