Country-Style Braised Pork Shanks

Step 1

Dredge the pork shanks in flour seasoned with sea salt and black pepper.

Step 2

Add vegetable oil to a large dutch oven (6-7 quarts or a large skillet) over medium-high heat. Sear the pork shanks for about 2 minutes on each side.Once seared on all sides, remove the pork shanks from the pan and set aside until needed.**Discard the oil if it’s burnt and start with fresh oil, but don’t clean out the pan. We want all those tasty bits stuck to the pan for the sauce.

Step 3

Add the celery, carrots, onions, mushrooms, potatoes and chopped garlic to the pot. Let the vegetables cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until they have all been lightly cooked.

Step 4

After lightly cooking the vegetables, add the beer to the dutch oven. Turn the heat down and scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan.This process is called deglazing.

Step 5

After deglazing the pan, add the stock, herbs, salt, cracked black pepper and tomato paste to the pot.Allow the mixture to simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Step 6

Remove about two-thirds of the vegetables and stock from the pot. Add the seared pork shanks back into the pan, arranging them so that the remainder of the vegetables and stock will mostly cover them.

Step 7

Add the stock and veggies back to the pan. They should almost completely cover the pork shanks.Cover the pot with a lid or aluminum foil and place into a 325 degree preheated oven for 3 hours.

Step 8

When the pork shanks are ready you may have a good amount of grease pooling in the pan. Remove most of the grease and discard it. Mix the rest back into the sauce

Step 9

Serve the pork shanks with the sauce and vegetables and enjoy!