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Wednesday 15 February 2017

Slow Cooked Beef With Soffrito


I'm sure whatever part of the world you live, you each have your own favourite food stores or farmers markets. Living in the UK one of my favourites is Waitrose. I always find the staff so helpful, the stores are clean and the standard is very good. The only downside (if it can be called a downside) is it can be more expensive than some of our other UK outlets, but then I guess if you are among the fortunate few who can afford to shop in the wonderful Harrod's food hall or perhaps Fortnum and Mason, Waitrose is a breeze! Now hold on - before you say it - yes, I'm sure there are some very good and reasonably priced food items in all these stores ...
As with anything we each have our choice of how we want to shop, where we want to shop, taking our needs, wallets and food choices into account.

Now enough blurb! On with the recipe ...
Do you know:

What soffritto is? I didn't, not until I saw and researched more. In this 'Waitrose' menu it is a ready mix of diced white onion, carrots and celery - so of course you could make your own 50% onion and 25% each of carrots and celery to make up the 400g needed to serve four.
The casserole vegetables are a mix of carrot, swede, leeks & onions, so you can easily mix these to get the required 550g.
The
beef shank is the shank (or leg) portion of a steer or heifer. In Britain the corresponding cuts of beef are the shin (the fore-shank), and the leg (the hind-shank).

Here we go (to Serve Four) you will need:
Ingredients
2 x packs (or equivalent) British beef shank joint (each pack about 750g, 1.5kg total)
1 tbsp oil
400g pack Cooks’ Ingredients Soffritto Mix (or equivalent)
77g pack Cooks’ Ingredients Diced Beechwood Smoked Pancetta (or equivalent)
550g pack Cooks’ Ingredients Casserole Vegetables (or equivalent)
1 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
400g can chopped tomatoes
200ml beef stock

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 170˚C, gas mark 3. Cut the meat into large chunks. Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the beef including the bone then transfer to a casserole dish.

2. Add the soffritto mix and pancetta to the frying pan and fry for 3 minutes then add the casserole vegetables and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, tomatoes and stock, bring to the boil then pour into the casserole dish. Season then cover and cook for 3 hours or until tender.

It is the slow cooking that makes this meal, I would serve mine with some cabbage, (not the bread as photographed) - but what may you choose?

Nutritional Information - per serving:
Fat 21.5g Carbohydrate 17.1g Protein 58.4g

Original recipe idea here


All the best Jan

27 comments:

Phil Slade said...

What a coincidence. We just made the almost same thing but with wine and stock plus button mushrooms and baby onions. Not forgetting the garlic!

Waitrose? very upmarket. Support your local butcher and veg shop too.

DeniseinVA said...

Never heard that term before and now I know. Thanks Jan! Lovely recipe. I am getting quite a collection thanks to you:)

Lowcarb team member said...

Reply to Phil who said
"We just made the almost same thing but with wine and stock plus button mushrooms and baby onions. Not forgetting the garlic!"

Sounds very tasty ... a little like beef bourguignon

Yes, I do agree with you, if you can support your local butcher and vegetable shops (well any local shops) you should.

Thanks for your comment

All the best Jan

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I looks wonderful! I cooked a roast in the crockpot yesterday with organic carrots in the broth (the last 45 minutes) and made potatoes and limas to go with it. Yummy!

Lowcarb team member said...

Reply To Lavender Dreamer (Diane) who said

"I looks wonderful! I cooked a roast in the crockpot yesterday with organic carrots in the broth (the last 45 minutes) and made potatoes and limas to go with it. Yummy!"


Your meal does sound delicious, but I had to look up limas here http://www.food.com/about/lima-bean-195
I think in the UK we may call them butter beans ...

Thanks for your comment

All the best Jan

riitta k said...

I learned something new, meaning sofrito - thank you. Your link is excellent! I love celery but too often forget it. I like to add it also to fresh salads. Have a lovely day Jan.

Francisco Manuel Carrajola Oliveira said...

Hummm tem um aspecto delicioso.
Um abraço e boa semana.
Andarilhar || Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa || Livros-Autografados

Lowcarb team member said...

Francisco Translation:
Hummm tem um aspecto delicioso. Hmmm, it looks delicious.
Um abraço e boa semana. A hug and a good week.

Christine said...

never heard of Soffrito or don't remember, the recipe looks delicious!

Valerie-Jael said...

This sounds very good, thanks for sharing another great recipe. I'm copying them into my computer cook book each time. Hugs, Valerie

Debbie said...

this looks so good...a nice winter dish!!!

Lorrie said...

This looks delicious! It's interesting how so many cultures have a variation of the same thing. Mirepoix in France, sofrito in Spain, soffritto in Italy - all a mixture of sauteed vegetables (carrots, onion, celery). It would be convenient to purchase the mixture diced and ready to cook!

This N That said...

Looks yummy..never heard of Soffrito..Sounds interesting.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Goodness this sounds wonderful Jan, definitely one for the winter months. It's so warm here right now it's mostly salads and barbeques.. any good BBQ recipes? ☺

Paul1976 said...

Hi Jan! Looks good to me! I do use Waitrose sometimes as they do carry some of the more unusual ingredients and some nicer things that the other supermarkets do not but as you say-Does cost a bit more but that doesn't hurt every now again.

Best Regards to you,Eddie and Graham...Will start posting again on the forum soon. :)

Paul

Tom said...

Soffrito is new to me.

sage said...

This looks wonderful!

Lowcarb team member said...

Reply to Grace (Perth Daily Photo)

Of course it's summer in the Southern Hemisphere!

These pork and pepper kebabs are nice, link below
http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/pork-with-pepper-kebabs.html

These Summer Salads could be Just Perfect!
Use this link below, and then click on the green links which are on the post ...
http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/summer-salads-just-perfect.html

Enjoy your summer, and thanks for your comment

All the best Jan

Lowcarb team member said...

Reply to Paul:
Hi, and so lovely to hear from you - hope all is well.
Yes, Waitrose is good,and I'd love to shop there every week, but I choose my moments!

Take care and look forward to reading comments here and posts on the Forum.

Eddie and Graham send their best regards ...
... and I send warmest wishes

All the best Jan

Lowcarb team member said...

Hi all

Many thanks for your comments, and do please feel free to comment, if you haven't done so already.

This post has received a great response and many reads ...

Prompted by your comments (and Lorrie's mention of Mirepoix, I did a little more research. You may find this article an interesting read:

All About Mirepoix, Sofrito, Battuto, and Other Humble Beginnings, see this link
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/all-about-mirepoix.html

All the best Jan

Our photos said...

Getting hungry......

Lisabella Russo said...

It looks like an interesting recipe. Definitely we have shops with a range of expense here as well, some things can only be found in some places...

Revrunner said...

Hmm, beef shank joint. I'll have to ask the folks in my local meat market to show me what that is.

Martha said...

This looks like a wonderful meal. I didn't know what soffritto is...and now I do!

The Joy of Home with Martha Ellen said...

Soffrito, mirepoix or Holy trinity--they all help turn a so so recipe into a great one! In all parts of the world we all start with the basics to bring a great meal to the table. I loved Waitrose when we visited England. Thanks Jan for all the great recipes.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I love slow cooker meals for their convenience when I am busy babysitting my grandchildren. This looks like a delicious recipe!

Magic Love Crow said...

Looks very good! Thank you!