This is the beef shin I referred to in my recent post ‘five things to do with… secondary cuts of meat’.

It’s also a dinner that my brother Matt cooked for us. He’s a nice kid. Kinda looks like a pirate with his big red beard, and is not afraid to use the tongue of a salty old sea dog either. And I did once hear him referred to as Hagred from the picture show with Harry Potter. I can see the resemblance… just change the black colour scheme to red and you’d be pretty damn close.

But the beef shin… succulent, sticky, just damn good. Here’s the recipe.

SLOW ROASTED BEEF SHIN WITH RED WINE

1 beef shin (1.5-2kg)

2 carrots, chopped into 4-5 pieces

2 lg brown onions, peeled and quartered

500g mushrooms, whole, halved, quartered… up to you

1 bulb garlic (pay attention people. Bulb, not clove), smashed and peeled

3 bay leaves

1 bottle red wine, mostly for the beef but you’ll get a glass out of it too

1 can crushed tomatoes

salt and pepper

• Life doesn’t get any simpler then this. I have given you drinking time and a great meal at the end of it. Fuck it, put the oven timer on and go to sleep.
• Season the beef like you mean it.
• Put everything into a large oven proof dish and bake at 160 for 4 hours, turning the beef every hour or so.
• If beef starts to get a bit crispy, cover with foil for remaining cooking time.
• It is as easy as it sounds

We served the beef with potatoes dauphinoise, or a potato gratin.

• Slice enough potatoes to fill whatever sized oven dish you are using
• Layer in the dish, seasoning between the layers
• Pour in milk until it ¾ of the way up the side
• Sprinkle with cheese if you want
• Bake covered for half an hour and then uncovered for the last half hour of the beef cooking time

Eat it with some bread to mop up the juices and drink heaps of red wine to wash it down. This sort of thing can’t be digested with out the help of a barrel load of red wine.

Nice. Great. Well done…