Beef short rib and onion cottage pie recipe
- 4 kg (8.8lbs) eef short ribs (also known as Jacobs ladders)
- 6 carrots
- 1 leek
- 1 head garlic
- 1 bunch thyme
- 6 onions
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 star anise
- 10 g (0.4oz) peppercorns
- 100 ml (3.5fl oz) port
- 300 ml (10.6fl oz) red wine
- 4 litres brown Chicken Stock
- 4 pieces centre-cut bone marrow (10cm long and cleaned of any sinew)
- 1 bunch rosemary, to serve
- 3 large King Edward potatoes
- 1 pinch sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 100 ml (3.5fl oz) milk
- 50 g (1.8oz) butter
- With a large knife, cut through the meat that lies between each the rib bone so that you have 8 pieces in total (or ask your butcher to do this for you).
- Peel 2 carrots and trim the leek, then chop these vegetables into rough dice.
- Cut the head of garlic crossways in half.
- Pick the leaves from half of the thyme, leaving the rest as whole sprigs.
- Peel and thinly slice the onions, and cook them with a drizzle of vegetable oil in a saucepan over a medium heat.
- Dont add any seasoning as you want the onions to caramelize completely this will take up to 20 minutes.
- Peel and thinly slice the 4 remaining carrots, and put them into a saucepan over a high heat with a splash of vegetable oil.
- Season with salt (to prevent the carrots from colouring too quickly) and add the star anise to the pan.
- Cook for 2 minutes, then turn the heat down to medium and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the carrots just start to soften.
- Make the mash.
- Peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks.
- Place the chunks in a saucepan of cold salted water, cover and bring to the boil, then boil gently for about 20 minutes until tender.
- Bring the milk and butter just to the boil in a separate saucepan.
- Drain the potatoes in a colander, then stand the colander over the saucepan for a few minutes so the potatoes steam in their own heat.
- Now mash the potatoes with a masher, or put through a potato ricer or Mouli, then fold in the hot milk and butter and beat well.
- Check the seasoning.
- Put the mash in a piping bag if you have one, and set aside at room temperature until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2.
- Splash some vegetable oil into a very large flameproof casserole and place over a medium heat until very hot.
- Lightly season the ribs with salt and pepper, place in the pan and colour lightly on all sides.
- Remove and set aside on a wire rack placed over a tray.
- Place the empty pan back on the heat and add the roughly chopped vegetables, the peppercorns, garlic halves and thyme sprigs.
- Cook for 5 minutes or until golden.
- Pour the port and wine into the pan and allow to reduce by three-quarters.
- Return the ribs to the pan with any juices that have gathered in the resting tray, cover with the stock and bring to a simmer.
- Skim off any impurities, then cover the surface of the liquid with a lid of parchment paper and place the pan in the oven.
- Cook for just under 3 hours until the meat is tender and falling off the bones.
- Remove the pan from the oven and leave to cool, then take the meat out and set aside.
- Pass the cooking liquid through a fine sieve into a clean pan and reduce by half, skimming off any impurities during the process.
- Remove the meat from the bones, discarding any sinew, and shred the meat into long strips with your fingers.
- Combine the reduced cooking liquid with the shredded meat, caramelized onions, carrots (without the star anise) and thyme leaves.
- Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.
- Divide the mixture equally between 4 individual cast iron or earthenware dishes and place a piece of bone marrow in the middle.
- Pipe the mash around the bones (or use a spoon if you dont have a piping bag) and fill the bones with sprigs of rosemary.
- Place the dishes in the oven and cook for 12 minutes or until the mash is golden.
- Serve hot, with the rosemary set alight.
carrots, leek, garlic, thyme, onions, vegetable oil, anise, peppercorns, port, red wine, chicken, centre, rosemary, potatoes, salt, milk, butter
Taken from www.lovefood.com/guide/recipes/21643/beef-short-rib-and-onion-cottage-pie-recipe (may not work)