Braised Beef Shank in Red Wine

Slow cookers are supposed to make cooking easier, and they do.  But some slow cooker recipes require as much prep time as it would take to cook a full meal; they’re sneaky like that.  In the case of this recipe, I had to spend nearly an hour getting everything ready (searing the beef, sauteing onions and garlic, reducing the wine) before even dumping all the ingredients into the crock pot.  The steps were all super easy, but it took just a bit more time than a typical slow cooker recipe.  Even though it took as long to prep as a start-to-finish meal, it’s worth it because the next 8 hours that beef spends in the crock pot get it to that fall-off-the-bone status.

I worked off this recipe but recommend adding more pepper and herbs – don’t be shy.  You also don’t need quite as much liquid (though it’s great for pouring over rice or potatoes) so maybe hold back on that a bit.  If you do, you save a glass of wine for yourself while you’re cooking.  That’s what I call a win win.  Another tip: I added a mushrooms (mix of cremini, shitake, etc.) and it was a great move.  I served mine over parmesan mashed potatoes with a side of roasted Brussels sprouts.  Also a great move.