Peposo

Tuscan

• Ready In: 4 hrs 30 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2  lbs  boned beef shank (buy it boned)
• 3  teaspoons  freshly ground black pepper
• 10  garlic cloves
• 8  ounces mushrooms
• 1  medium onion, diced
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons  coarse kosher salt
• 750  ml red wine (Chianti or Merlot)
• 6  bay leaves

Directions

1. Cube the meat into fairly large pieces, weighing a couple of ounces each. Put them in a pot with the pepper, garlic, and salt, and heat over a medium flame, turning occasionally, until the meat has browned and almost all the water it gives off upon being heated has been reabsorbed -- for this volume of meat figure close to an hour. Add enough wine to submerge the meat by an inch (2.5 cm) or so; if the wine is not enough add warm water or broth -- vegetable, but meat will work, as will unsalted bouillon. Add the bay leaves, cover, and simmer over a very gentle flame for at least 4 hours, giving the pot a stir every now and then.
2. When the time is up, let the meat cool and remove it to a bowl, leaving the liquid in the pot. Cover the meat and refrigerate both the meat and the liquid in the pot (you could put the liquid in a second bowl to save space if need be). The next morning a layer of congealed fat will have risen to cover the surface of the liquid. Remove and discard this fat, and return both the liquid and the meat to the pot to reheat it before serving it.