Red wine-braised beef chuck

Season the chuck with salt, MSG and pepper. Heat olive oil in a pot over high heat and sear the meat until browned on all sides.

Very roughly chop the onion (ends trimmed), celery and carrots (scrubbed, not peeled); gather thyme and parsley sprigs.

Remove the browned meat to a plate. Leave a couple of tablespoons of fat in the pot and brown the vegetables in it.

Sprinkle powdered gelatin over the chicken stock so it hydrates evenly with no dry pockets; let it get wet and sink.

Add the tomato paste and garlic to the vegetables and cook until the paste starts to brown and smells less sharp.

Add bay leaves, parsley and thyme sprigs, then the whole bottle of red wine. Turn heat to high and reduce by about half to three quarters, lid off, about 10 minutes.

Add the soaked gelatin and chicken stock. Return the beef, nestled among the vegetables, about half submerged. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and bring to a simmer.

Braise in a 300F oven at a bare simmer until tender, about four hours; flip the meat about halfway; raise the oven a little if it is not simmering.

Poke the meat to check it is tender all the way through, with a little resistance; going much further dries it out.

Rest the meat, ladling a little sauce over the top to keep it moist.

Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a pan, pushing the solids with a ladle; discard the vegetables. Scrape the browned bits off the sides of the pot.

Simmer the strained liquid with fresh carrots, skimming off rendered fat, until the carrots are tender and the sauce reduces toward a glaze, about 25 minutes to half an hour.

Remove the strings and return the meat in large chunks pulled along the seams; spoon the sauce over to glaze. Optionally stir in a couple of pats of butter at the very end.

Serve over polenta with carrots and braising liquid; no extra salt needed.

Variation: To reheat leftovers, slice the cold beef with its set sauce, put in a skillet with sauce and carrots and a little water, bring to a boil on high and reduce to a glaze, flipping now and then; finish by swirling in butter so it emulsifies.