Saturday, January 10, 2015

Beef Shank and Eggplant - A fabulous one-pot meal.

Beef Shank with Onion, Mushroom and Eggplant

I started with two bone-in beef shanks that I bought because, well, I had never bought these before and a lady kept rhapsodising about using them in a recipe called Osso Buco. I planned on a two hour cast iron pot in oven cookathon, but I worked late and didn't get home until almost 6PM and we were pretty hungry, so following a recipe wasn't in my last minute plan.  I still haven't looked up Osso Buco.
Beef Shank is a slice of cow leg. It's tough. It's tasty.
Here's what I chose to make this meal: one big purple eggplant, a box of whole white mushrooms, a glass of dry champagne that had lost it's bubbles, one honking big sweet onion, some garlic, a can of chopped tomatoes, and a box of beef broth.  I could make that work!

Into the big frying pan/pot went a couple of swirls of olive oil and a pat of butter to get hot.  Added both beef shanks to sizzle and braise. I shook on my favorite spice on earth, Spike Original Seasoning. And because I like it so much, I added a half teaspoon of pepper too.  I also added more salt because I knew it would be spread amongst a host of vegetables once the meal was done.

While the meat was browning, I sliced up a huge sweet onion in big chunks (you know it will be sweet if the onion is flat instead of round) and chopped three garlic cloves. Once seared, I moved the meat to a plate and started the onion and garlic to cook on medium/high while I peeled and chopped the eggplant and sliced it into 1" cubes.  Add that to the pan, let it get a little suntan in the pot for a few minutes and then slosh in a couple of cups of beef broth and a regular sized can of petite chopped tomatoes in sauce. I poured myself the last glass of New Year's champagne, realized it was flat and tossed that into the pot too. Wine always makes stewy type food better. Give it all a good stir, nestle meat in, quarter and drop in about ten mushrooms, lower temp to med/med-low and put the lid on the pan.  I set my timer for a half hour, checked the pot to make sure it wasn't drying up (it wasn't) and then set it again for another half hour. Lord knows, those leg muscles would be tough as shoe leather if it didn't get some pot cooking time in.

With about 15 minutes prep time and an hour cook time, we were washing the ONE pot by 7:30. There was enough for another meal, but my husband is a big hungry boy, and devoured what was left in the pot because he couldn't stop himself.  It was heavenly!  The meat was tender. The vegetables and broth came together and became thick, delicious and savory. It was thick, as if I had used flour in the recipe, but I didn't. And I loved the occasional seed crunch in eggplant. It wasn't overwhelming (I prefer my eggplant sliced thin, breaded, fried and covered in spaghetti sauce). The marrow in the shank bone was heavenly, creamy, and delicious.  One we were finished, our little yorkie dog was so excited to get the bone. Bigger dogs could choke on a bone this size, but it was bigger than Juliet's tiny little mouth.

Mark asks to have this again, please.  Next time I'll put the extra aside before he starts serving himself a ridiculous, gut busting amount of food.  Did I mention low carb?  Yes. We are on a low carb diet and my Big Sweetie loves that he can eat until the cows come home as long as it isn't loaded in carbohydrates.

Dessert was sugar free strawberry Jello, buried in a blinding snowstorm of real whipped cream and topped with three big Plant City, FL strawberries, sliced.

No comments:

Search This Blog

Search Labels

15 bean soup almond milk apple waldorf salad Aunt Louise's Lemon Supreme Cake avocado avocado smoothie baking list banana bread banana cake bbq chicken bbq pork ribs bbq short ribs bean soup beans and rice beef Beef fajita on rice beef ribs Beef Shank beef shanks and eggplant beef short ribs in pressure cooker beef stew beef stew kale mushr barley bell peppers beverage BISCUITS black Black and White Chili black-eyed peas and rice blueberry blueberry basil vinegar blueberry citrus concerve blueberry-strawberry jam bok choy bratwurst/chicken breakfast breakfast bar breakfast hot egg breakfast simple brocolli cheese soup brown sugar & pecan pound cake browned burgers browned butter frosting browned butter icing Brownie Mania buffalo chicken wings burgers butter melt away cookies Butternut Squash Soup cabbage and sausage Cabbage and Straw Italiano cabbage boil cake Candy canning canning salsa canning strawberry preserves caramel cake carnival food carrot cake casserole cast iron cookware cauliflower mac n cheese cereal cheesecake cheesy hash brown chili cherry blueberry dump cherry cream cheese bake cherry pie chicken chicken baked chicken bbq chicken breasts chicken brown rice tomato corn chicken cheddar ritz chicken cordon bleu chicken creole chicken fajitas chicken fettucini alfredo chicken hen bake chicken in the pressure cooker chicken kiev chicken leggies chicken parm chicken pot pie from Costco chicken stuffing bake chicken/brat chili chocolate chocolate cake chocolate cocoa icing chopped steak chowder Christmas Christmas 2013 baking list Christmas Baking christmas cookies Christmas Crack collard greens Cookie Icing cookies cooking lesson - baked chicken corned beef and cabbage Costco Meal cream cheese pound cake crock pot datil pepper sauce. crock pot turkey crockpot bean soup crockpot curry chicken stew crockpot sizes curry stew with root vegetables and chicken datil pepper datil pepper jelly datil pepper sauce datil recipes Del Frisco's steak desserts deviled eggs deviled eggs colored Diet dill pickles dump cake Easter Dinner egg egg yolk removal eggplant eggplant parmesan eggs steamed to hard boiled failure Failures fair food fair sausages fast meal father's day pound cake fettuccine fifteen bean soup fish fix and freeze chicken fix syrupy jam flank steak with tomato and onion freezer meals frosting garlic dill pickles ginger ale carrots gingerbread men greens grilled pork chops Ham ham dinner hamburger hamburger hashbrown casserole hamburger patties hamburger patties with gravy hamburgers and hot dogs heart attack chicken heart attack chicken 2 honey garlic chicken hot dogs hummingbird cake ice cream ice cream - cinnamon ice cream - peach icing italian sausage Italian Wedding Soup Italian Wedding Soup with kale jam failure repair kale kettle cork Key Lime Pie kosher greens lantana in a pot laundry detergent leftovers lemon supreme cake lemons lima beans limoncello limoncello simple syrup liquer lonely roast beef low carb blueberry omlette low carb creamed shrimp and veggies low carb popsicles low carb snack drink low carb soup mac n cheese n cauliflower macaroni and cheese margaritas mayonnaisse meals meatballs meatballs in gravy meatloaf with salsa Mennonite Girls Can Cook menu list menu monday 2-8-10 mexican Mexican Chicken Mexican restaurant MnM Cookies molasses cookies moose poop Mother's Day mushburger soup mushel-burgers My Fridge Food navy bean soup in crockpot oatmeal breakfast bar oatmeal cookies okra onion pepper sausages orange baked chicken oreo brownie bar oriental oven baked chicken fajitas Paleo Pancakes pasta pasta puttanesce pasta puttanesce mushrooms pb and cocoa and coffee drink peach butter peach cobbler peaches peanut butter Peanut Butter/Flax/Oatmeal Protein Balls Perkin's pickled peaches pickles pie pie cherry pineapple upside down cake polynesian pot roast popcorn pork pork chops pork chops and corn flakes pork neckbones and gravy pork purlo pork ribs pork roast pork roast in the crock pot Pot Roast pound cake pressure cooker beef short ribs pressure cooker pork pot prostitute meal Pumpkin bake Pumpkin Ice Cream pumpkin latte coffee creamer quinoa quinoa veggie salad ratatouille veg dish raw cow's milk re-canning syrupy jam recipe finder red refrigerator cookie Ribs ribs and organics ribs in pressure cooker ribs/steak roast beef in a pot roll and cut out cookies salad Salmon Salad salsa Sangria sausage sausage chowder sausage spaghetti sausages scalloped potatoes seafood separate egg yolk shake shepherd's turkey pie short ribs short ribs of beef shrimp shrimp farfalle calabrese skateland pickles sketti slow cooker chicken smoked meats soup sour cream pound cake southern pound cake spaghetti spaghetti meat free spinach phyllo spinach swiss quiche spritz cookies squash steak stew strawberry cake and icing strawberry cheesecake strawberry frosting strawberry jam strawberry preserves strawberry-banana jam stuffed bel peppers stuffed pork chops sugar cookie superbowl 2012 superbowl steak sushi swedish almond slices sweet taco pasta tandoori thai grilled eggplant Thanksgiving. tilapia Toffee tortollini with spinach trifle turkey dinner turkey greens turkey wings twice-toasted toast Uncle RP's London Broil Uncle RP's London Broil Marinade Veg-All Casserole vegetable vegetable soup vegetables veggie mac n cheese wedding cookies weekly menu white chili winter soup yolk removal