When I have a day off, chances are at some point you will
find me in my kitchen. Today was no exception. We brought home some beautiful beef shanks from our last trip to Fenwood Farms, and I took them out to thaw
yesterday, knowing that today would be a perfect day to put the oven on for a
long braise. This cut of meat does beautifully with a long cooking time, along
with something slightly acidic added to the cooking liquid. I used some apple
cider vinegar, along with a cup of red wine. This helps to break down the tough
connective tissues that are typical of this cut of meat. Beef shanks are generally a cheaper cut, with
3 large shanks providing 6 meals for right around 20$, not including the
veggies etc. Frugal, tasty and
nutritious, all in one pot.
Braised Beef Shanks with Root Veggies
3 Beef Shanks (3-4 lbs total weight)
2 tbsp coconut oil, divided
1 lg onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
5 parsnips, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped (I used a handful of small ones)
1 head of garlic, peeled and diced (***see amazing garlic
peeling tip below recipe!!)
1 tsp each dried rosemary and thyme (I used fresh rosemary,
increased to 2 tsp)
1 cup dry red wine
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 cups bone broth (beef would be best, I used turkey, and it
worked fine)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 bay leaves
Preheat oven to 375
Make sure all of your veggies are prepped before proceeding with the recipe!
In a large oven safe pot with a lid (an enameled cast iron
dutch oven is perfect), heat 1 tbsp of the coconut oil and brown the beef
shanks over medium high heat, one at a time if necessary (don’t crowd them, you
want them to brown not steam) for about 3 minutes on each side. you want to see
some nice browning. (turn on the fan in your range hood if you have one, it can
get a bit smokey!)
Remove the shanks to a plate and set aside.
With the pot still on the burner, add the second tbsp of
coconut oil, and add the chopped onion, carrot and parsnips. Saute for 4
minutes, stirring often.
Add the celery, herbs and garlic, and season with salt and
pepper. Saute for 2 minutes more.
Add the wine slowly, ¼ cup at a time, to deglaze the pan.
Scrape any browned bits from the bottom, adding the rest of the wine, it will
reduce slightly as you go.
Add the apple cider vinegar, and the bone broth, and stir to
combine. Carefully nestle the beef shanks into the pot, submerging as much as
possible. Tuck the bay leaves around the pot, cover, and place in preheated
oven.
Bake for 2 ½ hrs. Remove the lid and bake for another 20
minutes. Remove from oven, remove bay leaves
and serve warm!
Amazing Peeled Garlic!
A while back, we saw a certain Ms. Stewart peeling whole heads
of garlic using two stainless steel bowls, and just a quick shake. It works
like a charm, and although it is slightly noisy, the garlic cloves come out
beautifully peeled. After a random
search on Pinterest (I am more than slightly addicted to that site!) and one
martini shaker later, beautifully peeled garlic is even easier!!!
Simply break up the head of garlic, put the whole thing in
the martini shaker, put the lid on and shake like you would a martini, back and
forth maybe 10 times. Voila!! Your garlic
is peeled, and ready to go!
