Baked Silverside - Pilar Hernández's Chilean Kitchen
I've been wanting to try making this Chilean classic, oven-baked plateada, for a while now. As is often the case, there isn't a cut of beef exactly like plateada in the US; the closest thing is boneless short rib, but I decided to use brisket, which is available in every supermarket.
- 2 kilos of silverside (in the US use brisket or boneless short rib)
- 2 cloves of minced garlic
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- 3 tablespoons of vinegar
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme or oregano or 1 tablespoon of dried thyme or oregano
- 1 tablespoon of merquén or smoked paprika
- 4 tablespoons of oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 glass of water
- In a bowl, combine the minced garlic, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and thyme. Add the meat and rub it with the seasonings. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours.
- Heat the oven to 300F or 150C.
- Remove the meat and set aside the marinade.
- In a large pot (or pressure cooker), heat 4 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Brown the meat on both sides, about 5-8 minutes per side.
- Add the onion, the marinade juices and water, cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
- Continue cooking in the oven for 2.5 to 3 hours. Do not uncover, as the steam is important for tenderizing the meat. Alternatively, you can cook it in a tightly covered dish wrapped in aluminum foil. My grandmother always placed another dish of water underneath to prevent the meat from drying out.
- Bake until the meat can be pulled apart with a fork.
- Or skip the oven and continue cooking in the pressure cooker, put the lid on and cook for another 25-30 minutes until the meat is tender.
- Let the meat rest covered for 20 minutes before slicing or cutting into pieces and serving.
The silverside was one of her signature dishes. I remember perfectly how she always kept a watchful eye on the casserole dish of water she placed in the oven to make sure it didn't dry out, maintaining a humid environment so the silverside would stay juicy. She used an open casserole dish; I use a cast-iron pot with a lid, so I trap the moisture inside the pot. Such are the conveniences of modern life and large ovens. In my family, silverside was a weekend lunch, usually accompanied by boiled potatoes or spicy mashed potatoes and assorted salads: Chilean salad, cabbage and olive salad, celery and avocado salad, and carrot and raisin salad. I think there's nothing better than those leisurely lunches, with long after-dinner conversations where, in the end, the tablecloth is shaken out just to serve the afternoon tea.
Description
A traditional cut of meat in Chile.
