SWEET AND SOUR POTTED FLANKEN

(GEDEMPTE FLEISH)

Serves 4 to 6

     Gedempte fleish simply means well-cooked meat, usually braised meat, as in pot roast. However, it has also come to mean "overcooked." For instance, when someone is served a leathery steak he could complain, "What kind of gedempte fleish is this?"

     In this recipe, the fleish improves by being gedempte. It is braised in a subtly sweet and sour tomato sauce, a flavor profile that is very popular among Ashkenazi Jews. This is the same sauce I use for Sweet and Sour Meatballs (also in "Jewish Home Cooking"), but it ends up tasting quite different because the meat is different. And it cooks much longer, giving more meat flavor to the sauce.

     You can use the same recipe for any cut of meat that benefits from long cooking. In the kosher butcher shops of Brooklyn, beef cheeks are one of the offerings for cholent, and they are spectacular when cooked this way. They produce a sauce that is full of gelatin and makes for some of the best, lip-sticking gravy you will ever have. It's great to top kasha or mashed potatoes, or noodles, or for dunking bread. (Make mine challah.) Brisket or a chuck roast can be cooked this way, too.

     This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. And, like all gedempte recipes, it is best served the day after it is made, when the flavors will have melded and when it is easy to remove the solidified fat.

Salt

1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 pounds relatively lean beef flanken

1 15-ounce can Hunt's tomato sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Juice of 1/2 lemon or 1/4 teaspoon sour salt (fine citric acid crystals)

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

Generously salt the meat.

In a heavy stove-top casserole just large enough to hold the meat--for instance, an enameled cast iron casserole--over medium-high heat, heat the oil until very hot but not smoking. Brown the meat well, a few slices at a time, on all sides. Remove the slices to a platter as they are browned. Be careful not to burn the oil or any of the film on the bottom of the pan. If you see a spot getting too dark, put the next piece of raw meat on it.

When all the meat has been browned, pour off the fat in the pan. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan, and scrape up the browned film and bits on the bottom of the pan. Let the water evaporate by about half.

Add the can of tomato sauce, rinsing out the can with another 1/2 cup of water. Stir in the brown sugar and the lemon juice or sour salt. Arrange the meat in the pan with the sauce. Add any meat juices that may have accumulated on the platter. There should be enough liquid to almost but not completely cover the meat.

Bring the liquid to a gentle simmer, then cover the pot and place it in the oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, possibly up to 3 or 4 hours, depending on the meat and the amount. When done, the meat should be fork tender.

If serving immediately, let the meat rest for at least 30 minutes, then tilt the pan and skim off any fat that has risen to the top. Better, however, is to serve the meat the next day: Refrigerate when it comes to room temperature. The next day you can pull off the hardened fat on top. Reheat gently to a simmer, and serve very hot.