Shin of Beef

Yesterday I cooked a shin of beef, bought from a farmers market. The ingredients depend on what you have in the house (or choose to buy in advance)

Ingredients

1 shin of beef of a size to fit into your pan
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, peeled and cubed (I only had one)
2 leeks, cleaned, with dark green bits removed, and the rest sliced into narrow rounds
1 celery (small) or 2 or 3 stems from a large one sliced thinly
1 large onion chopped finely
2 Kallo Just Bouillon beef stock cubes dissolved in a pint of boiling water

Method

Put all the vegetables into a stockpot
Add bouillon mix until vegetables are just covered
Place shin on top
Bring to the boil then simmer gently for about 4 hours
Leave all in the pan until cooled.

I have an induction hob (boast, boast) and usually simmer vegetables at setting 2, but for this I turned it down after about half an hour to 1 so that it was barely bubbling.

Remove the meat to a plate and slice. (or just divide up as it is meltingly soft) The fat round the outside is so easy to remove and discard.

I had a small shin and divided the meat into enough for two meals with the rest cut up into the beef and vegetable soup, which is what is left in the pot.

Eat some of the soup over a day or two and leave the rest for later.

Casserole of Pork Cheeks

I bought the pork cheeks at the Farmers' Market, even though I had never heard of them, never mind tried them, before. In my family I was always known as the casserole queen, so here goes with another one.

To cook this recipe I use a large saute pan on my induction hob. The lid is so well fitting and the hob so controllable that no liquid is lost during the cook. In the absence of something similar, I would do all the frying in a large frying pan, then transfer to a casserole dish and put in the oven for a long slow cook

3 pork cheeks, cut into bite sized pieces (a sharp knife is the easiest way)
3 onions, chopped finely
3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
Half of each of a red pepper, a green pepper and a yellow pepper, chopped
3 tomatoes, skinned, cored and chopped finely
about 8 good sized closed cup mushrooms, chopped
Left overs from a bottle of light beer.

Fry the onions and garlic in a herb infused oil (or other oil - I am just boasting here - in fact it was a gift from Le Chef) - until soft.
Add the peppers and fry till soft.
Add pork cheeks and fry until brown.Add mushrooms and stir through.
Add tomatoes and beer
Stir through and bring to the boil.
Cook slowly with the lid on until tender

Tinker's Casserole

I was intrigued to find this recipe in my recipe book* as I have not made it for years; it was a staple part of my repertoire in the 70s.

1lb chuck steak cut into 1” cubes
1 oz seasoned flour
4 oz bacon trimmings, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
1/2 pint light ale
2 Tbsps Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
4 oz sliced mushrooms


Toss steak in seasoned flour
Fry bacon in large pan without fat until golden
Add steak and fry quickly until golden
Add remaining ingredients except mushrooms and bring to boiling point

Turn into a 2 1/2 pint casserole and cook at 325F or 170C for 1 1/2 hours. Add mushrooms and cook for another 30 minutes

* later: To avoid confusion here, I should add that my "recipe book" is a collection of recipes made over a number of years, originally in a ring back folder, but now on my computer