Beer Braised Corned Beef Dinner

Beer braised corned beef with cabbage, carrots, and red potatoes.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Braised Guinness Lamb Shank Stew

 

This week's lamb stew was half inspired by the recent Hunger Games movie release (The books are so much fun! And addictive.) and half inspired by lamb shanks on sale at the supermarket.  The lamb flavor was incredibly rich in the cooked down stew and the lamb shank was falling-off-the-bone tender.  I didn't like the added sweetness from the dried plums since the stew already had a sweet overtone from the lamb, onions, and carrots.  I would leave out the dried plums next time.  We ate this with plain rice though it would be good with pasta or bread as well.  Another great use for my Dutch oven! :)

Looking for another Guinness recipe?  Try out this tasty bread!

Braised Guinness Lamb Shank Stew
Adapted from bon appetit
serves 2 (with plenty of leftover stew)

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 lamb shanks (about 2 pounds total, one lamb shank per person)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups beef stock or canned broth
1 12-ounce bottles Guinness stout
4 carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup pitted prunes

1. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large Dutch oven over high heat. Season lamb shanks with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge lamb shanks in flour; shake off excess. Reserve excess flour. 
2. Add lamb to Dutch oven and brown well on all sides. Using tongs, transfer lamb to bowl. Reduce heat to medium. Add chopped onions to Dutch oven and sauté until transluscent, scraping up any browned bits, about 5 minutes. Add reserved flour and stir 1 minute.
3. Return lamb shanks and any accumulated juices to Dutch oven. Add beef stock and Guinness. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until meat is almost tender, about 1 hour.
4. Add carrots to Dutch oven and simmer uncovered until meat and vegetables are tender and stew thickens slightly, about 40 minutes. Spoon fat from surface of stew. Add prunes and simmer 20 minutes.

Beef Bourguignon

After getting my new dutch oven, I soon decided that the first recipe I wanted to make was Beef Bourguignon, in honor of the first official date my husband and I went on where he took me to a Braising cooking class.  I used the recipe we followed in class and it came out delicious, perhaps even better than the first time we made it.  The gravy-sauce was delicious on brown rice and would be great on noodles or even sopped up with a piece of crusty bread.  We enjoyed the leftovers for lunch during the week and even froze some of the sauce to savor later.   My first use of the dutch oven has convinced me that it is my favorite piece of cookware in our entire kitchen.  The pot heats up quickly, meat browns so nicely, and cleanup is so much easier than anticipated! 

Beef Bourguignon
serves 6-8

2.5 lbs beef chuck, cut into 2" cubes
flour
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
12 mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced
salt and pepper
2 cups beef stock
1 1/2 cup red wine
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoons cornstarch, more if needed

1. Coat beef chuck pieces lightly with flour.  Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter.  Working in batches, sear the beef pieces so each side is nicely browned.  Remove from pan and set aside.  Discard oil.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the same Dutch oven.  Add mushrooms, garlic, and leeks and saute lightly. 
3. Return beef to the pot and season well with salt and pepper.  Add stock, wine, bay leaf, and thyme.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover pot and simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours.  Taste meat for tenderness. 
4. After the meat reaches desired tenderness, skim off excess fat from the sauce.  Transfer beef to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.  Remove about 1 cup of the sauce and mix well with cornstarch.  Pour cornstarch-sauce mixture back into the Dutch oven to thicken the sauce.  Taste and correct seasonings as desired. 
5. Serve with noodles or rice.  Place a few pieces of beef on noddles or rice and spoon sauce over the plate.  This dish can be prepared beforehand and reheated or frozen for another meal. 

Chinese braised beef and eggs

Shao bing jia rou (aka sesame pancake with braised beef shank) is a standard offering for Taiwanese breakfast. Fragrant toasted sesame bread filled with flavorful beef, scallions, cilantro and sauce...it's a nice filling way to start the day! We decided to make this for our Sunday School class this week. We braised the beef a few days ahead and also used the braising liquid to make soy sauce eggs.  As with many Chinese dishes, this one had no specific recipe beyond the list of ingredients provided by my mom. Below is my best guess at the details. :P 

Sesame pancake sandwich (Shao bing jia rou)
6 servings/sandwiches

1 6-count package sesame pancakes (available at a Chinese supermarket)
1 lb sliced Chinese braised beef (recipe below)
1 green onion, sliced into strips
a few sprigs of cilantro
1/4 cup braised beef sauce (see below), hoisin or plum sauce

1. Toast pancake in the toaster.  Carefully slice pancake in half longitudinally, leaving one length intact.
2. Spread desired amount of sauce inside the pancake and place 2-3 slices of beef (may vary depending on size/thickness of slices).  Add green onion and cilantro to your liking.  Repeat with remaining pancakes.

Chinese braised beef (Lu niu rou)
3lbs beef shank
2 cups water
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice wine
10 star anise
2 Tbsp szechuan peppercorns (optional)
1 stick cinnamon
5 slices ginger

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Place beef shank into boiling water and let cook for 5 minutes.  Remove beef and discard water.
2. Place the water, soy sauce, rice wine and spices into a large stock pot on high heat.  After the liquid boils, place beef into the pot and let it boil for 5 minutes.  Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer the beef for about 3 hours, turning the beef over every 30 minutes so that each side of the beef gets its turn sitting in the braising liquid.  
3. Remove beef from the liquid and let it cool.  Refrigerate overnight and then slice the beef against the grain into thin slices.
4. The remaining braising liquid can be used to braise eggs, chicken, tofu, seaweed, etc.  After you're all done braising to your heart's content, simmer the leftover liquid on low heat until it reduces into a nice thick sauce, perfect for the beef or on plain white rice.