Chefs' Recipes

The Henry Austin's braised beef shin with grain salad and yoghurt sauce

The Henry Austin’s hearty braised beef shin is slow cooked until the meat is so tender it’s almost falling off the bone. Accompanied by their mixed grain salad and a herby yoghurt sauce, it's a perfectly balanced and comforting meal.

  • 40 mins preparation
  • 5 hrs cooking plus resting
  • Serves 6
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"I'm obsessed with the braised beef shin with grain salad at The Henry Austin in Adelaide, and would love to make it at home. Can you help?" - Sylvia Saad, Adelaide, SA
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Ingredients

  • 60 ml olive oil (¼ cup)
  • 3 onions, coarsely chopped
  • 6 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
  • ½ bulb garlic, cloves separated, unpeeled
  • 200 ml red wine
  • 1 beef shin (about 2.5kg)
  • 500 gm ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
  • ⅓ cup lemon thyme (firmly packed)
  • 5 star anise
  • 2 litres hot chicken stock (8 cups)
Grain salad
  • 125 gm each wholegrain greenwheat freekeh, toasted buckwheat and tricolour quinoa (see note)
  • 125 gm flaxseed
  • 50 gm sunflower seeds
  • 50 gm pepitas
  • 50 gm raisins
  • Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
  • ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley (tightly packed)
  • ¼ cup mint, plus extra to serve (tightly packed)
  • 50 ml olive oil
Yoghurt sauce
  • 300 gm Greek-style yoghurt
  • ½ cup parsley (firmly packed)
  • ½ cup mint leaves (firmly packed)
  • 1 tbsp tarragon
  • Juice of ½ lemon

Method

  • 1
    Preheat oven to 200C. Combine 2 tbsp oil, onion, celery and garlic in a deep casserole or heavy roasting pan large enough to hold the shin and roast, turning once, until vegetables are caramelised (50 minutes to 1 hour). Reduce oven to 140C, remove vegetables from oven and deglaze pan with wine. Add beef, tomatoes, thyme, star anise and stock, cover with a lid or baking paper and foil, and bake until meat is almost falling from the bone (4-4½ hours). Rest in stock for at least 30 minutes.
  • 2
    Meanwhile, for grain salad, bring freekeh, 250ml water and a pinch of salt to the boil in a covered small saucepan, then reduce heat to low and simmer gently until tender (30-40 minutes). Bring buckwheat, 250ml water and a pinch of salt to the boil in a separate small saucepan, reduce heat to low and simmer until water has evaporated and buckwheat is tender (14-15 minutes), then cool. Meanwhile, in another small saucepan, bring 250ml water to the boil, add quinoa and a pinch of salt, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring every few minutes, until water has evaporated and quinoa is tender (14-15 minutes). Dry-roast flaxseeds, sunflower seeds and pepitas in a heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat until fragrant and flaxseeds start to pop (2-3 minutes). Gently combine grains, toasted seeds, raisins, lemon rind and juice, herbs and olive oil, and season to taste.
  • 3
    Remove beef from pan, skim off fat, strain liquid, reserving half the vegetables (discard star anise and thyme) and pour 1 litre cooking liquid back into pan (cool and freeze remaining liquid for another use). Simmer over medium-high heat until reduced by two-thirds (15-20 minutes), then add reserved vegetables and season to taste.
  • 4
    For yoghurt sauce, blend ingredients and a pinch of salt in a food processor until herbs are coarsely chopped. Transfer to a serving bowl, top with extra mint and serve with beef shin, reduced stock and grain salad.

Notes

Toasted buckwheat, known as kasha, and freekeh are available from select health-food shops.