Italian braised beef and potatoes

Season thick slices of beef shank on both sides with salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne.

Sear them about three or four minutes per side in a few tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy bottom dutch oven over high heat; if the connective tissue contracts and curls the meat, snip through the edge in a few spots so it lies flat.

Remove the beef, reduce to medium and cook the chopped onions and celery with a nice big pinch of salt and a little pepper for a few minutes, until they turn translucent and take on golden brown colour.

Add the tomato paste, a generous amount of minced garlic, dried rosemary and dried marjoram, and cook a couple more minutes to toast the tomato paste.

Add a little wine and cook a couple of minutes until it just about disappears.

Add the chicken broth and one bay leaf, turn the heat to high and bring back to a simmer.

Return the beef with all its accumulated juices and baste the tops.

Turn off the heat, put the lid on and braise in the centre of a 325 degree oven for two hours, until a fork slides in without much effort but the meat is not yet falling off the bone.

Toss the peeled and quartered Yukon gold potatoes with olive oil, a big pinch of salt and a couple of tablespoons of the beef fat skimmed off the braise.

Lay the potatoes on top of the meat, then rinse the bowl out with about half a cup of water and add that to the pot.

Cover and return it to the 325 oven about another hour, until the meat and potatoes are very soft and a knife or fork slides in with zero effort.

Finish with a little sprinkling of chili flakes and a scattering of freshly chopped Italian parsley, and serve with plenty of the braising liquid, sliced bread and an optional squeeze of lemon.

Dig the marrow out of the bone and eat it on a piece of bread.