Amber Veal Shanks Recipes

OSSO BUCO (ITALIAN BRAISED VEAL SHANKS) RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Season veal shanks all over with salt and pepper. If you have butcher's twine, you can tie a length of it tightly around the circumference of each shank; this can help them hold their shape during cooking, but is not absolutely necessary.
• Add butter to Dutch oven, along with onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until vegetables are softened and just starting to turn a light golden color, about 6 minutes.
• Prepare a parchment paper lid following these instructions . Cover shanks with parchment lid and transfer to oven. Cook for 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, for the Gremolata: In a small bowl, stir together parsley, lemon zest, and garlic. Set aside.
• Carefully transfer shanks to a platter. (Using a spatula and tongs together can help prevent them from falling apart.) Using a spoon, carefully scrape off any excess fat on surface of braising juices. The liquid should be saucy and thick; you can adjust the consistency by adding either water or stock to thin the sauce, or simmering it on the stovetop until more fully reduced. Discard thyme and bay leaf and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
• Remove twine from shanks, if used. Serve shanks on plates, spooning braising sauce on top and passing remaining gremolata at the table for diners to sprinkle as a garnish to their own taste; make sure to offer small spoons for scooping out marrow from bones. Osso buco is traditionally served with Risotto alla Milanese .

BRAISED VEAL SHANKS

Steps:

• Make shanks:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Pat shanks dry. Stir together flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper on a sheet of wax paper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. While oil heats, dredge 4 shanks in flour mixture, shaking off excess. Brown shanks in oil on all sides, turning with tongs, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large (17- by 12- by 2-inch) roasting pan. Add 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and repeat with remaining 4 shanks. Discard remaining flour mixture.
• Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and cook onion, garlic, anchovies, bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add wine and boil, scraping up any brown bits, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, water, zest strips, and remaining teaspoon salt and bring to a boil, then pour mixture over shanks. Tightly cover pan with foil and braise in oven 1 hour. Turn shanks over, cover, and continue to braise until meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours more.
• Remove from oven and skim fat from surface of sauce, then transfer shanks and sauce to a large platter. Discard bay leaves.
• Make gremolata:
• Stir together parsley, grated zests, and garlic and sprinkle over shanks.

TRADITIONAL OSSO BUCO

Steps:

• Dust the veal shanks lightly with flour. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the veal, and cook until browned on the outside. Remove to a bowl, and keep warm. Add two cloves of crushed garlic and onion to the skillet; cook and stir until onion is tender. Return the veal to the pan and mix in the carrot and wine. Simmer for 10 minutes.
• Pour in the tomatoes and beef stock, and season with salt and pepper. Cover, and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 hours, basting the veal every 15 minutes or so. The meat should be tender, but not falling off the bone.
• In a small bowl, mix together the parsley, 1 clove of garlic and lemon zest. Sprinkle the gremolata over the veal just before serving.

AMBER VEAL SHANKS

Steps:

• Heat the butter or oil in a heavy casserole large enough to hold the meat snugly. Add the onions, carrots and fennel, cover and cook over medium-low heat until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring from time to time, until the vegetables are golden, about 15 minutes longer. Remove the vegetables from the casserole and reserve them.
• Pat the veal shanks dry, then brown them in the casserole over medium heat. You may not be able to do all at once. Set them aside.
• Stir the beer into the casserole and bring it to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the bay leaves and cloves and return the vegetables to the casserole. Add the veal shanks, then place a piece of wax paper into the casserole, directly on top of the meat.
• Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over low heat about two hours, turning the meat once or twice during the cooking. The veal should be very tender.
• Remove the wax paper and discard it. Remove the veal from the casserole and set it aside, covered. Stir the vinegar and mustard into the casserole and reheat the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the veal at once, with the sauce, or, if desired, return the veal to the casserole and set it aside. Reheat it just before serving. Sprinkle with parsley.

BRAISED VEAL SHANKS WITH CARROTS, PARSNIPS, AND TURNIPS

Steps:

• Season the veal with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet and sear the veal shanks over high heat on all sides until well browned, about 10 minutes. Remove the browned veal shanks from the skillet and place them in an ovenproof casserole. To the same skillet in which you browned the veal, add the diced vegetables, along with the whole garlic cloves, and saute them for 3 to 4 minutes.
• When the vegetables have begun to cook and wilt, add the tomato paste and combine thoroughly. Be careful not to burn the tomato paste. Add the white wine and the chicken or veal stock and bring to a boil. Carefully pour the vegetable liquid mixture over the veal shanks in the casserole and braise covered in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes. The veal should be fork tender, with the meat just beginning to separate from the bone when you remove them from the oven. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

VEAL SHANKS WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND SAGE

Steps:

• Sprinkle veal with salt and pepper. Combine flour and dried sage in shallow bowl. Set 3 tablespoons flour mixture aside. Dredge veal in remaining flour mixture to coat; shake off excess. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large very wide pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook veal until brown, about 7 minutes per side. Transfer veal to bowl.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in same pot. Add onions and sauté until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and sauté onions until very deep brown, about 35 minutes longer. Add garlic and sauté 5 minutes. Add whole sage leaves and reserved 3 tablespoons flour mixture; stir 2 minutes. Add wine; bring to boil.
• Arrange veal in single layer in pot. Add broth. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until meat is very tender but does not fall off bone, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Uncover; simmer until juices thicken enough to coat spoon, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Place 1 veal shank on each plate. Spoon sauce and onion mixture over. Sprinkle with additional fresh sage.

VEAL SHANKS WITH LEMON

Steps:

• Dredge the pieces of shank in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.
• Heat the oil in a heavy skillet large enough to hold the pieces in one layer and cook the pieces, turning often, until they are browned all over.
• Pour off the fat from the skillet. Scatter the onions and garlic around the meat, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are wilted.
• Add the wine, and stir to dissolve the brown particles that cling to the bottom and sides of the skillet. Add the broth, lemon juice, thyme and parsley, and stir. Cover closely and bring to the boil. Cook over moderate heat one hour and 15 minutes. Stir in the lemon rind and serve.

VEAL SHANKS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine flour, salt and pepper. Add veal, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat. In an ovenproof Dutch oven, brown meat in oil in batches on all sides; drain., In a large skillet, saute the onion, carrot, celery and garlic in butter until tender. Return veal to the Dutch oven; top with vegetable mixture. Add tomatoes, broth, basil, thyme and bay leaves., Cover and bake 2 to 2-1/4 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender. Discard bay leaves. Just before serving, combine garnish ingredients; sprinkle over veal. Freeze option: Place individual portions to cooled meat and cooking juices in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a saucepan, stirring occasionally and adding a little broth if necessary.

BRAISED VEAL SHANKS

Steps:

• Make stew:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350°F.
• Bring demiglace to a simmer in a 1-quart saucepan over moderate heat. Remove from heat and keep warm, partially covered.
• Pat shanks dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dredge shanks in flour to coat, shaking off excess. Heat oil in a 5- to 6-quart wide heavy ovenproof pot over moderately high heat until just smoking, then brown shanks on all sides, about 10 minutes total, and transfer with tongs to a plate. Add butter to pot and heat until foam subsides, then sauté onions, carrots, celery, and garlic, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 9 minutes.
• Add wine, scraping up any brown bits, then add warm demiglace, tomatoes, and bay leaf. Return shanks (with any juices accumulated on plate) to pot and bring liquid to a boil, then cover pot and braise shanks in oven until meat is very tender, about 2 1/2 hours.
• Carefully transfer shanks with a slotted spoon to a clean plate and keep warm, loosely covered with foil. Skim fat from sauce, then simmer, uncovered, on top of stove, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper and add shanks, then cook over low heat until heated through. (Discard strings and bay leaf before serving.)
• Make gremolata:
• Stir together parsley, zest, rosemary, and thyme and sprinkle over osso buco just before serving.
• *Available at specialty foods shops and cooking.com.