Beef Shin (Beef Shank) Ragu
TIME: 1-3 days
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 kg beef shin, bone in (beef shank cross cut). Make sure to get bone-in. It will have a large round bone in the middle. If you need to cook more meat, add wine and broth or stock to cook down for 11 hours.
Grapeseed oil, for frying
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large onion, diced
1.5 cups diced carrots, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
3 sprigs of rosemary
1 cinnamon stick (if 1 powdered cinnamon use 1 shake at end)
2 bay leaves
3 anchovy fillets
2 400g tins of plum tomatoes (I used 28oz can of SMT Whole Peeled Tomatoes)
2 cans of tomato paste. This adds a nice layer of flavor and a bit of sweetness.
1-2 bottle of red wine, reserve 1/4 of wine for reduction
Micro greens
INGREDIENT ADD
I replaced the beef shin with stewing beef, and this will only need 4 hours. 3/4 of the wine.
1 All spice
1 t sherry vinegar
2 bottles of wine
Demi-glace. A little goes a long way, it lasts a really long time, it elevates every sauce, ragu, braise and soup.
Cook for a day, rest for a day, serve on the third day.
METHOD
Heat oven for 200°F
Dry the beef well before searing. Pat with a paper towel on both side until really good and dry.
Heat oil in oven-proof casserole pan over high heat. Season beef with salt. Brown beef shanks giving a good sear before braising 5-10 mins on each side. You want some good color on them, and you also want the browned bits on the bottom of the pan from searing to add flavor the sauce. Remove beef from pan and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium. Add more oil if needed. Fry onion, garlic, carrots, celery and herbs. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, paste, 3/4 wine (or the full bottle if you have extra for later), anchovies and beef and bring to the boil. Cover pan with lid and cook in oven for 3 hours in oven.
Pour remaining wine in a saucepan will be reduced by ⅔ to a thick almost syrupy consistency and be added to the finished sauce.
Remove from oven. Place on stove top on lowest heat. Add reduced wine from sauce pan or sherry vinegar. Check seasoning and add salt, pepper and more sherry vinegar and sugar to taste.
Cook for 3-5 more hours or until meat breaks easily with a spoon.
Serve with a bed of micro greens. Over pasta, roast/mashed potatoes, polenta, or steamed long grain rice.
Serves 4-6.
SIDE
My go-to for serving braised beef shanks is right over a gorgeous bed of pasta, roast or mashed potatoes or steamed long grain rice..
Sources:
https://bentstreetkitchen.com/recipes-as-blog/2016/8/30/beef-shin-ragu
https://katethebaker.com/braised-beef-shank-ragu/#ingredients
