Beef Oxtail Blanquette

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I just discovered that I wasn’t the only adept of the slow-cooker. Of course, one of them is my aunt Emma was the one who offered us ours, but to my surprise, my friend J. also uses her crock-pot daily. She starts it in the morning before leaving for work to have supper ready upon return. Perfect for the busy mum!

I was describing my slow-cooking recipes to J., when I realised that I was so focused on enhancing the flavours of the ingredients with exotic spices that I completely missed cream-based sauces. I made a mental note to myself. How could I forget creamy stews!? I know, they are high-cal but everyone deserve a treat once in a while! Especially after prepping the garden for planting or on Mother’s day.

Well! Here it is: oxtail blanquette. Blanquette is a traditional French stew that uses veal meat, but I thought that beef oxtail would be just as succulent. I slow cooked the oxtail with mirepoix - the holy trinity of French cooking - and white wine first. Once fork-tender, I transferred the meat into a casserole dish and reserved it in the oven while I removed the excess fat from the broth. Because I am a finicky cook, I whizzed and passed the both through a sieve before adding the cream, but you can leave the vegetables chunky and serve the blanquette with steamed rice and sautéed oyster mushrooms.

Ingredients for 4-6 servings:

2 pounds beef oxtail

2 onions

2 or 3 carrots

2 celery stalks

1 teaspoon cloves

1 bouquet garni: thyme, parsley, bay leaves

½ cup dry white wine

1. Chop the carrots and transfer in the slow cooker.

2. Peel and spike the onions with the cloves. Place on top of the carrots.

3. Heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

4. Season the beef oxtail with salt and pepper, brown in the hot oil and transfer to the slow cooker.

5. Add the celery to the pan and stir-fry for 1-2 mns over low to medium-high heat.

6. Deglaze with the wine and add the bouquet garni.

7. Let simmer for 2 mns and pour over the meat.

8. Slow cook on high for 6 hours, until the meat falls off the bones.

9. Transfer the meat into a casserole dish and reserve it in a 275 F- oven. (Note: Steps 9-13 are optional)

10. Remove the excess fat from the broth using a spoon.

11. Press the vegetables until smooth using an immersion blender (or transfer into a blender).

12. Pass the broth through a sieve into a saucepan.

13. Heat the broth to a gentle simmer and stir in the cream.

14. Serve hot over steamed rice .

Lazy Sunday Slow-Braised Yam Short Ribs à l’Orange

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My most unconventional dishes are the ones that I have created when my fridge and pantry are almost empty. Those days, it would have most likely snowed and the roads would be unplowed. Last Saturday was just like one of those days, I slept in late and, of course, I did not feel like facing the shopping crowds. No urge to bump around Edmonton’s slushy streets, to hunt for the primo parking spot, nor to elbow my neighbours for the perfect English cucumber! This weekend was going to be Zen, not zany.

This dish was made with the last carrot, celery and oranges that I could find in our crisper - not even a single mushroom. Lucky we had short ribs in the freezer and a lone yam in the pantry! With a little help from the slow cooker, it turned out to be a fantastic stew, melt-in-your mouth ribs infused with sweet, zesty oranges and enhanced with rich, creamy yam.

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef short ribs

1 teaspoon salt

1 large yam or sweet potato

2 oranges

1 carrot

3 stalks celery

1 onion

½ to 1 cup red wine

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop the celery and carrot, cut oranges and yam into 2 inch pieces.

2. Transfer half of the yam and the other vegetables into the slow cooker.

3. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

4. Season and sauté the ribs until all the sides are browned.

5. Transfer the ribs, with bone underneath, onto the vegetables.

6. Chop and add the onion to the drippings.

7. After 1-2 mns, deglaze with a splash of wine until the onions are softened.

8. Add the rest of the wine and transfer the onions to the slow cooker.

9. Sprinkle with the smoked paprika.

10. Slow cook for at least 6 hrs. Moisten the stew with wine if it looks dry.

11. One hour before serving, add the rest of the yam.

12. Serve hot over steamed rice or crusty bread.

Slow-Braised Daikon and Shiitake Beef Shanks

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Another trip to the Chinese superstore! Another cartful of great, fresh produce and all you need for a succulent, slow-braised dish! This time we got daikon and shiitake mushrooms to cook with the whole, fresh beef shanks from the butcher’s counter. This recipe requires a few ingredients only and, as you will find out, two beef shanks and one giant Asian radish will fill your slow-cooker! The tomatoes and the peppers act as thickeners for the mild-tasting juices given off by the daikon root, at the same time they bring sweetness and depth to the dish.

Ingredients for 6 servings:

2 beef shanks (about 2 pounds)

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 daikon root

3 sticks celery

1½ cup shiitake mushrooms

Whole hot chillies to taste

½ to 1 cup dry white wine

Garlic stems

2 bay leaves

16 ounces can tomato

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop the daikon, celery and mushrooms and transfer to the slow cooker.

2. Cut the stems off the peppers and add to the vegetables with the bay leaves. (NB: If you are sensitive to hot chillies, you can half them and remove the seeds or you can keep them whole and poke them with a fork to slowly let the heat diffuse into the dish)

3. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

4. Mix the flour with salt and pepper on a plate and coat the beef shanks with the flour mixture. Drain the flour and brown the meat in the hot oil.

5. Transfer the beef shanks to the slow cooker.

6. Chop the garlic stems and add to the hot pan. Stir-fry for 1-2 mns over low to medium-high heat.

7. Deglaze with the wine and stir in the leftover flour.

8. Let simmer for 2 mns. Pour the gravy over the meat.

9. Slow cook on high for 1 hour.

10. Add the tomatoes and cook for at least another 6 hrs, until the meat is fork tender.

11. Serve hot over steamed rice, asparagus or green beans.

Moroccan-Style Raisin Orange Lamb Shanks

Lamb shanks! Yes, I thought I grabbed veal shanks and got ready for a delicious osso bucco that night. Luckily, I had all these cloves and cinnamon from Madagascar in my pantry! With all these spices, plenty of dark raisins and oranges! This sweet and savoury dish turned out to be the perfect comfort food, away from the frigid nights of Edmonton. And even better: instead of Italy, we got to travel to Morocco for supper! Tagine instead of stew! Not bad for a mistake, was it?

Ingredients:

11/2 pounds lamb shanks

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

100 grams pancetta (or 2 to 3 bacon slices)

1 onion

3 sticks celery

4 large carrots

2 cups cremini mushrooms

1 tangerine orange

1 cup raisins

½ to 1 cup dry white wine

10 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

2. Chop the onion, celery and carrots.

3. Brown the pancetta in the hot oil until slightly crisp, and drain on paper towel.

4. Add the chopped onion to the pan.

5. Once the onion is soft and lightly caramelised, add the chopped celery and carrots.

6. Sauté the vegetables until soft and transfer into the slow cooker with the mushrooms and the pancetta.

7. Wash and spike the tangerine with the cloves. Place on top of the vegetables with the cinnamon stick.

8. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the same pan.

9. Mix the flour with salt and pepper on a plate and coat the lamb shanks with the flour mixture. Drain the flour and brown the meat in the hot oil.

10. Transfer the lamb shanks to the slow cooker.

11. Add the raisins to the pan and stir-fry for 1-2 mns over low to medium-high heat.

12. Deglaze with the wine and stir in the leftover flour.

13. Let simmer for 2 mns. Pour the gravy over the meat.

14. Slow cook on high for 6 hours, until the meat falls off the bones.

15. Serve hot over steamed rice or couscous.

Leek Turnip and Quince Short Ribs

Another stew!!! Well, fall is definitely here. We just had our first snow of the fall last Wednesday night! Just enough to remind us that we should pick the rest of our vegetable garden! This recipe features our garden leeks and another special ingredient, quince which I added to the vegetables for tang.

I stole turnips that Adam had bought for his salads! Yikes! But they soaked the wine and rosemary gravy wonderfully…and I was immediately forgiven!

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef short ribs

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

½ onion

4 small leeks

1 quince

2 sticks celery

6 small turnips

3 sprigs rosemary

1 handful of cremini mushrooms

½ to 1 cup red wine

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
2. Chop the onion, celery and quince and add to the pan.
3. Once the vegetables are soft and lightly caramelised, transfer to the slow cooker.
4. Mix the mushrooms in.
5. Cut the turnips into quarters and add to the vegetables.
6. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the same pan.
7. Mix the flour with salt and pepper on a plate and coat the ribs with the flour mixture. Drain the flour and brown the meat in the hot oil.
8. Transfer the ribs,with bone underneath, onto the vegetables.
9. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and add one sprig of rosemary.
10. Add the leftover flour to the pan and stir-fry for 1-2 mns over low to medium-high heat.
11. Pour the wine gravy on the meat.
12. Slow cook on high for 5-6 hours (or overnight on low).
13. Serve hot over new potatoes or over pasta.

Slow Braised Short Ribs

This stew is most welcome on a fall or winter night! If you own a slow cooker, it can be started on Saturday night and makes a perfect Sunday dinner.

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef short ribs

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

100 grams pancetta (or 2 to 3 bacon slices)

1 onion

3 sticks celery

4 large carrots

2 pieces anis wood (or 2 cinnamon sticks)

½ can tomato (pick the best quality, sweetest tomatoes)

½ to 1 cup dry white wine

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
2. Chop the onion, celery and carrots.
3. Brown the pancetta in the hot oil until slightly crisp, and add the chopped onion.
4. Once the onion is soft and lightly caramelised, add the chopped celery and sauté until soft.
5. Transfer the pancetta and vegetables into the slow cooker and mix the chopped carrots in.
6. Top the vegetables with the anis wood.
7. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the same pan.
8. Mix the flour with salt and pepper on a plate and coat the ribs with the flour mixture. Drain the flour and brown the meat in the hot oil.
9. Transfer the ribs, with bone underneath, onto the anis wood.
10. Add the leftover flour to the pan and stir-fry for 1-2 mns over low to medium-high heat.
11. Drain some of the tomato juice into the flour and stir until forming a ball. Cook the ball for 1 mns, and deglaze with splash of wine until the ball is dissolved. Stir in the rest of the wine and tomato. Pour the tomato gravy on the meat.

12. Slow cook overnight. Moisten the stew with a splash of wine if it looks dry after 12 hr cooking and resume cooking.
13. Serve hot over mashed potatoes, steamed rice or bread.