COURTESY OF MARGARET BADGER
The pleasure of braised beef simply perfumed with star anis. Try this version with short ribs, if you can find them; the bones add a particular flavour.
5-6 portions
INGREDIENTS
- Salt and ground pepper
- 1.6 kg (4 lb) Highland blade or cross rib roast or,
2.5 kg (5-6 lb) Highland short ribs - 45 ml (3 Tbsp) vegetable oil
- 3 onions, quartered
or 2 bunches of green onions, minced - 6 carrots cut in large pieces
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 750 ml (3 cups) beef broth / stock
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) soy sauce or tamari
- 30 ml (2 Tbsp) tomato paste
- 15-30 ml (1-2 Tbsp) maple syrup or brown sugar
- 1 piece of ginger, sliced, 5 cm (2 inches)
- 4 star anis /badian
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 160C (325 F).
Generously salt and pepper the meat.
In a large, heavy, oven-proof casserole (or pressure cooker), braise the meat over medium heat with 30ml (2 Tbsp) of oil, until it is well browed. Set aside.
Remove excess fat from the cooking pot. Add onions and carrots with the rest of the oil and cook over medium heat until the onions are softened, approximately 5 minutes.
Add garlic and continue cooking 1 minute longer.
Place the meat on top of the vegetables.
Add stock, soy sauce, tomato paste, maple syrup or brown sugar, ginger and star anise.
Bring to a boil, cover and continue cooking in the oven at least 3 hours or until the meat comes away from the bone.
After 1 hour of cooking, turn over the pieces of meat and make sure that the liquid covers at least half the meat. Check the level of liquid again 1 hour later.
When cooked, remove meat from the sauce and keep warm.
If necessary, remove extra fat from the sauce. Then pass it through a strainer if you wish, pressing the vegetables to extract as much of the liquid as possible.
Return the meat to the sauce. Break the meat apart with a serving spoon without trying to slice it.
Serve with mashed potatoes, bok choy and green vegetables.
Recipe is taken from the French Cook book “à la di Stasio” (2007) available from la Librairie Cowansville, 450-263-0888