Garlic-Braised Beef Shanks
"This is a gorgeous dinner for fall and winter. The slow simmering creates a silky gravy perfect for serving with potatoes. Times do not include chilling."
photo by 2Bleu
- Ready In:
- 4hrs 25mins
- Ingredients:
- 16
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 6 beef shanks (1 1/2-inch-thick, 6 lbs)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2⁄3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1⁄2 - 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 3⁄4 cups reduced-sodium beef broth (14 fl oz)
- 2 cups water
- 4 large heads of garlic, 1/4 inch of root end cut off and discarded to expose cloves
- 2 slices fresh lemon zest (4-inch-long)
- 8 fresh thyme sprigs
- 2 turkish bay leaves (or 1 California)
- 3 celery ribs, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
- 3 large carrots, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (to taste)
-
Special equipment
- parchment paper
-
Garnish
- celery leaves
directions
- Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
- Pat shanks dry and rub all over with salt and pepper.
- Dredge shanks in flour, turning to coat. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then brown shanks on all sides in 3 batches, adding 1/2 tablespoon oil if necessary, 5 to 6 minutes per batch.
- Transfer shanks to a large roasting pan.
- Add broth and water to skillet and bring to a boil, scraping up brown bits.
- Nestle garlic (cut sides down), zest, thyme, and bay leaves with celery and carrots around shanks in pan and add broth mixture. Cover surface with a sheet of parchment paper and tightly cover pan with foil. Transfer to oven and braise until meat is very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
- Skim off and discard fat from cooking liquid and cool mixture completely, uncovered, about 1 hour, then chill, covered, at least 6 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (leave rack in middle position).
- Skim off and discard any remaining fat from surface of pan juices and reheat shank mixture, covered, in oven, turning shanks over once, 1 hour.
- Discard bay leaf, thyme sprigs, and zest. Transfer shanks and vegetables with garlic to a serving dish and keep warm, covered.
- If pan juices measure more than 3 cups, boil in a cleaned 12-inch skillet until reduced; if less, add water. Squeeze garlic pulp from 1 head into pan juices, discarding skin, and whisk to incorporate.
- Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour sauce over shanks and serve, along with vegetables and remaining garlic heads.
- Cooks' note: Braised shank mixture can be chilled, covered, up to 2 days.
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Reviews
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I would think that whomever published this recipe would give credit to the original from gourmet magazine of 2007 -
Very good. But rather expensive. It cost me over 2 grand to fly to Istanbul for the bay leaf. -
Man, this was so delicious! I loved the lemon in the sauce. I misunderstood the directions & peeled all the garlic. I just served the soft garlic in with the veggies. I scooped out about a head worth of garlic & mashed it up to a puree consistency & then whisked it in the sauce. I will definitely make this again. -
This may well be a lovely recipe. However the serving scaling function apparently has not been tested. I scaled this down for two. The result was an inedible dried out mess. Some nice meat ruined. More than a little disappointed.
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This made a wonderful sunday dinner. I had to start early in the morning though in order to have it ready for dinner. Very easy and the meat was tender and delicious! Thanks for posting.
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