Braised Beef Shanks with French style Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables.

Prep:20minCook:2h 30min

Some of my favourite dates involve a simple supper at home with some good music on the turntable and a nice bottle of wine. Go ahead and make the kids favourite quick meal tonight and treat yourselves to a little upscale home cooking after you’ve tucked them off to bed. French inspired mashed potatoes are very smooth and rich. If you have a potato ricer or food mill this is the time to use it. If you don’t then take the extra step of pressing potatoes, once they are mashed, through a large hole colander with a rubber spatula, if you have one)

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 02:52:30 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Great

Glycemic Index

Low

Glycemic Load

High

Nutrition per serving

Calories856.1 kcal (43%)

Total Fat32 g (46%)

Carbs52.3 g (20%)

Sugars19.6 g (22%)

Protein77.4 g (155%)

Sodium959.5 mg (48%)

Fiber6.9 g (25%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

4 servings

2 tblsolive oil

peeled and cut into 3” pieces

1 cupred wine

2 cupsbeef stock

sodium free

6 sprigsthyme

1 sprigrosemary

0.5salt

pepper

2 tblsunsalted butter

For the Potatoes

4russet potatoes

or yukon gold

4 cupsmilk

use more or less as needed to cover potatoes for cooking

2cloves garlic

minced

½ tspsalt

½ tsppepper

2 tblsunsalted butter

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 275F

Step 2

Season shanks with salt and pepper on both sides.

Step 3

Heat olive oil in a heavy dutch oven, Sear shanks on both sides to brown. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Step 4

Add onions to the pot and saute to caramelize a little bit on the outside.

Step 5

Add red wine to deglaze the pot and allow to simmer until reduced by half.

Step 6

Return beef shanks to the pot, add in carrots, mushrooms and 2 cups of beef stock.

Step 7

Place a few sprigs of thyme and a good sprig of rosemary on the top. Cover with a lid and place in the oven for 2 ½ hours

Step 8

Wash, peel and dice potatoes. Place them in a pot. Add enough milk to cover them. Add minced garlic and salt.

Step 9

Bring to a boil and then reduce to a brisk simmer until tender.

Step 10

Remove cooked potatoes from the milk with a slotted spoon. Mash or rice the potatoes into a bowl (if using a masher get that extra smooth texture by pressing the mashed potatoes through the holes of a colander with a rubber spatula if you have one. If you don’t have a colander don’t worry they will still be wonderful simply mashed)

Step 11

Add enough of the mik from cooking the potatoes to create a creamy mash. Add a couple of dollops of butter. Stir. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.

Step 12

At the end of cooking time for the beef shanks remove the meat, herbs and vegetables from the pot. Set the pot over medium heat and reduce the remaining liquid by ⅓-½ (this is really dependant on taste, if once reduced by half the flavour is to mild reduce it a little further. If you reduce too far you can always add a little beef stock to dilute.)

Step 13

Just before serving, turn off the heat and add a couple of tablespoons of butter to the sauce, whisking it in to create a shiny emulsified glaze/gravy to spoon over the plated dish.

To assemble and serve

Step 14

Lay a foundation of mashed potatoes, top with braised shank and surround with braised carrots, onions and mushrooms. Spoon pan sauce over. Pour the wine. Toast your dining partner and enjoy a slow quiet meal.