recipe: shin of beef, cider soy & ginger sauce

What started out as a curious little braise has transformed throughout the day into a sweet sensational number. Well, not little as it goes, the steaks I picked up from the Westmere Butcher this morning were a good meaty size, organically reared beef & a good 500g per piece, thickly cut & on the bone, & cheap at $9.50 a kilo. It was with barely restrained glee that I walked out of the butcher's, anticipating the day's cooking to follow.

I love shin on the bone, & it was my mother's favourite cut also. She would make soup which would sit simmering on the stove, barely trembling, with garlic & carrots, bay & a sprig of thyme, a clear consomme which was delicious to sip... This week, following HFW's recipe, there was a degree of uncertainty over the ingredients listed: garlic & ginger, ok, but cider? soy sauce? crabapple jelly? together?? Process is important so, as mentioned in the last post, have a little faith; the merits of following a recipe reveal themselves as the dish develops in the pot. This recipe has proved to be no exception.

Ingredients: braised shin on the bone

pieces of shin, 1 per person

olive oil, salt, pepper -enough to rub over the meat nicely

ginger -2 sticks the size of yr thumb, peeled

garlic -a whole head

soy sauce -about 1/2 a cup

cider -I used a 1125ml bottle of harvest

a good dollop of crabapple jelly

a red chilli

 

Method:

*get the pot nice & hot, a good heavy dish, cast iron is good

*a little oil, throw in the sliced garlic & ginger, a little salt

*seal shin steaks in the pan, getting a good colour on each side, a cpl of minutes each will do

*remove the meat, set aside, & deglaze the pan with the soy sauce, using a wooden spoon to free all the crunchy tasty bits. It doesn't look too pretty, but at this stage flavour happens.

*add the jelly, crabapple is what I used, but berry something-whatever...I'm sure will be fine

*return shin pieces to pan, pour over cider to nearly cover, at least 1/2 way, drop in the chilli

*put the lid on, bring to the boil, reduce heat to barely a simmer

*walk away

*keep an eye on it, adding cider if required, turning meat if necessary, as it cooks

*I reckon about 4 or 5 hours does the trick. it's not an exact time measure, but you'll know when the meat is good: it'll fall from the bone when you pick it up to try it to see if it melts in your mouth, which it will do.

 

To serve, remove the meat & strain the juices. Overnight, the fat will rise to the surface & can be skimmed away (or saved to fry your breakfast sausages & mushrooms...). The juices can be reduced to thicken a little then used to spoon over the meat. Full of complexity, it's sweet, meaty, really really good.

On the side, I served spaghetti noodles tossed with marlborough salt, olive oil, parsley. I also blanched some winter green vegetables, silverbeet, beans, brussel sprouts, a knob of butter, a sprinkle of chilli pepper

English ciders, the first two of my tasting session.