dhruv baker's braised beef shin

Following yet another day out for Ana Louise - this time living it up at Orange Pekoe for Kendra Kats' Champagne birthday tea, followed by going for a 'date' with Brenda at The Depot - today we have a family outing.

As we're all still slightly suffering from post-Hamilton blues, this outing does not involve an awful lot. In fact, we only get as far as Mortlake Park for a 'power play' in the cold, followed by an emergency trip to our favourite local deli, the mighty Pickle & Rye.

How delicious does this look? Ana and Milo went for their trad options: turkey club and a chocolate brownie, respectively. However I rang the changes and rather than my usual Toronto, opted for the pulled pork - It's a great combination of sweet meat and smokey sauce! There's so much to love about this place, from the fresh ingredients, the great coffee, friendly staff and the fact the sandwiches all made fresh to order. It's fab, and even better they've now 'super-sized' their portions with 'American' size sandwiches. Ana wouldn't let me have one though.

Outing over, we settle in to watch telly/play Lego whilst Dhruv Baker's beef stew ticks away... for three freakin hours! Lucky I'm full of porky goodness, otherwise I'd have gone mental with hunger cravings.

It's worth the wait mind. We've had it a couple of times now, although it's one of those recipes I can never find when I want it. In fact it's just taken me fully two hours to find it now. Anyway, it's unctuous and filling, and the parmesan and polenta chips he teams it with are fantastic. Sadly we don't have them this time, we have it with the equally Milo-endorsed cauliflower cheese and mash.

Wine Time
The great thing about stews is you don't need a massively beefy (ho ho!) red to team with them, because the flavours are so intense in the dish itself. Also, the long cooking time means using the tannins in the wine to break down the fat in the meat becomes a bit moot. I suppose we have these associations because you have stews in winter, and you naturally drink bigger, ballsier bottles in the cold months.

Anyway, a youngish Chianti full of floral notes, red cherry/rasperry flavours, and sweet spices would be amazeballs here: Rich enough to balance the gravy and to cut through the cheese, and with some soft, medium tannins that don't dominate the meat.

sources
braised beef shin with carrot & saffron puree and polenta chips - Dhruv Baker, Delicious, October 2011, p61