Pot-Roasted Beef Shin and Smoky Bacon

Pot-Roasted beef shin with smoky bacon and baby onions

Beef shin is one of those bargin basement cuts that are fantastic for long, slow cooking. It’s often sold off the bone as gravy and makes great pies and soups. Here it’s cooked on the bone as a tasty pot-roast, and the meat’s intrinsic chewiness softens down to a melting tenderness.

This pot-roast is definitely a better the next day sort of dish, as the flvours develop and intensify with time. It’s a meat in its own right. This is great served with creamy buttery mash and a bottle of full bodied red wine.

1 x 1.8kg beef shin
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
150g butter
250g thick cut rashes smoky bacon, cut into 4 cm dice
2 anchovy fillets
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
6 garlic cloves, halved
400g button mushrooms, halved
2 cups red wine
3 cups beef stock
3 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
200g green olives
chopped parsley to serve

Preheat the oven to 150 oC

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy based casserole then sear the beef until evenly browned all over. Lift the beef out onto a plate.

Add the butter to the casserole. Fry the bacon and anchovies until the bacon begins to brown and the anchovies start to melt. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic and stir together well. Lower the heat and sauté gently for 5 – 8 minutes, or until the vegetables soften.

Add the remaining ingredients to the casserole and bring to a gentle simmer. Season to taste then cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 1 hour then remove the lid from the casserole and cook for a further 1 ½ hours. By the end of the cooking time the beef should be completely tender and falling away from the bone.

When ready to eat, sprinkle generously with parsley and serve with plenty of mashed potatoes.