Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Where's the Shank?

BEEFore!

Do you like my reference to that old Wendy’s restaurant commercial that wondered “Where’s the Beef?” You do? Why, Shank you very much! If you’re very clever, but not too bright, you may have figured out that this weeks Featured Ingredient is: Beef Shanks! 
Beef Shanks first came into my life many years ago, before I even knew what the Shankfest a Beef Shank was. It appeared in the form of the most tender bites of beef in my Vavoa’s Kale Soup, a very traditional Portuguese meal (see my own recipe for Kale Soup on the Recipes page) At the time, being wholly uninterested in cooking, I didn’t know or care what I was eating and didn’t recognize it as beef shank until a couple of years ago. I’ve since used it in Soup, and to make Braised Beef. Braising is a combination cooking technique, where the meat of choice is first seasoned and seared to brown the outside and lock in moisture and flavor, then simmered in a covered pot. This is basically how a crock pot cooks food, with or without searing it first. Beef Shanks are a popular cut of meat to braise because they are invariably tough, coming from the top portion of a cow’s leg. The shank muscle gets alot of use, what with supporting the heifer’s tremendously plump body...to say nothing of the effort it takes to reverse position after being “cow tipped”! 
Beef Shank can be used by a butcher and ground into low fat hamburger meat. When Beef Shank is used in a braising recipe or simmered in a soup/stew, it has an ultra tender and stringy like texture, and mildly gamey flavor that picks up the flavors of the simmering liquid quite well. Don’t try to remove the bones before cooking as they contain lots of flavorful marrow and the meat will literally fall off of them, but be careful when serving not to present a honking bone in Vavoa’s bowl of Kale Soup! If your Portuguese Grandmother is anything like mine, you might find a slipper hurtling through the air upside your head! Always followed by hugs and kisses, rest in peace my beautiful Vavoa, forever in our hearts ♥♥♥
So, where exactly IS the beef? In my grocery store it’s almost always in stock, near the roasts and ground beef. Grab yourself a couple of shanks next time you shop, and toss em into a pot on the stovetop with a few other ingredients for an easy to cook and clean meal. Don’t forget to get started about 5 hours before you want to eat, to give the cooking liquid enough time to break up the sinewy meat. And that’s all the beef I have to beef about beef! 
After! 

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