Slow-cooking—braising—works wonders on things like beef short-ribs, shanks, oxtails, and the like: the highly flavorful meats that require long, slow cooking to become tender. You can use a slow-cooker on “low” or—exactly equivalent—a covered pot in a 200º oven. Cook overnight, or all day—a long time, at any rate. The meat should be falling off the bones.

The secret ingredient that adds a lovely flavor is horseradish. It takes about 2 Tbs to do the trick. Here’s a recipe:

Salt and pepper (or dredge in seasoned flour) the beef (oxtails, short ribs, shanks, or a combination) and then brown it in a little oil. You can use olive oil, but the fat will congeal at the top better if you brown 4 pieces of chopped bacon in a sauté pan and then remove the bacon to the cooking pot so that you can brown the beef thingies in the bacon grease. Remove browned beef to the cooking pot.

Sauté a large chopped onion (or two, depending on the amount of beef) in the sauté pan, using a wooden spatula to stir and scrape at the brown bits left from browning the meat. Put the onions in the pot, and then deglaze the sauté pan by adding the juice of 4 lemons and a cup of red wine, scraping any leftover brown bits into the liquid—those brown bits have lots of flavor.

Pour all that into the pot, then add 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, one bunch of Italian parsley chopped, 6 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped, 2 Tbs of horseradish, 1 Tbs of Worcestershire, several dashes of Tabasco, 1 Tbs each of dried thyme and dried basil, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. If you want, skip the Tabasco and add enough crushed red pepper to add some body, but not enough to make the dish noticeably spicy.

Cover the pot and put it into a 200º oven all day or overnight. Use tongs to remove bones, leaving meat in the pot, torn into pieces. Put pot in fridge uncovered until fat on top solidifies. Remove the disk of fat, add about a cup and a half to two cups of small crimini mushrooms and a half cup of pearled (or hulled—your choice) barley. You might have to add a little water as well. Bring it to a boil and then simmer covered for an hour, then turn off heat and just let it sit until ready to eat.

This recipe also works great with lamb shanks.