Braised Beef Shank in the Slow Cooker -- something good to have (especially when you are exhausted!)

D and I spent the past whole weekend moving and cleaning. Yes, we are officially out of our cute studio downtown! Both of us are thrilled about the upgrade to our downtown loft, though I wish the cleaning process was easier!

Smart of us to plan ahead! We ate out on Saturday, simply ran out of time to cook lunch. On Sunday, we had brunch from leftovers, and planned a hearty dinner worthy of the hard work, and this is what our typical second (or third or fourth) serving looked like:

Not too shabby, huh? Let me tell you, D had to fight for his share on this one. Beef shank is the most precious cut in a lot of Asian countries, and I was not being polite when it came to tasty dinner!


How long did it take to cook, you ask? Hmm...an intimidating 8 hours. But don't let the number fool you -- everything is done by the magical slow cooker. This dish too no more than 10 minutes to put together!

First, you should probably lay your hands on some tasty beef shanks. I got mine from our local co-op two blocks away -- for $4 per pound (what a steal)!

As usual, a good piece of meat will appreciate some seasoning, with salt, and pepper, and of course the cajun seasoning I learned from our trip to New Orleans.

What a glorious 1.5 pound of meat!

Prep work for slow cooking involves browning, with no surprise. This time I used walnut oil as it is suitable for a higher temperature than olive oil. And I just love the fragrance -- the roughly chopped onions on the side helped as well. So heavenly already.

Of course it did not stop there. In the slow cooker, you should throw in all kinds of vegetables. Carrots and celery ribs are safe. So are mushrooms if you are going for umami. Mind looked like this:

What are we missing? The gorgeous slab of meat! I topped with a sprig of rosemary from my herb pot. Thanks to D for a wonderful move-in present!

Of course the browned onions were added as well.  Add a can of diced tomatoes, and let it cook on "low" for 8 hours ( yes, that was how much time we spent in CLEANING) and you'd get this:

It smelled so delicious, even from the floor above. I simply could not put in words how happy I was to return home. Mash some potatoes with roasted garlics on the side and you would have a fantastic dinner!

Braised Beef Shank in the Slow Cooker

serves 2-3

• 1.5 lbs beef shank, about 1.5 inch thick (our co-op had grass-fed, but any should work)
• 1 dollop of butter for searing
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 tsp (freshly ground) pepper 
• 1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 ribs of celery, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 button mushrooms
• 1 cup of wine
• 15 oz of diced tomato (mine was canned)
• 1 tsp of basil, oregano, cumin, thyme
• 1 dried chili pepper (optional)
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary

1. Season the beef shank liberally with salt and pepper and cajun seasoning. 
2. Sear the beef shank for about 5 minutes per side on the stove top, with a dollop of heated butter. Add in the chopped onions after the first 5 minutes.
3. In the slow cooker, lay down the carrot, celery, mushrooms. Transfer the onion and the shank to the pot.
4. Pour on top a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes. Throw in all the dried herbs (plus the chili pepper for a kick) and the fresh rosemary. Add some more salt and pepper if desired.
5. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or until the beef is fork tender. (Yes, it does fall off when you poke it with a fork!)

Serve it with a garlic mashed potato and some braised cabbage. I threw in some chopped cabbage to the slow cooker 30 minutes before it was done. Believe me-- it is impossible to stop after a mere serving. A 2nd (or a 4th!) serving is absolutely mandatory!

To me, the marrow was absolutely glorious (after 4 servings of meat itself) !

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Cost:
The shank was $4/lb, the canned tomato $1, organic carrots+celery+mushroom + onion $1.5.The entire dish is between $3 to $4.5 per serving. We finished it between two people (I guess that makes it 2 servings?) as it was sooooo good.