i have arrived... cookin' with my new le creuset

beef shanks in red wine sauce

yep, it was everything they said it would be... i was able to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pot and save the flavor without the bitterness of a burn and clean up couldn't have been simpler... it just made me happy! my dearest gifted me a 5 qt. marseille le creuset braiser for christmas and i did a delicious beef shank sauce in it this past weekend. i found the recipe in food & wine and liked it because it was pretty simple and straight forward. it was great for a small dinner party too. there were four of us and there was plenty to go around; be sure to serve the dish at the table so your guests can soak up all of the delicious sauce with hunks of bread once their plate has been cleaned : )



prep time: 1 hour
cook time: 3 hours
ingredients:

• 5 lbs trimmed beef shanks, cut 2" thick
• salt & pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 4 celery ribs, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 cups red wine (i used a pinot noir)
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• cooked cous cous (or polenta or pasta) for serving

preheat oven to 325 degrees. season shanks on both sides very liberally with salt and pepper. in braiser, heat olive oil. sear off shanks until each side has browned (just turn once, should take about 7 minutes total). transfer to a plate and continue with remainder.

add onions, celery, carrots and another pinch of salt and cook over medium heat. stir until veggies are soft and golden, about 15 mintues. add wine and bring to a boil. simmer for another 15 minutes until sauce has thickened a bit and reduced. add tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. return shanks to braiser. cover and cook in oven for up to 3 hours, until tender and able to fork apart. 

once ready, remove shanks and shred beef and marrow from bones and add back to sauce and move sauce to stovetop on low heat. serve over some kind of pasta or grain that likes to absorb sauce, i like cous cous because it's very quick and easy to put together.