A great winter's day warm-up: Shanks
Beer and braising convince me my deer and hog shanks will never be burger again
Few things in this world are sweeter than the moment after you leave the muddy, snow-covered boots on the mat, shed the coat that’s sweaty on the inside and frosty on the hood, and open the door to a home filled with the smell of something slow-cooked and rich.
Thanks to a local craft beer and a fat feral hog with legs below the knee that had enough meat on them to make me think twice about their value for something other than hamburger, we have a new favorite wintertime meal.
Like anything on the carcass that appears to contain more gristle and bone than meat, shanks get no respect. In the field-dressing process, the lower leg is the nearest handle for dragging duty or grasping point to steady a critter while work is done elsewhere.
They get yanked on, stepped on, hooked through, and likely see minor care while an animal is skinned. They can end up dirty and hair-covered, especially if the work is happening at camp or without the aid of a gambrel. Many carcasses are tossed into the cooler without the portion below the knees attached.
Let’s face it: there isn’t much meat lost if that’s the choice. If the lower leg reaches the processing table, it’s quickly boned out, and the scraps are tossed in the grind bin.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but now I’ve experienced the alternative a few times, I know what I’m missing.
The fatty hog
On such an occasion, with dirt- and hair-smeared greasy shanks lying on the table after cutting the hams off a particularly large—and fatty—boar, the idea of slow-cooking some whole shanks wormed into my brain.
I’m sure I’d read recipes or seen outdoor TV shows before. It was not an original idea, just something fresh for me. After I knocked off the hooves and trimmed away the dirt and hair, those rear hocks looked mighty fine sitting atop all the other cuts in that 125-quart sleet-coated cooler.
I sat on that cooler and enjoyed the one beer I had with me for the trip: a Bearded Theologian from Cabin Boys Brewery. After an all-nighter in the woods and working through the breaking daylight into thunder-sleet storms breaking down that pig, that dark, caramel malt beer was a great breakfast appetizer.
They call it a Belgian Quad (according to the label), and honestly, without looking it up, I have no idea what that means. My beer flavor vocabulary doesn’t stretch much beyond dark, light, caramel, malt, hops, fruity, or flowery. With beers, I’m kind of like the kids on American Bandstand who always said they liked a song because “It has a good beat, and you can dance to it.”
I don’t recall if the idea of beer braising and those hocks came to me over breakfast or on the drive home after a long nap. Still, it was set in my head, and as I thought about pulling those shanks out of the freezer, I Googled “beer, braising, wild, boar, pork, shanks,” and, eventually, landed at craftbeering.com and a recipe from one of that page’s creators, Melina Perrine.
The recipe at Craftbeering is for domestic hog (and, man, I bet it’s delicious), but I could immediately see it working for wild boar and venison.
We only do a few things differently than the recipe for pork. We cook it at a lower temperature (275) for a slower cook with lean game meat, and we use lots of carrots in the bottom of the pot to create a side dish and treat the onions, celery, and garlic a little differently. Other than that, my hat’s off to the fine folks at Craftbeering.
And best winter wishes to all who might have some shanks in the freezer or a wild boar in their sights this winter.
Braised Hog Shanks with Dark Beer Gravy
Ingredients
Feral Hog (or venison) Shanks (as few as two big ones, or more smaller ones)
2-4 Tbl avocado oil or other high-smoke-point cooking oil
One large onion
Four celery stalks
Four large cloves of garlic
Enough carrots (chopped) to cover the bottom of your pan
One bunch of fresh thyme (or dried leaves)
One bunch of fresh oregano (or dried leaves)
Two fresh bay leaves (or dried)
One cup of beef broth (Better than Boullion optional)
A 12-ounce can of beer (Cabin Boys Bearded Theologian) or your choice of a well-balanced amber, brown ale, porter, or stout that is not “hoppy.” (optional: add more beef broth instead)
1 Tbl corn starch for gravy
Directions
Wild game shanks store best in a vacuum-sealed bag with a layer of clean fat or membrane left on the shank, so step one is to trim away excess membrane, fat, and silver skin. No need to go overboard, however.
Prep by coarse-chopping onion, celery, garlic, and enough carrots to cover the bottom of your baking pan, be it a roaster, Dutch oven, or 9X13 baking pan.
Preheat your oven to 275 degrees (300 if you want it to go a little faster, but lower/slower is best), and heat a skillet on medium-high heat with enough oil to cover the bottom.
Brown the outer surfaces of the shanks and put them on top of the carrots.
Reduce heat on the skillet and saute the onion and celery until it just begins to become translucent. Add the garlic and saute for another two minutes.
Pour this mixture over the shanks and carrots. Another option is to leave it in the skillet for the next step.
Deglaze the pan with about a quarter cup of the beer, then add the broth, thyme, oregano, bay leaves, and the rest of the beer. Bring the mixture to a boil, then pour it over the shanks.
Seal the baking dish with foil or cover with a tight lid and bake until the shanks are tender. Depending on the pan, the oven, and the size of your shanks, this could take 3 hours or more or as little as 2 ½.
Use a strainer to separate the liquid from the aromatics and carrots into a pot. Set the carrots aside (if some celery, onion, or garlic pieces are mixed in, that’s fine).
(optional) Increase the oven temperature to 350 and return the shanks to the oven on a rack for a quick browning of just five minutes for added flavor/texture.
Use the cornstarch and some broth (or the hot liquid) to create a slurry, add it to the liquid, and simmer until it is thickened to your preference.
Shred the meat off the shanks and serve separately, or add the meat and/or the carrots to the gravy.
Serve with a side of mashed potatoes or wild rice.