Divine Proportion Part 1: Braised Beef Shanks

Leonardo De Vinci is most closely associated with that which is known as Divine Proportion and the Golden Ratio, but not rightly so.

It has captured Western imaginations for over 2400 years from Pythagoras and Euclid in ancient Greece to present day mathematicians and physicists. (Wikipedia full text and a must read even if you don’t have time.) Some say it is the Signature of God writ here there and there across the universe. Musicians and artists, biologists and astronomers can all come under the sway of its sublime appeal. In marketing, for the ad men and their graphic designers it’s a useful tool. Cigarette packs are divinely proportioned.

In cooking it is that “sweet chord,” that just right combination that makes a dish simply oh so good, and its presentation a matter of no small consequence. Though in cooking, it’s hard to make a mathematical case for it. I am convinced it is key. It’s the right combination of ingredients, of method, of complementary dishes and presentation that rises cooking to culinary art. A boiled egg is a boiled egg. A deviled egg can be a magnificently different thing altogether. It is the divine ratio, without which the deviled egg is nothing but a boiled egg with college education.

So I’ve got a pot of beef shanks on the stove. The initial divine proportion here is enough water to cover. That’s just the beginning. From that there will emerge a fine plate of braised beef and spätzle lusciously glazed in sauce of reduced stock and caramelized onions, and a generous pot of beef barley soup will follow.

This was to have been a recipe for braised oxtails. But they’ve become costly, $4.50 a pound at my market.

It seems that trendy and pricey pricy restaurants across the U.S. have added either braised tails or braised beef short ribs to the peasant side of their gourmet menus. (Beef short ribs have become pricy too, as have chicken wings. My god, what’s poor boy to eat?)

I’ve returned to the food stamp challenge. This time it’s not out of curiosity, but necessity. I’m laid off – got bit in the butt by Obamanomics, that’s what. It’s not an altogether bad thing, but it’s something that is certainly tightening the belt on my household budget. So instead of the oxtails, I’ve braised up some shanks and will get the bonus of a pot of soup.

Under these circumstances, shanks of all sorts have become wonderfully attractive. There are beef shanks, turkey shanks, chicken shanks and pork shanks. They are a good buy and can be cooked up into delightfully tasty dishes provided one brings divine proportions into play. (Lamb shanks are costly too. I think the peasant side of the gourmet menu enters into that equation as well.)        

For the braised shanks and soup stock you will need:

2 pounds of beef shanks

1 quart of low sodium beef broth (not condensed)

1.5 quarts of water.

Oven brown the shanks in a 350^o oven for about an hour, then transfer to the soup pot. Cover generously with the beef broth and water and bring to a very slow rolling boil for two to two and one half hours until the meat separates from the bones. Add more water as needed to maintain the original volume. Remove the shanks from the stock and trim the meat from the bones. Return the bones, the fat and gristle to the stock pot. There is still flavor in them after all and more importantly we are trying to extract and breakdown as much of the naturally occurring gelatins as possible.

Short ribs, oxtail, beef shanks and veal neck bones are all cuts of meat rich in gelatin. This is why they are so wonderful for braising and why they render such delicious stock. I’ve used the beef broth here to enhance the flavor because I am not boiling the shanks into tasteless mush. Beef has become too dear for that luxury.

In removing the meat from the bone it becomes obvious that the shank is comprised of a series of muscles. Divide the meat according to individual sections of muscle. On the cutting board there will be eight or ten small to medium sized medallions. These are for the final braising and will make braised beef shanks for two.  Also remove the marrow from the bones. This too is for sauce.

There will also be four or five larger muscle cross sections. These are for the soup.

Skim the fat off of the stock. This will yield a generous cup of fat that our grandparents would have put to good use. (That fat is in my refrigerator. I’m eyeing it up for homemade French fries. That will be a deferent adventure.)

To finish, this is where divine proportion comes in, you will need:

Beef shank medallions

Bone marrow finely chopped

2 cups of stock

¼ cup dry sherry

1 bay leave

1 medium onion thinly sliced

1 teaspoon butter

1/8 teaspoon Sweet paprika

Salt & Pepper to taste

In a sauce pan combine the stock, bone marrow, sherry, bay leave and paprika. Bring to a boil and reduce by half. Meanwhile in a sauté pan caramelize the onions. When the stock is reduced, lower to simmer and add the beef shank medallions and caramelized onions. Allow to simmer for fifteen minutes then add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over spätzle, noodles or buttered toast triangles, with either green beans or oven browned root vegetables (a mix of carrots, parsnips and rutabaga). There you have it, divine proportion guiding a peasant feast. We can only hope the beef shanks don’t find their way to the peasant side of trendy gourmet menu.      

One final note: I’ve added a recipe gadget to this page. It’s not bad at all. You can use it a resource or simple reality check against the recipes I outline on these pages.