BRASATO from Piedmont - gorgeous beef dish for when it's cold.

A nice, cylindrical excellent piece of beef, about 250 g /head. Must have been adequately "aged" . One bottle of good Italian wine - in the original recipe it is Barolo, but Chianti or Sangiovese is OK.

Try to get a container not much dissimilar in shape from the piece of beef, or you can use a food-grade plythene bag. IN the wine add some celery, carrot, garlic, onions, sage, rosemary , bay leaves, basil. Marinade the beef in the wine and minced herbs for 24 hrs, turning a few times.

Take the beef out of the wine and herbs. Filter the wine and use the herbs to start a "soffritto" : in some 4 spoonfuls of olive oil, slowly fry the herbs until brown. As soon as the onions start becoming translucent, add the beef. First "seal" the beef on all sides, then let it cook slowly in the wine (turning the beef) and when this is finished, in some good stock. Should cook at least 2 hrs, but longer is better. Leave always at least 200-300 mls of fluid. If you want, you can in the last 2 hrs use an Aga or slow cooker instead of a pan.

At the end, take the beef out and let it cool. In the while, what remains of the herbs and wine is thoroughly liquidised and it is concentrate in a pan until it is a thick sauce. Add to this some cognac right before pouring it over the slices of beef.

Ideal side dish is potato puree (with real potatoes, butter, cream, and traces of nutmeg). Also, spinach sautéed with a bit of lemon and olive oil. Cauliflower fleurets properly cooked or other neutrally flavoured vegetables.

This NEEDS good wine to drink with, possibly the same as in the beef. And the best slightly salted bread you can find. Yum!