Le Travail

This past Wednesday I had my first solo personal chef gig for some clients from the American Embassy here in Paris. Along with hors d'oeurves, an entrée, and dessert, the plat, or main course that I made was Balsamic Braised Beef Shanks with Celeriac Purée and Brussel Sprout Leaves. Here is my recipe.

Balsamic Braised Beef Shanks:
1kg Boneless beef shanks, trimmed and portioned
1 Onion, diced
1 Carrot, diced
1 Celery branch, diced
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
1 Bay leaf
5 Mushrooms, diced
Parsley stems
Beef trimmings
Balsamic vinegar
1 Spoon full of flour
Beef stock
1T Sriracha
1T Tomato paste
Salt and pepper
Butter

Heat a pat of butter in a large pot. Lightly season the beef shank pieces with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Remove from the pan and discard any grease in the pan, leaving the caramelisation in the pot. Add a small pat of butter and the vegetables, garlic, mushrooms bay leaf, parsley stems and beef trimmings to the pan and caramelize. The water in the vegetables should deglaze the pan. Cook everything until caramelized. Deglaze with about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and cook until syrupy.
Add the flour and stir to coat and make a kind of roux in the pan. Cook 1 minute.
Next, add some of the beef stock, sriracha, and tomato paste to the pot and stir to dissolve the roux in the liquid. Return the beef shanks to the pot and add more beef stock to nearly cover. Simmer about 2 1/2 -3 hours depending on the size of the portions, or until the meat is very tender.
Remove the beef from the liquid and strain the sauce from the vegetables. Reduce the sauce until slightly thickened and rich in flavor. Season to taste and add the beef back to the sauce. Just before serving finish the sauce with a pat of butter.

Celeriac Purée:
1 Celery root, skinned and cubed
Butter
Cream
Salt and pepper

Cook the celeriac in salted, boiling water until tender. Strain off the liquid and purée with a little butter. Season with salt and pepper and add butter and cream to taste.

Brussel Sprout Leaves:
Brussel sprout leaves
Butter
Salt and pepper

Gently remove the leaves from brussel sprouts. Blanch in salted, boiling water about 15-20 seconds and shock in ice water. Dry the leaves and just before serving heat butter in a pan and add the leaves to warm through. Season with salt and pepper.