Sliced Beef Shanks Braised In Merlot

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Shank’s of beef, veal, lamb, or game is perfectly suitable to be braised slowly in wine. The cooking liquid and gentle heat of slowly simmering breaks down the collagen, producing a wonderful texture and great flavor, unlike any other part of the animal. One can use the shank meat for stews, soups, goulash, bulalo, braised whole, or, as shown here, braised sliced/cross-cut. But remember, no matter which dish or cooking method you choose, DO NOT overcook the meat. A big part of the appeal of shank is the superb texture of a tender, but NOT falling apart piece of muscle meat. Therefore, simmer the shank very slowly. It might take a long time, (after all the shank is pure muscle), but you will be rewarded with a spectacular texture and mouthfeel which no other cut of meat possesses 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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P.S.
Traditionally, the bone marrow is incorporated into the sauce.
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P.P.S.
But, also traditionally, the wise cook steals the bone marrow and prepares himself a great snack of “Bone Marrow On Toast” 🙂 .
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Preparation :
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: season 3 ea sliced beef shanks with kosher salt and cayenne pepper to taste

: saute in 2 tblsp olive oil on both sides until browned, remove meat, reserve

: cut 2 ea med sized carrots and 2 ea large onions into large dice, saute until caramelized

: add 3 cup merlot, 1 cup tomato puree, 3 ea bay leaves, 1 tblsp garlic paste, 1/2 tblsp oregano and kosher salt and cayenne pepper to taste

: add 2 cup beef stock, cover, simmer until beef is tender but NOT falling apart, about 2-3 hours, depending on the thickness of the shank slices

: almost…….

: remove the marrow from ea shank bone, set aside. Remove the bone from ea slice without ripping the shanks apart

: with a slotted spoom remove the vegetables from the sauce, reserve; strain the sauce through a fine mesh sive, check/adjust seasoning

: mix 1 tblsp sliced scallions and 1 tsp cilantro with the vegetables

: plate the shanks in a deep serving dish

: add the sauce, top with the vegetables; serve with pasta, rice, potatoes or rustic bread

: Sliced Beef Shanks Braised In Merlot

: Sliced Beef Shanks Braised In Merlot

: Sliced Beef Shanks Braised In Merlot

: Sliced Beef Shanks Braised In Merlot

: Sliced Beef Shanks Braised In Merlot

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4 comments

Looks mouthwatering good.

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Anneli,
Shank is hard to mess up 🙂
Cheers !

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I love shanks, too, especially lamb shanks cooked sous-vide for 48 hours at 62C/144F. The beef shanks available here are so tough they are only suitable to make stock — yours resemble veal shanks as available here.

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Stefan,
in most European countries the official classification for veal is between a few weeks to max 5 or 6 months.
Some countries, incl. the USA, allow the classification veal to be applied to an animal up to 12 months old.
From experience, ANY shank can be braised and made to be tender and tasty.
When I was living in the Philippines, we used water buffalo – carabao- to make any dish for which one would usually use veal/beef, incl. osso buco. (At that time, no beef imports to the Philippines).
As Chef Susser used to say:
Any cook can turn gold to crap, but only a good cook can turn crap into gold !
(That’s the clean version) 🙂
Cheers !

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