Chuck steak is the cut everyone thinks is only good for long Sunday braises. Wrong. Cubed and seared over high heat, it develops a crust that snaps while staying juicy inside — and this dish proves exactly that. A weekend meal that takes its time, but not necessarily yours.
Ingredients :
- Beef chuck — It’s a shoulder cut with well-distributed intramuscular fat — that’s what gives tenderness and flavor. Ask your butcher for 3-4 cm cubes. Smaller pieces dry out during searing. Larger ones stay cold in the center while the outside burns.
- Spelt — Use hulled or pearled spelt, not whole spelt, which takes 1.5 hours to cook. The pearled version cooks in 25-30 minutes and develops a slightly creamy texture, similar to barley. Find it at health food stores or the grain aisle of supermarkets.
- Red bell peppers — Red ones are the sweetest after roasting — their flesh becomes almost candied and the skin peels off easily. Yellow ones work too. Avoid green: even after 40 minutes in the oven, they retain a bitterness that clashes with the rest.
- Fresh rosemary — Dried works in a pinch, but fresh releases essential oils when you crush it lightly between your fingers — a resinous, garrigue scent that permeates the meat differently. If you don’t have it, fresh thyme works very well.
