My theory is the best things that you find while shopping are the things you spot while you look for what you are actually shopping.  I was at Butcher & Larder last week picking up bratwurst buying provisions when I spotted a small plate in the case holding hunks of beef neck with a sign comparing them to oxtails. Being a huge oxtail fan (at least I was before they took the short rib train to overpriced town), they immediately caught my attention and, after having fallen in love with necks by braising a lamb neck and encasing sausage with a duck neck, my interest was piqued. Yes, I know about the term ”impulse buy”, I am the king of the impulse buy, but I am rarely disappointed with my impulse buys.

The first instinct I had once I got home was to whip up the beef neck with allspice, thyme, and habanero into beef neck rillettes with Carribean flavors as my favored oxtail preparation has always been the thick, brown, spicy, and sweet stew that we sampled in Jamaica. Beef rillettes might be a little too intense, per Rob’s advisement, so I decided to keep the same flavors , but step back on the technique and simply braise the neck bones.

Lacking a solid recipe, I set out on my own. I knew that the basis for the flavors would be allspice, fresh thyme, garlic, and habanero, but beyond that, I was assembling a basic marinade, then using an even more basic technique for cooking it. The marinade was assembled by roughly processing onions, scallions, thyme, allspice, habanero, salt, and olive oil. The green paste was applied to the neck bones and left to absorb overnight, but I was nervous. The paste was green, but everything that I had seen in the dish that I had was dead brown. Was I missing something huge?

The next day, I got the dutch oven smoking hot and deeply browned the neck bones, leaving an almost black crust on the dutch oven. I had an idea where the brown color would come from. Deglazing with onion and water, a deep brown liquid thickened at the bottom of the pot, I added the beef neck back to the pot, added more water to come half way up the neck bones, and put in an oven to braise overnight.

In the morning, the house smelled like beef and allspice. After pulling the pot from the oven, I peered inside to see that the sauce had tightened up significantly and the wobbly meat had a nice crust. I left it in the pot to cool in its liquid and chilled it all day in the fridge. That night, at the same time I warmed the beef neck with some pigeon peas, I roasted a small pumpkin, halved and seasoned with salt, pepper, and allspice.

While too cutesy, at least for my tastes, I served the beef neck in the pumpkin with more fresh thyme, scallions, and a few small bits of habanero. There was an intense savoriness to the beef neck stew. In retrospect, I would have added carrots to the onions in the braise to lend some sweetness, but make no mistake this is a killer braise. The sauce, only slightly thickened by the peas, but mostly reduced runoff from the crusty bits at the bottom of the pot and sticky with collagen from the long braise. The pumpkin while maybe not traditional, adds a nice texture and sweetness to the dish. The heat from the braise was an interesting contrast to the intense blasts of heat from the garnishing habanero, to boot and the green flavors of the scallion and thyme helped balance the sticky richness of the sauce.

With braising season well on its way, do not sleep on the necks of animals. These are delicious, inexpensive, and easily portionable for a small dinner. The bones and sinew provide amazing body to the sauce. The clear advantage over oxtails is the lack of trendiness has kept the cost down and the bone structure keeps the tiny bones away. Take this away though, when you get to the butcher and something catches your eye that you hadn’t considered, give it a shot.

Caribbean Style Braised Beef Neck

• 2 pounds bone-in beef neck
• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced thin
• Marinade (see below)
• 2 cups pigeon peas
• 2 scallions, sliced on a bias
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 1 habanero sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Step two: Heat oil in dutch oven and brown the beef on all sides.

Step three: Deglaze the pan with onions and water. Add back beef and add water to come half way up the side of the beef.

Step four: Cover tightly in foil and braise in a 275 degree oven for 12 hours. Checking periodically to ensure that enough liquid is in pot.

Step five: Remove bones and let cool in cooking liquid. Chilling for at least 12 hours and up to 48. Reheat gently with pigeon peas. Garnish with scallions, thyme, and habanero.

Marinade:

• 1/2 large yellow onion
• 4 scallions
• 4 cloves garlic
• 12 sprigs thyme
• 1 habanero
• 1 tablespoon allspice berries
• 1 two finger pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil