Flamed Beef Roast

To order Shannon's Cookbook, click here: The Grassfed Gourmet
To see a blog post with pictures of this recipe step by step, click here: Flamed Beef

Pre-heat your oven to 225 degrees F.

Ingredients

Beef Roast (2 ½ to 3 lbs – shoulder, rump, bone-in chuck or similar roast)
2 teaspoons of coarse salt (I used coarse sea salt)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I use a heaping teaspoon)
2 tablespoons olive oil (or other healthy oil or fat suitable for browning beef)
1 onion coarsely chopped (my onion was on the small side, so I used 1 ½ onions)
2 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped (I used 3 or 4 cloves)
1 shallot, finely chopped (Shannon says, “finely chopped”; coarse chopped works for me and saves time and effort)
½ to 2/3rds cup brandy (this doesn’t need to be great brandy; but it needs to be good brandy – don’t use a cheap       “cooking brandy.”  I use thefull 2/3rds cup of brandy.)
Herb bouquet of fresh thyme, fresh rosemary and a bay leaf (I cut these from our garden; use a generous amount.)
-If you cannot get fresh herbs, you can substitute 1 teaspoon each of dried thyme and rosemary, but it is impossible   to beat the contribution that fresh herbs make to this dish.

Cooking Instructions

-Brown the roast in olive oil (or lard, or pecan oil, or any other healthy fat or oil)
-Add the onions, garlic and shallots; cook until onions are translucent
-Remove from heat; add brandy and flame (you will need to light the brandy with a lighter or a match; be sure that   the flame will be safe; I always keep the pot lid handy to snuff the flame, if needed)
-When flame dies out, add the herbs

-Cover and place in oven for 2 to 3 hours (until tender).  Don’t worry about checking this frequently; it is important that it cook long enough, but it is not a problem you continue to cook it for a while after it becomes tender.

-All of the cooking liquid comes from the beef, the onions, garlic, shallots and brandy.  As a result, the sauce is wonderfully rich and infused with the fresh herbs.  Put some of the sauce over the slices of roast when you serve.  There is also enough to top mashed potatoes (polenta, rice or quinoa).