Braised Boar Shanks With Bitter Herb Salad + Vacqueyras Beaumirail for #winePW

Wine Pairing Weekend - #winePW - happens on the second Saturday of the month. And this month - April 2016 - Jill of L'Occasion is hosting. She invited us to share Spring Meal Pairings for Southern Rhône Wines. Click to read her invitation: here.

Wine Pairing Weekend Bloggers

Be sure to check out what my fellow bloggers have come up with for this Wine Pairing Weekend!

• Jeff from Food Wine Click: Rabbit and Rhône 
• Nancy from Pull That Cork: Scallops, Spring Veggies + a White CDP for #winePW 
• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Braised Boar Shanks With Bitter Herb Salad + Vacqueyras Beaumirail 
• David from Cooking Chat: Kale Pesto Tilapia with Wine from Southern Rhône 
• Martin from Enofylz Wine Blog: A Tavel Paired with Spring BBQ #WinePW 
• Meaghan from Un Assaggio: Grilled Rack of Lamb + Arnoux & Fils Vieux Clocher #winePW 
• Cindy from Grape Experiences:Wine and Dine: Rosé from Costières de Nîmes and Rack of Lamb with Rosemary 
• Sarah and Tim from Curious Cuisiniere: Escalivada (Spanish Roasted Vegetables) paired with South Rhône Rosé 
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm: Wine Pairing Weekend Celebrates Spring 
• Michelle from Rockin Red Blog: Springtime in Southern Rhône with #WinePW
• Kristen from The Armchair Sommelier: The High Crime ofMushroom Substitution
• Jill of L'Occasion: Welcome Spring with Fresh Food & Le Ferme Du Mont Côtes du Rhône 

Join the #winePW conversation: 

Join us as we share blog posts and experience live Twitter chat at 11 a.m. Eastern Time (10 a.m. Central) on Saturday, April 9, 2016. Anyone interested is encouraged to join in the chat: food-lovers, travel-nuts, winemakers, Rhône residents, wine-lovers...please join us with the hashtag #winePW.
For a list of past and upcoming #winePW event, visit the Wine Pairing Weekend calendar here. We'd love to have you online with us! 

In My Glass

Founded in 1956, the vineyards of Vignerons de la Cave de Gigondas consists of nearly two hundred hectares around the nearly twenty villages of the Côtes du Rhône Villages AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée). Their Vacqueyras is a GSM blend made up of 65% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 15% Mourvèdre.

The minerally notes on the tongue mixed with the spiciness elegance of red fruits on the nose made me think of meat. So I decided to pour the wine with some braised boar shanks with a bitter herb salad. It was delicious!

In the Middle of the Plate...
Quick note about sourcing: if you're lucky enough to know some boar hunters, beg, plead, buy, or steal whatever they have! If you don't know any boar hunters, I've had good luck ordering from D'Artangnan Foods. I've gotten everything from wild boar to venison and quail to foie gras from them.

Braised Boar Shanks With Bitter Herb Salad

For the Braised Boar

• 2 T Herbes de Provençe
• 2 bone-in boar shanks (about 3 pounds)
• 1/2 C gluten-free flour
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 2 T butter
• 2 T olive oil
• 3 to 4 carrots, diced
• 3 to 4 celery stalks, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 to 4 oil-packed anchovy fillets, chopped
• 3 to 4 tomatoes, quartered
• 1 C red wine
• 4 C stock (I used beef stock)

For the Herb Salad

• 2 small heads endive, thinly sliced on the bias
• 3 C loosely packed herb leaves (I used oregano, mint, rosemary, thyme, and tarragon)
• 1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 T olive oil

Procedure

For the Braised Boar
Preheat oven to 300°F. Season lamb shanks all over with salt and pepper, then dredge them in flour and press Herbes de Provençe into the flour.

Melt 2 T butter into 2 T olive oil in a large Dutch oven or roasting pan. Add shanks, browning meat on both sides, approximately 4 minutes per side. 

Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic to the pot and until vegetables are softened and starting to brown, approximately 8 minutes. Add anchovies and tomatoes. Pour in wine and stock. Bring to a simmer.

Cover and transfer shanks to oven. Braise until tender, approximately 3 to 4 hours. Any amount of time after 3 hours just makes it even more tender! Move shanks to a rimmed baking dish and place in a warm oven before serving.

Blend the vegetables and braising sauce until smooth. You can use an immersion blender or, as I do, blend in batches in a blender. If the sauce is too thick, thin it with stock. If the sauce is too thin, simmer until it's reduced to your desired thickness.

Baste shanks with sauce, coating them thoroughly.

For the Herb Salad: Just before serving, make salad by combining sliced endive, celery, and herbs in a large mixing bowl. Add lemon juice and oil and toss well. Season with salt.

Transfer warm shanks to a serving platter or plates, spooning their sauce all over. Arrange salad on top and serve right away.