Hello.  I suppose that I will occasionally post about my own cooking and food, but no promises since I am pretty lazy.  This is the first of those times. Today was supposed to be cold, rainy, and all around crap, so I had planned to make something hot and comforting to balance that. Fortunately, the weather held up and it was a pretty nice day in the Bay. But alas, I already bought the ingredients for this braised beef dish, so what the hell, I made it anyways.  Nobody says you can’t have a hot dish on a warm day anyways, so whatever.

The Dish:  Braised Beef Shank

Ingredients:

• ~4 lbs Beef shank (sometimes I use short ribs)
• Carrots
• Celery
• Onion
• 2 cups White wine
• 2 cups Marinara Sauce
• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• Salt and Pepper
• Tomato Paste
• Rice/potatoes

Preparing the meal:

This is a recipe I got from my mom because I like this dish so much.  So thanks Mom!

• Salt and pepper beef generously
• Dice carrots, celery, and onions to desired thickness
• Brown all sides of the beef shanks/short ribs in a pan (med-high heat)
• Transfer the beef to a baking dish
• Cook the celery, carrots, and onions in the meat juices from the browning (you may need to add a little bit of oil)
• Add the 2 cups of chicken broth
• Add the 2 cups of White Wine (remember, 1 for the dish, 1+ for you)
• Add the 2 cups of marina sauce (You can make your own, but let’s be real, ain’t nobody got time for that.  Thus, I used store bought)
• Mix the veggies and the broth and let it come to a boil
• Pour the mix over the beef in the baking tray
• Tent with foil and bake for 3 hours at 380 degrees
• Add ~2 tbsp of tomato paste about half way to thicken the sauce a bit
• Serve with rice/mashed potatoes/carbs – I used rice here because I am lazy and Asian