Red Wine Braised Beef Shin with Carrots
- Savory
- French
- Comforting
- Stovetop
- Oven
Beef shin braised slowly in red wine with onions, garlic and thyme until it falls apart, served over a bed of creamy mashed potatoes that soaks up the rich sauce.
- Total
- 3 h 20
- Prep 20 · Cook 170 · Rest 10
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
You'll practice: Searing · Braising
Instructions
-
Pat the beef shin dry with paper towels and cut it into 4 cm chunks. Season all over with 1 tsp of the salt and the black pepper.
~10 min
Drying the meat lets it brown rather than steam, and salting now seasons it through as it braises.
-
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy casserole pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef shin in two batches, about 4 minutes per batch, turning until deeply browned on all sides. Transfer the browned meat to a plate.
~4 min
Crowding the pot traps steam; browning in batches in a single layer builds the deep fond that flavors the sauce.
Brown the beef in a single layer per batch and do not stir it constantly. Deep color on the meat and the dark fond left in the pot are what give the wine sauce its depth.
Searing Get the pot hot and leave the meat undisturbed until it releases easily; pale, gray meat means the pan was too cool or too crowded.
-
Lower the heat to medium. Add the onions, cut into 1 cm dice, and the carrots, cut into 2 cm chunks, to the pot. Cook, stirring, until the onions soften and pick up color from the fond, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, finely chopped, and the thyme sprigs and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.
~7 min
Stirring the vegetables in the browned fond lifts its flavor into the dish, and adding garlic last keeps it from burning bitter.
-
Pour in the red wine and scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a simmer and let it reduce by about half, 5 minutes. Return the beef shin and any juices to the pot, add 300 ml water, cover, and transfer to a 160°C oven. Braise until the beef is completely tender and pulls apart with a fork, about 2 hours 30 minutes.
~155 min
Scraping the fond into the wine dissolves its flavor, and reducing the wine first concentrates it before the long, gentle braise.
Beef shin is full of connective tissue, so it needs the full braise to turn gelatinous and tender. If it still resists a fork at 2 hours 30 minutes, cover and return it to the oven in 15 minute increments.
Braising Keep the liquid at a gentle simmer, not a boil, and cover tightly; the meat should turn fork-tender without drying out.
-
While step 4 cooks
While the beef braises, warm the mashed potatoes in a saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 8 minutes. Season with the remaining 0.5 tsp salt.
~8 min
-
Lift the beef and carrots from the pot with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Simmer the braising liquid on the stovetop over medium-high heat until it coats the back of a spoon, 8 to 10 minutes. Return the beef and carrots to the sauce.
~10 min
Simmering evaporates water and thickens the sauce so it clings to the meat instead of running off.
-
Rest the braise off the heat for 10 minutes so the sauce settles. Spoon the beef, carrots and sauce over the warm mashed potatoes and serve.
~10 min
A short rest lets the sauce settle and the meat reabsorb juices so it stays moist when served.
