Braised Shin Of Beef Creamed Mash Recipes

BRAISED SHIN OF BEEF WITH CREAMY MASH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3. Heat a large heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of the oil then add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and fry for a few minutes until they start to turn light golden brown. Transfer to a large casserole dish with a lid. Put the flour onto a plate and season with salt and pepper. Toss the beef in the seasoned flour until coated, then shake off any excess flour. The flour is to thicken the sauce, so you don't want too much flour in the first place or you'll end up with a gloopy sauce. Turn the heat up to high, then add the remaining rapeseed oil to the frying pan. Fry the beef, in batches, for 1 minute on each side until browned all over. Add the beef to the vegetables in the casserole dish. Add a splash of the ale to the frying pan and scrape off any cooked-on pieces of food, then pour it all into the casserole dish. Pour in the remaining ale, the beef stock and rosemary. Bring to a simmer then put it in the oven and cook for 3-4 hours, or until the meat falls easily from the bone. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. When there is only 30 minutes left for the beef to cook, put the potatoes into a saucepan and pour in enough water to just cover them. Add a pinch of salt then bring the pan of water to the boil. Simmer for 12-15 minutes until the potatoes are tender, then drain and return to the pan over the heat for a couple of minutes. This will drive off any excess moisture and give a lighter, fluffy mash. Mash until smooth then stir in the butter and milk or cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with the beef shin.

ASIAN BRAISED BEEF SHANK WITH HOT AND SOUR SHREDDED SALAD

Steps:

• The point of a stew, it should go without saying, is its flavour rather than its form. So while the crunchy salad strips of carrot, scallion and bell pepper, do bring colour and beauty to the otherwise brown study, their texture and Asian-flavoured bite provide the perfect partner for the rich aromatic spiciness of the soft-braised stew beneath.
• Cooking the shin on the bone gives me a certain primitive pleasure, and the meat even more melting tenderness, but you can buy cubed beef shank off the bone (or other stew meat, if you must), in which case, you won't need as much in weight.
• Along with the stew and its crunchy, hot and sour topping, I serve gingery mashed parsnip and potatoes, the ginger offering a muted echo of the South East Asian tones. While a plain bowl of rice would be a fine alternative, know that the aromatic mash makes for fantastic, fiery potato patties the day or so after.
• For the beef: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Quarter and peel the onions, and peel and roughly slice the ginger and put into the processor with the peeled garlic cloves and coriander. Blitz until finely chopped, then heat the oil in a large Dutch oven and fry this mixture gently, until soft and beginning to catch in the pan; this should take about 10 minutes, over medium heat and with regular stirring.
• Pour in the Chinese wine (or sherry) and let it bubble up. Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, broth, oyster sauce and vinegar. Bring to a boil, then drop in the cinnamon sticks and star anise. Add the pieces of beef shank and let everything come up to a bubble again, then clamp on a lid and put into the oven for 2 hours (regular stew steak may take longer).
• Take the Dutch oven carefully out of the oven and, using a perforated spoon, remove the beef to an ovenproof dish, cover with aluminum foil, and keep warm in the oven, while you vigorously boil the sauce in the Dutch oven on the stove, without a lid, until it has reduced by about half.
• For the salad: Peel the carrots, cut into long slices, and then julienne them (i.e. cut into matchstick-like strips). Trim and halve the scallions and then julienne as well. Seed the chillies and also cut into juliennes, and finely chop the cilantro. Combine all the julienned vegetables and the chopped cilantro in a bowl. In another bowl mix the lime juice, fish sauce and superfine sugar, and dress the vegetables with this.
• For serving: Arrange the beef on a serving platter and pour over the reduced sauce over the meat, then dress the top with the hot and sour shredded salad. If you are using cubes of stew meat, rather than slices of shank, you'd probably do better to use a deeper dish.
• Make Ahead Note: Cook the beef for 1 3/4 hours then transfer to a bowl to cool. Cover, refrigerate and store in refrigerator for up to 2 days. When ready to use, return the beef to the Dutch oven and heat gently until sauce is just boiling. Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes, or until the beef is piping hot. Transfer meat to an ovenproof dish and finish sauce as directed.
• Freeze Note: Cook and cool as above then freeze for up to 3 months in airtight container. Thaw overnight in fridge and reheat and finish as above.

BRAISED SHIN OF BEEF & CREAMED MASH

Steps:

• Source a piece of beef shin and leave whole, remove the sinew. Dust the beef in some seasoned flour and shake off the excess. Heat some oil and butter in large heavy bottomed saucepan, once hot add the beef and cook it until a nut brown colour. Remove the beef from the pan and place to one side. Pour the wine into the same pan you have cooked the beef in and allow it to cook for a couple of minutes to burn off the alcohol. Add the vegetables, stock, tomatoes and sugar, return the meat to the pan and cover. Allow the meat to cook very gently for a minimum of 3 hours. This can either be cooked on the top of the stove or in a very low temperature oven; the key to this is the slower the better. When cooking is complete, (the meat should be really tender), gently lift the meat out of the pan and place to one side. Pass the sauce or meat juice through a fine sieve. Pour the sauce back into the pan and reduce the heat slightly. Taste and season if necessary. To serve mash Boil potatoes until soft, sieve, add butter a little cream and mash until smooth. Season to taste.