One Friday while I was working in the test kitchen, the weekend clean-out of the fridges netted me a number of scraps from trimming various cuts of beef and pork. There weren't enough large pieces to do anything with the meat on its own...
But I had an idea: Sunday Gravy... that legendary Italian-American tomato sauce that includes lots of various cuts of different meats in a tomato base. Knowing that I had scraps and not large pieces, this was obviously going to be a "variation on a theme," especially because I wasn't very interested in a tomato sauce... Hmmm...
I softened some chopped onions in EVOO, added garlic and a carrot and softened them as well. I added some white wine and reduced it completely, then added beef stock I had in the freezer with LOTS of black pepper and some red pepper flakes. I chopped the meat into small pieces and added it to the sauce.
It simmered for a long time... probably half an hour on medium-low heat. At the end of that time, I added a handful of chopped fresh herbs: parsley, oregano, thyme.
This freezes beautifully. Use it on pasta or, as you can see above and below, Charlie found some great uses for it while I'm away doing Much Ado, one night adding some peas and, on another, serving it on brown rice with a little chopped cilantro sprinkled on top.
You can even add some tomatoes if you so choose!