Recipes from Rumps

Casual Entertaining Beef Paleron & Pancetta

Casual Entertaining Beef Paleron & Pancetta

The French call this cut Paleron and once slow cooked it's fantastically rich in flavour and tender, in the UK the cut is Known as Feather and it's fantastic value for a gutsy familly meal or casual entertaining .This cut of beef used is the same price as casserole beef, so represents great value at £6.95 a kilo.

Due to limited availability of this cut, please give us a call so we can reserve it for you.

Ingredients.

• 2kgs feather blade of beef.
• a little flour.
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 450g button onions, peeled and left whole.
• 600g button mushrooms
• 1 bottle of red wine.
• 2 tbsp soft brown demerara sugar
• 2 400ml tins of beef consomme or stock.
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 12 rashers of pancetta 2mm thick.
• 1 1/2 tsp cornflour optional, loosened with a little water.
• small handfull parsley, roughly chopped.

1. Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Season the beef and dust with flour. Heat the oil in a large braising pot. Once hot, colour the beef on all sides before removing from the pot. (you may have to cut the beef in half to fit in your pan) Dab away the majority of oil left in the pot with kitchen paper, leaving just a trickle. Add the onions and fry gently until golden brown. Increase the heat and add the mushrooms, stirring once or twice before pouring in the wine with the sugar. Bring to the boil and allow to evaporate untill half the liquid is left.

2. Put the meat back in the pot, pour in the consomme or stock and top up with 400ml of water. Return to simmer and add the bay leaves and thyme. Cover with a lid and braise for 2 hours before turning the joint. Return to the oven and continue to braise for a further 1 1/2 hours.

3. Meanwhile, put the pancetta on a baking tray and top with another tray. Place in the oven while braising the beef, checking after 10 mins. If not deep brown and crispy continue to bake. Once cooked, transfer to a wire rack.

4. Once the beef is cooked, remove the joint, onions and mushrooms from the pot and keep warm on one side, skimming of any excess fat from the gravy. Strain the gravy and boil, reducing it by a third in volume for a rich beefy, red wine flavour. If a thicker consistency is preferred, thicken with the cornflour, whisking in a little at a time into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Slice or break the meat into chunky pieces and return into the sauce with the onions and mushrooms. Serve with chiabatta rolls, the pancetta sitting on top and sprinkled with the parsley.

Lamb Shanks in Red Wine & Garlic

Lamb shanks are great when slow cooked and this recipe is really easy, so why not take advantage of this months special offer of 6 lamb shanks for £15.

Ingredients

• 6 lamb shanks, trimmed
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• a few whole peppercorns
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• a bunch fresh thyme
• a small bunch fresh rosemary
• 1 bottle red wine
• 1 small jar redcurrant jelly

Method
1. Place the shanks in a casserole pot and add a peeled and halved carrot, a peeled and halved onion a few whole peppercorns, the herbs and two to three lightly smashed whole cloves of garlic.
2. Pour over enough wine to cover the meat of the shanks - this is about a whole bottle and then leave overnight. This process will tenderise the meat.
3. The next day, place the pot, covered with a lid in a preheated hot oven at 160C/325F/Gas 3 and cook for about three hours or more. If the simmering becomes too lively during cooking, reduce the temperature slightly. The idea is to cook long and slow.
Slightly uncover the pot for the last hour so that the liquid will start to reduce.
4. Remove the pot from the oven but keep the oven hot. Remove the shanks from the cooking liquid and place in a roasting dish and spoon over a couple of ladles of the liquid to keep moist. Roast the shanks in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until falling off the bone.
5. Some of the cooking liquid will have reduced and it is perfect for gravy to serve with the shanks. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon or strain the liquid through a sieve.
6. Heat the cooking liquid until boiling, let it reduce to about half its volume and then add a whole small jar of redcurrant jelly to it and let it melt down. The gravy will thicken nicely. Serve with the lamb shanks, creamy mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.