Slow Cooker Beef Shank Stew

This recipe really hit the spot tonight with temperatures dropping and some snow is even in our forecast. Will we have a white Christmas? We always keep our fingers crossed that we will. Bruce has been wrapping presents today, mine were mostly done and already under the tree. Our cat isn't too happy about that. This was his favorite place to sleep. What happened to my cat bed?

Last weekend, the grandkids joined in with the present wrapping.

You can probably tell which ones they wrapped. The 3 year-old even wrapped two presents for his stuffed animals. We had to look around to find something to put in a box to wrap for them, he didn't care what it was. Afterwards, he felt so accomplished and proud of his work. His gift tags were a full sheet of paper that covered the whole present.

It has been nonstop around here which also included making Christmas cookies, of course.

We made my favorite Christmas cookies; Spritz cookie recipe that we actually rolled out the dough and used as cut-out sugar cookies, Russian Tea Cakes that are my family's favorite, and my Chocolate Snowflakes. These were their favorites.

And, of course, Bruce has made several batches of his almond roca that we ship out as Christmas gifts.

Now, we are taking it easy this week, wrapping the last minute gifts and starting tomorrow I will begin prepping food. We decided to make homemade pizza with the grandkids on Christmas Eve using my sourdough starter to make the crust and then we'll have Prime Rib on Christmas. That's another reason why I really like this recipe from Hannah Freese, RD - it's super easy and doesn’t take much time. Once you braise the meat in a skillet with the onions and garlic, you put it all in the crockpot to cook all day. It is similar to Wine Braised Short Ribs but a lot easier. This one is perfect for a weeknight meal, especially for the week of Christmas when you have presents to wrap and a million things to do, right?

Serves 6

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 lbs. beef shanks, short ribs, oxtails or chuck roast cut in pieces

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large yellow onion, sliced

3 cups diced tomatoes

6 carrots, medium, sliced

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

1. Heat half the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Fry the meat until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. I used oxtails because the grocery store did not have shanks but the other listed meats would work, too.

2. Transfer to the slow cooker and set to high.

3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in the same pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions. Cook until the onions are tender, about 5-8 minutes. Add a bit of liquid from the diced tomatoes to deglaze the pan.

4. Transfer the onions, along with the carrots, diced tomatoes, salt, and pepper to the slow cooker.

5. Cook for 4 hours on high, or 6-8 hours on low or until beef is tender and falls off the bone easily. Season with more salt and pepper to taste.

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