I love the combination of tender beef with a fruity sauce. Plums, orange, dates and cranberries are all great examples of pairing matches that compliment the beef excellently.
Today I settled on cranberries. The beef is slow cooked and harmonised perfectly with the rich tomatoey, cranberry infused sauce. I served the sauce with pasta but you could just as easily pour it over baked potatoes or sweet potatoes, rice, cous-cous or steamed veges.
Ingredients for 4 people
3 Tbsp. olive oil
500g Beef shank, fat trimmed/mainly removed, cut into big chunks
1 big red onion, halved and then cut into thin wedges
1 carrot, peeled, halved vertically and then cut into half moons (0.5cm in thickness)
800ml vegetable stock
500g chopped tomatoes from a glass/can
100g cranberry sauce (if in Germany, use Alnatura‘s Wildpreiselbeer sauce)
1 tsp. chilli flakes
• Get a sauce pan going on a medium high heat with the olive oil in the pot so it can heat up well. Once the oil is hot, brown the meat in the pot. Give it ample time on each side to really achieve a nice brownish colour on the outside of the meat pieces.
• Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius, fan bake.
• Once the meat is browned, add the onion slices and toss well in the juices. Fry on a medium heat, stirring regularly, for about 5-8 minutes. Add carrots and stir well.
• Add your stock, tomatoes and cranberry sauce to the pot. Add chilli flakes and bring to a boil.
• Remove the pot from the heat, place a lid on top and pop the pot into the oven for 3 hours, stirring every hour.
• Serving suggestions are included above. Choose your favourite and dig in! If serving with pasta, you can not go wrong with a big grating of Parmesan over top! (And chopped coriander goes well sprinkled on top!)
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