Fancy something different for dinner tonight? Our delectable roasted beef shank meal, topped with a gorgeous vegetable medley is the ideal comfort food for those looking to warm up during the week with a fragrant and flavourful meal!

Whether you prefer to slow cook or just use your regular oven, our recipe can be adapted to suit your facilities to ensure that no matter how it is cooked, your roasted beef shank will be unlike any other meal you’ve had before.

I see your interest is piqued? Let me guide you through how to make this beautiful meal!

What is a Beef Shank

Unlike any other beef cut, beef shanks originate from the legs of a cow. However, there is also a range of other meat shanks, including veal, which can be turned into a beautiful Osso Bucco.

Shank meat is relatively volatile and if not cooked correctly, the meat can become tough and lose the beautifully rich flavor that the cut is credited for. However, with slow and careful preparation, using techniques such as braising, you can lock in the delicious juices and create a gorgeous meal oozing with flavorful juices.

When it comes to beef shanks, they are ideal for those of us with busy days. Due to them being the ideal cut to roast for several hours on low heat, you can go about your day and save yourself some waiting time by being productive!

Additionally, beef shanks are cost-efficient cuts and often come with soup bones, with are bones smothered in meat, and are ideal for making beautiful stock to use across your other dishes. With them being so full of flavor, they are a steal at your local meat counter.

Ready to get started?

What is Braising?

First of all, let’s discuss braising – not sure what exactly braising is? Well to put it simply, it is the process by which meat is cooked slowly whilst immersed in liquid. This helps the tough connective tissues within your joint of meat break down and help produce a deliciously juicy final product – and with the addition of liquid, you can easily incorporate beautiful flavors into your dish!

How to Braise

So, are you thinking about preparing your beef shank through braising? If so, here is a simple, yet comprehensive guide to help you in the kitchen.

1. Brown the meat – To start this dish, ensure you heavily season your meat before thoroughly covering it in seasoned flour, this will mean you can then start by gently browning the meat to lock in the initial flavors, whilst using the addition of the flour covering to help prepare a base for a beautiful sauce later.

2. Saute Aromatics – Once your meat has browned lightly, it’s time to remove it from the pan and set it aside to rest. Now it’s time to incorporate your onions, celery, and carrots and saute them until they are gently browned.

3. Scrape up the Fond – At this point your pan will have some brown bits floating at the bottom, don’t throw them away! These not so visually appealing bits hold so much beautiful flavor, so in order to absorb these flavors, add small volumes of sry Sherry and gently scrape at these brown bits to mix them into the Sherry.

4. Add additional liquid – As you later simmer your beef shanks in chicken broth, an additional layer of light and fragrant flavors will permeate the beef. Layering your flavors is the ideal way to bring different dimensions to your dish.

5. Slow cooking – Cooking your beef in a covered dish in the oven or in a crockpot, is the ideal way to slow cook your meat. As the connective tissue of the joint breaks down, more flavors will enter your beef.

Extra Tips and Tricks for Beef Shank

• You may be wondering: ‘What is the best wine for cooking?’. Well, I personally opt for either a dry Sherry when white wines can help blend my medley of flavors, or a dry Marsala when red wines can do the job. Too often I open a bottle of wine and am left with the dilemma of having to consume it immediately – however, I’ve learnt that that if I keep a dry bottle of wine loitering about then I can use it when cooking! Costing typically between 8 to 15 dollars per bottle – which is fantastic considering the amount of dishes you can make.

• This dish is beautifully flavored with a traditional mirepoix, which is a blend of chopped celery, carrots, and onions. Which is a classic mix used to enhance many dishes.

• Do you want to bring this dish to new heights and experiment more? Top this dish with gremalota, chopped parsley, lemon zest, finely chopped garlic mixed together which adds a lovely finishing touch to your dish.

How to make Roasted Beef Shank Recipe

Roasted Beef Shank Recipe

February 11, 2021

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 4 hr

Total: 4 hr 15 min

Difficulty: Easy

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By: Cooking Frog

Ingredients

• o 2 pounds beef shanks (trim if needed)
• o 1/2 teaspoon salt
• o 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• o 1 cup all-purpose flour
• o 1/2 teaspoon salt
• o 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• o 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• o 1 cup chopped onions
• o 4 large celery stalks (chopped)
• o 1 cup carrots (chopped)
• o 3 cloves garlic
• o 1/2 cup dry Sherry
• o 16 ounces low sodium chicken broth
• o 2 teaspoons cumin
• o 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• o 1 large lemon (zested)
• o 1 cup parsley (chopped)
• o 3 cloves garlic (chopped)

Directions

• Step 1 1. If your beef needs it, trim the excess fat to keep your beef lean, before seasoning it with salt and pepper.
• Step 2 2. Now ensure that you prepare your seasoned flour with a combination of flour, salt, and paprika.
• Step 3 3. Now, coat your beef in this flour, whilst pre-heating oil in a large skillet.
• Step 4 4. Make sure to brown the beef shanks for a maximum of 4 to 5 minutes on each side on a medium heat.
• Step 5 5. With your nice browned shanks, remove them and set them aside on an additional plate to rest.
• Step 6 6. Now, begin to saute your onions, celery, and carrots and add additional oil if required. Saute until lightly browned.
• Step 7 7. Add some chopped garlic and continue to saute for a few more minutes.
• Step 8 8. Add ½ cup of dry Sherry and scrape the bottom of the pan to mix together the browned bits (fond) and add cumin and smoked paprika to stir together a lovely solution for your meat.
• Step 9 9. Combine chopped parsley, lemon zest, and chopped garlic to make a gremolata. Sprinkle on top of beef shanks and vegetables.

Optional Slow Cooker Beef Shank Instructions

If you want to cook your meat in a Crock-Pot, transfer the vegetables yo the Crock-Pot, before placing the beef shanks on top. Now ensure you add some low sodium chicken broth and cover to cook on a low heat for 4 to 6 hours.

Optional Oven Beef Shank Instructions

Transfer your seasoned vegetables and beef shanks into a Dutch oven or similar cooking vessel with a lid – now add some chicken broth and cover this before baking at 250 degrees for around 4 hours.

Subway is a famous American restaurant chain that sells the best sandwiches, salads, and beverages around the globe. Their sandwiches are so good that you instantly become a fan. The good thing is you can make sandwiches like theirs at home too.

But first!!! Let’s talk about their tasty Subway bread loaf because the perfect sandwich starts with perfect bread! Right? So, I’m here with an amazing Subway bread copycat recipe that will surely give you the perfect bread just like the subway sandwich bread.

This is the best recipe to make delicious subway bread at home. It contains all the natural ingredients. It’s the easiest and the simplest recipe and would make your bread better than the subways bread. The bread you make with this recipe is soft, light, spongy, and has a beautiful brown crispy crust.

Subway Bread is Easy and Fun to make

It’s a fun recipe and you can even make it with your kids to have a fun and exciting baking experience. You can make this bread for casual as well as special events. It goes well for picnics, parties, and get-togethers. You can make it any time you want to have sandwiches. Just fill-up the bread with your favorite fillings like you can add leftover turkey, pepper jack, tomatoes, and honey mustard punch and take it to another level of taste and deliciousness.

Some Important Tips for Subway Bread Recipe:

1. If it’s your first baking experience and you’re not sure about how much flour you should add, then simply add enough flour to keep the dough soft and sticky. Because if you add too much flour, your dough will get hard and your bread will get hard too.
2. Remember! You must use warm water for this recipe. Warm water helps the dough rise well. The temperature of the water should be around 110°
3. If you don’t have a stand mixer, no worries. You can simply mix all the ingredients in a bowl. The goal is to knead the dough well for 8 minutes to make the dough smooth.
4. You can mix half of the wheat flour and half of the all-purpose flour to make the whole wheat subway buns out of this same recipe.
5. It is recommended to add vital wheat gluten into the recipe if you want to make it soft and chewy just like the real subway bread. You can easily buy it at a nearby grocery store. It’s a bit expensive but gives you soft and chewy bread that tastes and feels like the real subway bread. You can add 1 tbsp. of vital wheat gluten per 2 – 3 cups of flour.

• You can use special sub molds available in the market to make your dough look exactly like the sandwich bread from the subway. These molds help the dough rise in exactly the same shape as the subway bread. But if you don’t have those pans, simply skip them and shape the dough with your own hands.
• You can use the same recipe to make whole wheat bread. Just add whole wheat bread instead of all-purpose flour. Before putting your bread into the oven, top it up with some sesame seeds or shredded Parmesan cheese.

Subway Bread Copycat Recipe:

Subway Bread Copycat Recipe

January 9, 2021

Prep: 2 hr

Cook: 25 min

Total: 2 hr 25 min

Difficulty: Easy

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By: Cooking Frog

Ingredients

• • 2 ½ - 2 ¾ cups of All-Purpose Flour
• • 1 tbsp. of Yeast (Dry Active)
• • 1 tbsp. of Sugar
• • 1 ½ tsp. of Salt
• • 4 tbsp. of Olive Oil
• • 1 cup of Warm Water

Directions

• Step 1 1. Take a large mixing bowl and add warm water, sugar, salt, yeast, and olive oil into it. Mix them all. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes until the mixture gets bubbly and frothy.
• Step 2 2. Add 1 cup of all-purpose flour and mix it with the stand mixer for about 4 – 5 minutes. Now keep on adding flour, ¼ cups of flour at a time. Mix it well until a soft and a bit sticky dough is formed. Remember, the dough must be sticky. It should be sticking to the bottom of the bowl. The total mixing time of the dough must be around 8 minutes.
• Step 3 3. When the dough gets smooth, well-combined, and sticky, take it out on a flour-sprinkled worktop and knead it well until it gets more smooth and even. Fold the dough into a round shape and put it back into the mixing bowl.
• Step 4 4. Now cover the bowl with a cloth or cling film and let it rise for about half an hour.
• Step 5 5. When the dough gets risen, take it out on a clean surface and divide it into four equal parts
• Step 6 6. Shape each dough ball into a long loaf of about 9 – 10 inches in size.
• Step 7 7. Now line the baking tray with a baking sheet or parchment paper and place these dough loaves into the baking tray. There should be at least 2 inches distance between the loaves.
• Step 8 8. Cover the baking tray with cling film again and let the dough loaves rise again for about one hour until they get double in size.
• Step 9 9. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the cling film from the baking tray and place it into the oven. Bake the loaves for 25 minutes until they get a beautiful brown texture.
• Step 10 10. When the loaves get the brown texture, take them out of the oven. Apply butter to the top of the loaves to make them a bit soft and give them a tasty buttery flavor.
• Step 11 11. Let the loaves rest for at least 30 minutes to let them cool. When cooled, slice them from the center. Fill them up with your favorite fillings and enjoy the remarkably tasty sandwiches at home

Today’s recipe is Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread Easy Recipe, and it’s very special, especially for the ones who are gluten-intolerant or are on a diet. Only because you can’t intake gluten, doesn’t mean you are going to miss all of your favorite foods because they have gluten in them. You can be on a gluten-free diet and still enjoy all the baked items like bread, buns, pizza, etc. Yes, that’s true. You can easily make all these items gluten-free and satisfy your cravings.

I am going to share a great sourdough bread recipe with you. The best thing about his bread is that it is not only gluten-free but is remarkably tasty and healthy as well. The plus point is that baking gluten-free sourdough bread is a lot easier than regular sourdough bread. You can bake gluten-free sourdough bread in a much lesser time by following a few simple steps. This recipe doesn’t require any baking expertise and even a newbie can make an amazing sourdough bread out of it 😉

Does gluten-free sourdough bread taste bad?

Many of you, who haven’t ever tried gluten-free bread, must have in mind or may have heard from someone that gluten-free bread is nothing like regular bread. It’s thick, dense, gummy, and has a terrible taste. That’s why you may be reluctant in trying out gluten-free bread. But to your surprise, that’s nothing but just a misconception. Gluten-free sourdough bread is a lot tastier than you think.

A poorly-baked gluten-free bread may turn out as a gummy loaf with a terrible taste. But a well-baked gluten-free bread, having a perfect balance of all the ingredients will definitely satisfy your taste buds. Yes, I admit. A gluten-free sourdough is not that much spongy and tall as regular bread, but it’s also not like a dense, lofty, and ill-flavored loaf. This recipe will give you a perfectly-baked sourdough bread with a beautiful golden-brown texture and a great taste.

Let’s get started with the recipe…

Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread Easy Recipe

December 22, 2020

Difficulty: Easy

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By: Cooking Frog

Ingredients

• • 16 oz of Gluten-Free Flour
• • 4 oz of Active Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
• • 3 tbsp. of Psyllium Husk
• • 2 tsp of Salt
• • 2 cups of Water
• • 1 tbsp. of Honey (Optional)

Directions

• Step 1 1. Before making the dough, feed your sourdough starter twice, to maximize its activity level.
• Step 2 2. Taka a large mixing bowl and add flour, psyllium husk, and salt in it and mix them well.
• Step 3 3. Now add honey, water, active dough starter into it. Mix the ingredients well to make a fine dough.
• Step 4 4. Now fold the dough in the form of a smooth dough ball. No need to knead it as in the case of regular bread dough.
• Step 5 5. Cover the mixing bowl using a damp cloth and set the bowl aside at room temperature for 3 – 5 hours.
• Step 6 6. Now take a Benetton bread-proofing basket. Dust the basket with the flour or line it with a cloth and transfer the dough into it.
• Step 7 7. Cover the Benetton basket with a damp towel.
• Step 8 8. Now leave it for another one hour and then place it in the refrigerator, for 7 – 12 hours or overnight, to cold-proof the dough.
• Step 9 9. Preheat the oven to 475°F and also preheat the baking pan by placing it in the oven for one hour. It is suggested to use a Dutch oven or hot combo cooker instead of a baking pan.
• Step 10 10. After preheating the baking pan for one hour, take the cold dough out of the refrigerator and transfer the dough into it. If you are using the hot combo cooker or Dutch oven, then transfer the dough into it by using the cutting board trick mentioned in tip # 7.
• Step 11 11. Beautifully score the top of the dough loaf using bread lame and cover it with a towel.
• Step 12 12. Place the pan into the baking oven and bake it, while it’s still covered, for 60 minutes.
• Step 13 13. After 60 minutes, remove the cover and bake the bread for another 5 minutes.
• Step 14 14. Now remove the bread from the oven or combo cooker. Place the bread loaf on a wire rack and let it cool.
• Step 15 15. Leave the bread at room temperature for several hours before cutting it into slices.
• Step 16 16. Cut the bread into slices and enjoy…. 

Can you store the sourdough bread?

Yes, you can definitely store the gluten-free sourdough bread. For this purpose, wrap the sourdough bread in a dry, cloth towel. Make sure the towel is lint-free. Now place this cloth-wrapped bread into the brown paper bag. This way, the bread stays fresh for up to 3 – 4 days.

You can also revive a few days old stale bread by toasting or lightly broiling it. It is recommended to store it in the freezer if you wish to store the bread for more the 3 – 4 days,

Some Important Tips for Gluten-free sourdough bread:

1. You can easily buy readymade gluten-free flour from the market. But you can also make it by yourself. For this purpose, mix 175g of organic white or brown rice flour, 100g of sorghum flour, 150g of millet flour, and 25g of buckwheat flour. Your own gluten-free flour mixture is ready.
2. It is recommended to use Himalayan salt, sea salt, or kosher salt, or instead of iodized table salt.
3. While adding water to the flour mixture, make sure the water is filtered and has normal room temperature.
4. The honey is added to the recipe to enhance the taste of the bread, but if you don’t like it, you can simply skip the honey.
5. If you are using a mixing bowl, mix the ingredients with your hand or with a spatula. You can mix the ingredients using a stand mixer as well.
6. It is recommended to use a Dutch oven or a combo cooker to bake the sourdough bread because both of them create a very suitable steamy environment for the bread and keep the bread soft and moist while giving it a very beautiful brownish crust.
7. To transfer the dough from the Benetton basket to the Dutch oven or hot combo cooker, try out this simple trick. Cut a piece of parchment paper a bit larger than the size of the dough. Place it on the top of the Benetton basket and the exposed dough. Now place a cutting board over the parchment paper. Now tightly hold the cutting board and Benetton basket and flip the upside-down. When the dough is transferred to parchment paper on the cutting board, lift the Benetton basket up. Now slowly slide the parchment paper into a Dutch oven or combo cooker.
8. If you don’t want your bread bottom to be much brownish, then try placing an empty baking sheet below the Dutch or oven Combo Cooker. It reduces some heat and saves the bread from getting too brown.