Pork Shank Braised in Red-Eye Gravy

Pork comes in all shapes and sizes. Chops, loins, butts and bellies seem to get the most love in the kitchen, but did you know that the shank can be a dandy piece of meat, too? It’s an excellent, but often-overlooked choice: When properly cooked, it’s full of flavor and super-easy to make.

So what exactly is a pork shank? It’s a cut of meat from the lower leg of a pig. It tends to be leaner because it doesn’t have much fat. As a result, if you cook it the wrong way, you’ll never tear that meat off the bone. Lucky for you, Lucky’s braising recipe will have you going “hog wild” for the pork shank!

Red-Eye Braised Pork Shank (Serves 4*)

  • 4 each pork shank
  • 3 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp pepper
  • ²⁄3 cup all purpose flour
  • 4 fl oz canola oil
  • 1 ¹⁄3 cup yellow onion – diced
  • ½ pound carrots – sliced
  • 4 stalks celery
  • 3 each bay leaves
  • 2 ²⁄3 cup ham stock
  • 2 cups double strength coffee
  • Salt
  • Pepper

 

Prep veggies, meat, stock and spices. Dredge pork shank in flour. Shake off excess flour, but reserve. Heat oil in a wide, heavy bottomed pot. Sear and brown shank on all sides over medium heat

When fully browned, remove shank from pot and let rest. Add reserved flour to pot and stir well to make brown roux. When brown color is achieved, add onions, celery and carrots to roux.

Add salt, pepper, bay leaves and ham stock, continuing to stir. Stir in coffee. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer. You have now made our modernized version of red-eye gravy.

 

Return pork shank to a pot and pour the red-eye gravy and vegetables over it. Partially cover  the pot while simmering until meat is tender, about 2 hours.

*All our recipes were originally designed for much larger batch sizes. These recipes have been reduced – but not tested at this scale. Please adjust as to your taste and portion size.

Pick up fresh vegetables like carrots and onions from our veggie cart at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen in Cary or Greensboro! We offer the same local crops that we serve to  you, which means that we have seasonal samplings to spice up your meals!

For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index:http://lucky32southernkitchen.com/recipes/

 

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