Braised shin beef with onions and horseradish gravy

Braised shin beef with onions and horseradish gravy is a hearty, slow-cooked dish made with succulent pieces of beef shin, simmered with mushrooms and onions in a rich, savoury gravy. A spoonful of horseradish sauce adds gentle warmth and cuts through the richness, while a splash of brandy adds extra depth of flavour.

Beef shin has long been my go-to cut of meat for this beef vegetable winter soup. The collagen running through the beef slowly converts into soft luscious gelatine during cooking, leaving the meat wonderfully tender and adding richness and body to the cooking liquid..

To be honest, that's where the idea for this recipe came from. I reasoned that if the beef shin tasted so good in soup, it would taste just as good when turned into a stew or casserole. And I wasn't wrong!

The meat was fall-apart tender, and packed with flavour, with plenty of rich gravy thickened by the natural gelatine from the beef and the addition of a little flour.

I originally made this as a simple beef, onion and mushroom stew, but over the years I've tweaked it slightly, adding a little thyme (which goes so well with the mushrooms) and some creamed horseradish which is the perfect partner for beef.

This is the sort of dish that needs very little once it's on the plate. Serve it with creamy mashed potatoes, rice, buttered noodles or spaetzle (my favourite) to soak up the gravy. Add your favouite vegetables on the side and you have an easy and satisfying meal.

Why I love this recipe

• Economical. Shin beef is one of the cheaper cuts of meat, coming in at roughly one-third less than rump, and around half the price of sirloin or ribeye. (We won't even mention the price of fillet).
• Versatile. Apart from serving as a stew, you could pop the cooked beef and onion mixture into a casserole dish, top with puff pastry, bake for half an hour, and you'll have a delicious beef and onion pie.
• Freezer-friendly. Cool leftovers and pop them into the freezer. They'll keep for 3 to 4 months.
• Easy to make. Once you've got the stew on the stove (which takes less than 20 minutes), you can leave it to simmer gently until it's done.
• Great for making ahead. Like most slow-cooked beef dishes, this tastes just as good (if not better) when reheated the following day.

Ingredients for beef stew with horseradish gravy

**This is just an overview to explain why I used a particular ingredient. The complete list of ingredients and the exact measurements are on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.**

• Beef shin. Beef shin comes from the lower part of the cow's leg, and is naturally quite tough with plenty of connective tissue and sinew. This makes it particularly well suited to long, slow cooking, which breaks down the connective tissue and transforms the beef into beautifully tender meat. You can substitute with any cut of stewing or braising beef such as chuck or brisket, although you may not get quite the same richness and body in the gravy as you do from shin.
• Onions. Don't be concerned about the amount of onions in this beef stew. Raw onions contain harsh sulfur compounds that can cause gas, bloating, or heartburn for many people. Slow cooking (as in this recipe) deactivates these compounds, making the onions incredibly gentle on your digestive tract. The onions should be coarsely diced.
• Mushrooms. For this recipe I like to use firm fresh closed-cap white or chestnut (cremini) mushrooms. They should be thickly sliced.
• Beef stock. I like to use Oxo beef stock pots. The red wine flavoured ones give a lovely flavour to the stew, but the plain beef flavour makes a perfectly acceptable alternative. If you don't have stock pots, use stock cubes or a carton of beef stock from the supermarket.
• Horseradish. I use bottled creamed horseradish from the condiments aisle in the supermarket. Fresh horseradish would be too strong.
• Worcestershire sauce. Worcestershire sauce adds a savoury note to the gravy. It can be quite salty, so hold off adding salt to the stew until it has cooked for a while, so you can judge how much to add.
• Tomato puree (or tomato paste). This is highly concentrated tomatoes and is usually sold either in cans or in tubes.
• Brandy. I like to add a splash of brandy to the gravy. This is totally optional, so you can leave it out if you prefer. You may like to swap out half a cup of stock for half a cup of red wine instead.
• Dried thyme. Thyme pairs particularly well with both beef and mushrooms and adds a subtle earthy flavour to the gravy. I used dried thyme for convenience, but you can substitute with a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Remove the woody stems before serving.
• Flour. This is stirred into the dish before the stock is added. It helps thicken the gravy,
• Vegetable oil. This is any neutral flavoured cooling oil and is used for softening the onions. I like to use rapeseed.
• Salt and pepper. This is for seasoning and to your own taste. As mentioned, allow the dish to simmer for a while, then taste and add salt and pepper to taste if necessary.

How to make braised shin beef and onions

Step 1: Slice or dice the onions, depending on your preference. Heat the oil in a frying pan over moderate heat, add the onions and dried thyme and stir them until the onions turn translucent. About 5 minutes.

Step 2: Add the sliced mushrooms.

Step 3: Continue to stir until the mushrooms soften. This should take another 3 minutes.

Step 4: Stir in the cubed meat and continue to fry until the meat changes colour. (3 minutes)

Step 5: Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour. Stir in the brandy, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce and horseradish and add the stock pots and water (or just add ready-made stock).

Step 6: Stir well, then bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and leave to simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours until the gravy has thickened and the meat is tender.

Foodle Club top tips

Follow these handy tips to ensure your braised beef and onions with horseradish gravy always turns out perfectly:

• Cut your onions according to your own preference. You can slice them, dice them or simply quarter them and separate them into petals. The long, slow cooking process will soften them beautifully, and most of them will simply disintegrate into the stock.
• Slice or quarter the mushrooms depending on their size. Bear in mind that mushrooms shrink when they cook, so don't make them too small.
• Take care not to burn the mushrooms and onions. They can catch easily, so keep the heat to moderate and stir continuously. It only takes a few minutes!
• Cut the meat into bite-sized cubes. Sometimes shin has a tough layer of collagen around the edges. This is known as silverskin, and it should soften in the same way as the collagen inside the meat fibres. It doesn't look very appealing, so if you prefer, you can remove it with a sharp knife before cooking.
• Check occasionally while the stew is simmering. You shouldn't have a problem if you have a tightly fitting pan lid and keep the heat low, but if your stew seems to be drying out, top it up with extra stock or water.
• Taste for seasoning. Halfway through the cooking time, once the flavours have developed, taste and add salt and black pepper if necessary.

Serving suggestions

I like to serve this beef stew with a starch such as potatoes, rice, buttered noodles or homemade spaetzle, and a selection of freshly steamed vegetables. Mashed potatoes are particularly good because they soak up plenty of the rich onion gravy. And don't forget a few slices of crusty bread or dinner rolls on the side to mop up every last drop!

In the image below, I served the beef and onion stew with vegetables and a slice of French onion potato bake.

Variations

I purposely didn't add vegetables other than mushrooms and onions. I wanted a stew with just meat and a rich, flavourful gravy.

Of course, you can vary it to suit yourself:

• Garlic- crush 2 or 3 cloves of garlic and fry them with the onions.
• Vegetables - make this a complete one-pan-meal by adding cubed potatoes, sliced carrots, shredded cabbage, chopped leeks or other vegetables to your taste. Just be aware of the long cooking time for the stew and add the extra vegetables at the appropriate time (you don't want them turning to mush).
• Herbs - I added dried thyme, but you could use rosemary or marjoram, or add a bay leaf instead.

Equipment tips

As far as equipment tips go, I would say a large pan (either a frying pan or a saute pan, or even a saucepan) with a tightly fitting lid is essential. The lid helps prevent too much water from evaporating as the stew cooks, so you don't have to keep topping up the pan with water.

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