Projo Football Food & Spirits

The photo is one of five at Paulchen's Food Blog.

Shin and shank are interchangeable terms at the butcher shop. If you can dedicate a recipe, this one's for the Patriots kickers.

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Shin Stew
Olive oil
2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 sticks of celery, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
A small handful of dried porcini mushrooms
1 cinnamon stick
2 lb 3 oz (roughly) shin of beef, preferably free-range or organic, bone removed, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp flour
1 28-ounce can of good-quality plum tomatoes
2/ 3 of a bottle of Chianti

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a heavy-bottomed ovenproof saucepan, heat a splash of olive oil and gently fry the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, herbs, porcini and cinnamon for five minutes until softened slightly.

Meanwhile, toss the pieces of beef in a little seasoned flour, shaking off any excess. Add the meat to the pan and stir everything together, then add the tomatoes, wine and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Gently bring to the boil, cover with a double-thickness piece of tinfoil and a lid and place in your preheated oven for three hours or until the beef is meltingly tender and can be broken up with a spoon. Taste and check the seasoning, remove the cinnamon stick and rosemary sprigs and serve.

Note: I'm going to serve it over wilted spinach tomorrow for the Colts game.

-- From Cook With Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook by Jamie Oliver.

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