TIAN OF BRAISED BEEF WITH CELERIAC PURÉE AND MARSALA JUS
I came up with this recipe to use up the beef shin meat leftover after making beef stock - for a dish made from leftovers though, I think it plates up rather fancily! If you want to go all out for a dinner party, you could use juicy osso bucco in place of the more budget-friendly beef shins.
INGREDIENTS
(Serves 4)
- 1½kgs slow-cooked beef shin or osso bucco
- 2 carrots
- 1 brown onion
- 3 sticks of celery
- Dash of red wine
- ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 2 dried bay leaves
- A few sprigs of fresh thyme ( + some extra to garnish)
- 1 medium-sized head of celeriac
- 50g salted butter
- 100mls pouring (single) cream
- Small amount of milk (approx. 50mls) – optional
- 400mls beef stock
- 200mls Marsala wine
- 4 tablespoons light olive oil
- Salt and white pepper
Pre-heat the oven to 220°C. Roughly chop the carrots, onion, and sticks of celery, season with salt and pepper, and place these in a deep roasting tray. Arrange the beef shins, (or veal shanks if using these), atop the vegetables and place in the oven to roast for 1 hour.
Once the meat and vegetables have roasted, remove to a large pot. Place the empty roasting tray over a medium heat and de-glaze using a little red wine, scraping the sides of the pan clean with a spatula to form a light gravy. Add this to the stock pot along with 2 litres of water, the bay leaves, peppercorns, and the thyme.
Bring the stock to a boil and, once boiling, reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for 4 hours. After this time, remove the pot from the heat and strain the liquid into a large bowl. Retain 400 mls of the cooking stock to make the jus, straining this through a fine sieve. The rest of the stock can be frozen where it should store well for months.
Now, assemble the cooked shanks on a chopping board and cut the meat away from the bone, shredding it gently with a knife as you chop. The long cooking time will mean that the beef should shred easily into chunks of a similar texture to pulled pork.
Lay out a little over 2 feet of cling film on a bench top, and fold this over itself to give a flat double-layer of about a foot in length. Arrange the shredded meat vertically, in a log shape, along the left hand side of the cling film, approximately 3 inches in from the edge, and leaving some space to the top and bottom. Now, pick up the left edge of the cling film and fold it over the log, tucking it back under a little at the bottom as you do so. Now roll the log tightly over once, packing the shredded meat together, before folding the cling film at the top and bottom back onto the log, and continuing to roll until you are left with a sealed log of approximately 8 inches in length and 2.5 inches in diameter.
To tighten the log further, lay out an additional length of cling film, and once again roll the log, this time twisting the top and bottom ends in the manner of a sweet wrapper to compact the meat. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
To prepare the celeriac, remove the rough outer skin carefully using a large sharp knife, discard this, then chop the flesh into approximately 2 inch cubes. Place in a medium-sized pot of water, add a teaspoon of salt, and boil for between 15-20 minutes until soft through as determined with the tip of a sharp knife. Drain through a colander, and then return to the pot.
Over a low heat, add the butter to the drained celeriac and stir until melted. Next add the cream and, using a stick blender, blend to a purée. (If your purée is too thick, add a small amount of milk to loosen to the desired consistency). Season with salt and white pepper to taste, and keep warm while you prepare the jus and the beef.
For the jus, heat the beef stock and Marsala together in a small pan over medium heat, allowing the liquid to simmer down and thicken. The jus is ready when it is glossy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
To brown the beef, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Using a sharp knife, cut the beef into approximately 2 inch high rounds through the cling film wrapper. Once cut, carefully unwrap each round from the cling film and proceed to fry, allowing each side to cook to a dark brown, gently turning with a spatula. Season each tian with salt and a grind of pepper to taste as you cook.
Lastly, to serve, place a large spoonful of celeriac purée in the centre of a warm plate, hollowing out a spot to place the beef. Position the beef tian carefully on the purée, pour over a few spoonfuls of the warm jus, and top with a couple of sprigs of thyme to garnish.
Bon appétit!