[ ./recipes/mains/braised-beef-shoulder.md ]
★ FRENCH · MAINS
Braised Beef Shoulder with Red Wine Reduction, Celery & Onion.
SERVES
8
TOTAL
600m
ACTIVE
180m
LVL
HARD
COOKED
// SUMMARY
Classic French braising from Thomas Martin (Hotel Louis C. Jacob, Hamburg), as featured on the German cooking show Kitchen Impossible. Before the actual braise you spend three hours building a dark veal stock; in parallel, a red wine reduction with shallots, port and thyme. The beef shoulder then braises for 5:30 h at 150°C in the stock before the gravy is finished with reduction, cold butter and a touch of aged balsamic. Served with celeriac purée, salt-baked onions and gougères. Demanding, but according to the source "the best gravy I've ever eaten."
// INGREDIENTS
| — **For the veal stock:** | ||
| 1 | kg | veal bones |
| 200 | g | leek |
| 200 | g | celeriac |
| 150 | g | carrots |
| 50 | g | tomato paste |
| 500 | ml | dry red wine |
| 1 | sprig rosemary | |
| 1.5 | l | water |
| 2 | tbsp | neutral oil |
| — **For the red wine reduction:** | ||
| 500 | g | shallots |
| 2 | tbsp | neutral oil |
| 100 | ml | port |
| 1 | l | dry red wine |
| 1 | bunch | thyme |
| 1 | tsp | salt |
| 1 | tsp | sugar |
| — **For the beef:** | ||
| 1.5 | kg | beef shoulder |
| 2 | tbsp | neutral oil |
| 1 | kg | shallots |
| 1 | bay leaf | |
| 150 | ml | dry red wine |
| 1.5 | l | veal stock (from above) |
| — approx. 400 ml water for topping up | ||
| — **For the gravy:** | ||
| — approx. 2 l braising liquor (from the beef) | ||
| — approx. 150 ml red wine reduction | ||
| 1 | tsp | salt |
| 1 | tsp | sugar |
| 2 | cl water | |
| 1 | espresso spoon cornstarch | |
| 50 | g | cold butter |
| 1 | tsp | aged balsamic (Balsamico di Modena) |
| — **For the onions:** | ||
| 8 | white onions, unpeeled | |
| 3 | tbsp | coarse sea salt |
| — **For the celeriac purée:** | ||
| 700 | g | celeriac |
| 50 | g | + 50 g butter |
| 50 | ml | water |
| 250 | ml | milk |
| 2 | to 2.5 tsp salt | |
| 0.25 | tsp | pepper |
| 0.5 | espresso spoon nutmeg | |
| — **For the gougères (12 pieces):** | ||
| 160 | g | flour |
| 50 | g | butter |
| 240 | ml | milk |
| 2 | eggs | |
| 1 | egg yolk (for brushing) | |
| 40 | g | Emmental, grated |
| 1 | tsp | salt |
| 0.3333333333333333 | espresso spoon nutmeg | |
// METHOD
- 01
**Veal stock:** Roast the veal bones at 230°C fan for 45 minutes. Dice the leek, carrots and celeriac and sweat them in 2 tbsp oil in a large pot. Add the bones and tomato paste, roast hard. Deglaze with 100 ml red wine and reduce until the vegetables sizzle again. Repeat the deglaze-and-reduce step five times in total, using all 500 ml of wine. Top up with 1.5 l water, add the rosemary, cover and simmer gently for 2 hours. Strain.
- 02
**Red wine reduction:** Peel and roughly chop the shallots; sweat them in 2 tbsp oil. Deglaze with the port, then add the red wine, thyme, salt and sugar. Reduce until only about 150 ml of liquid remains. Strain through a fine sieve and set aside.
- 03
**Sear the beef:** Sear the beef shoulder hard on all sides in 2 tbsp oil in a 5 l pot. Peel and roughly chop the 1 kg shallots and roast them with the bay leaf in the same pot. Deglaze with 150 ml red wine, then top up with the entire veal stock — the roast should be 2/3 covered.
- 04
**Braise:** Braise uncovered in the oven at 150°C for 5:30 h. Turn the meat every 30 minutes so all sides take colour. Top up with water as the level drops (about 400 ml total). Doneness check: a thin meat fork should pull out "as if from butter."
- 05
**Onions:** During the last hour of braising, set the unpeeled onions on a thick layer of sea salt in a baking dish. Roast at 200°C fan for 30 minutes. Peel before serving.
- 06
**Gravy:** Lift the meat out, wrap in foil, keep warm. Strain the braising liquor and reduce to about 400 ml, skimming the fat as it rises. Combine with the red wine reduction. Season with salt and sugar. Slake the cornstarch with 2 cl water and bind the sauce lightly. Off the heat, mount with 50 g cold butter and finish with 1 tsp aged balsamic.
- 07
**Celeriac purée:** Melt 50 g butter in a pot. Peel the celeriac, dice small and sweat in the butter. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Deglaze with 50 ml water and let it cook off. Pour in the milk and simmer until the milk has almost completely evaporated. Transfer with the "cream" from the pot to a blender and blitz to a fine purée. Fold in the remaining 50 g butter.
- 08
**Gougères:** In a pot, bring the milk and butter with salt and nutmeg to the boil. Tip in all the flour at once and beat hard with a spatula. "Dry" the dough by stirring continuously until it pulls away from the bottom and forms a ball. Cool slightly, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Knead in the grated Emmental. Pipe or spoon into about 12 mounds on a parchment-lined tray, brush with beaten egg yolk. Bake at 180°C fan for about 20 minutes.
- 09
**Plate:** Slice the beef shoulder and warm the slices briefly in the gravy. Plate on warm plates with a generous ladle of sauce. Top each portion with a peeled salt-baked onion. Serve the celeriac purée and gougères on a small side plate.
// NOTES
- — Timing: The veal stock dictates the day. Allow at least 3 hours for stock and reduction before the meat goes in the oven — then another 5:30 h of braising.
- — Onion skins in the stock? Thomas Martin leaves them out — he finds they distort the flavour.
- — Pepper in the sauce? The original is unpeppered. "But it wouldn't hurt to add some," per Thomas Martin.
- — Cornstarch binding: Not mentioned on the show; this came as a personal tip from the chef to the source. Skip it if you want a glossier, less viscous sauce.
- — Gougères: The Emmental doesn't read as "cheesy" — it just makes the choux moister and more savoury.
- — Salt: All teaspoon measurements are level, never heaped.