Braised beef with star anis

This is an easy recipe from Josée di Stasio that is just so delicious and perfect for a winter feast.

4 lbs beef osso bucco, blade roast or cross-rib roast
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 onions, quartered
6 big carrots in big pieces
4 garlic cloves, crushed
3 cups beef broth
1/3 cup Tamari or soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste (ketchup works also, trust me)
1.5 tbsp brown sugar
2 inch piece of ginger, sliced
4 star anis

Preheat oven to 325 F. Salt and pepper your meat pieces. In a Dutch oven, color the meat on all sides on medium to high heat in 2 tbsp of oil. Remove from pot and add remaining oil along with carrots and onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Add garlic and continue cooking for about 1 minute. Place meat on veggies, add stock, tamari, tomato paste, sugar, ginger and star anis. Bring to a boil, cover and bake for approximately 3 hours or until meat comes off bones easily. After an hour of baking, turn the meat around and make sure the stock level covers about half of the meat. Enjoy with mashed potatoes!