Braised Veal Shanks With Gremolata Recipes

BRAISED VEAL SHANKS

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat oven to 325 F. If not already done by butcher, tie a single strand of kitchen twine around meat to hold it to the bone during cooking.
• Coat shanks with flour and shake off excess.
• In a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or casserole (with a lid) large enough to hold meat in a single layer, heat butter and oil over medium heat.
• Brown shanks on tops and bottoms for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
• Remove shanks to a plate.
• Add onion and garlic to pot and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often, or until onion is softened.
• Add wine, salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary. Bring to a gentle boil, scraping up browned bits on the bottom of the casserole.
• Remove from heat and arrange meat in a single layer, cut-side up, in casserole. Spoon a little of the liquid over top of meat.
• Cover (if lid does not cover tightly, cover first with foil, then with lid) and bake for 2 hours, or until meat is very tender.
• Optional: While shanks are cooking, make gremolata. Mix parsley, lemon zest, and garlic in a small bowl.
• Remove pot from oven and carefully lift shanks from cooking liquid to serving platter. Skim and discard fat from liquid, then spoon cooking liquid around shanks.
• Sprinkle gremolata over shanks. Insert rosemary sprigs in the marrow of each shank, if desired.

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.

BRAISED VEAL SHANKS, MILAN STYLE

Steps:

• Trim excess fat from veal shanks. Coat veal with flour. Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook veal in oil about 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides; drain.
• Place veal in 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients; pour over veal.
• Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours or until veal is very tender and pulls away from bones.
• Remove veal and vegetables from cooker, using slotted spoon; place on serving platter. Skim fat from veal juices in cooker if desired. Pour juices over veal and vegetables.

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.

BRAISED VEAL SHANKS WITH GARLIC

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place a braising pan large enough to hold shanks over medium high heat. Add oil. Season veal with salt and pepper, then add to hot pan. Brown shanks all over, about 20 minutes. Remove to a plate. Pour off or add oil to pan until you have 3 tablespoons. Heat oil until shimmering. Add onions and carrots, and cook until golden brown, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Nestle veal in vegetables, and pour wine on top. Reduce by three-quarters. Add garlic and thyme, and pour broth on top. Bring to a simmer. Cover meat with a piece of foil, turning corners up. Cover pan with a lid, and place in oven. Braise until meat is very tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Season to taste. Remove from oven, and let cool in pan. Refrigerate.
• The next day, reheat veal over low heat. Serve with risotto or potatoes and the sauce and vegetables.

BRAISED VEAL SHANKS

Steps:

• Lay veal in a single layer in a 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake in a 400ºF oven until browned (about 35 minutes). Remove pan from oven; turn veal over. Then add lemon, broth, marjoram, bay leaf, peppercorns, and coriander seeds to pan. Cover tightly with foil, return to oven, and bake until meat is so tender it pulls apart easily (about 1 1/2 hours).
• With a slotted spoon, lift veal shanks gently to a warm platter; keep warm.
• Pour juices through a fine strainer into a 1 quart measure; press residue in strainer to extract any liquid. Discard residue. (At this point, you may cover and refrigerate veal and pan juices separately until next day. Before continuing, reheat veal, covered, in a 400ºF oven until warm, 15 to 20 minutes. Place on a warm platter; keep warm).
• Skim and discard fat from pan juices. Pour pan juices into a wide frying pan; add vinegar and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil, uncovered, until reduced to 1 1/2 to 2 cups (8 to 12 minutes). Mix cornstarch with water. Stir in cornstarch mixture and return to a boil, stirring.
• Pour gravy into a small pitcher; offer at the table to pour over meat to taste.

BRAISED VEAL SHANKS

Steps:

• Stand the shank pieces up on a flat end. Cut six lengths of twine, each about 2 feet long, and wrap one around the outside of each ossobuco, in the middle (the meat will look as though it's wearing a very tight belt). Tie the twine securely and trim the ends.
• Cut a small square of cheesecloth and wrap up the bay leaves, cloves, rosemary sprig, and juniper berries. Tie the packet with twine. Shave off the peel of the orange and lemon in broad strips with a paring knife or vegetable peeler-remove only the colorful zest, not the bitter white pith. Squeeze and strain the juice from the orange.
• Just before browning the meat, salt the ossobuco lightly, using 1/2 teaspoon in all. Dredge the shanks in the flour to coat all surfaces.
• Pour the vegetable oil into the pan, and set over medium-high heat. Shake off excess flour, and set all the ossobuco in the oil, standing on a cut end. Let them sizzle for 4 to 5 minutes, until the bottoms are well browned; turn to caramelize the other cut side. Flip the pieces onto their round edges, and rotate so the fat crisps all around the shanks. Remove them to a platter when nicely colored-this will take 10 minutes or more.
• When all the ossobuco are browned, carefully pour the hot vegetable oil out of the empty pan, leaving the crusted bits of meat on the bottom. Pour in the olive oil, set over medium-high heat, and dump in the onions. Stir them around for a minute or two, scraping the pan to release the caramelized bits, then stir in the carrot and celery. Drop in the cheesecloth herb sachet, sprinkle on a teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are sizzling and wilting.
• Clear a space in the pan bottom, and drop in the tomato paste; cook the paste in the hot spot for a minute, then stir it into the vegetables. Add the crushed tomatoes, stir well, and bring to a boil. Raise the heat to high, pour in the wine, and cook for a couple of minutes at a boil to evaporate the alcohol. Pour in the orange juice and about 6 cups of the hot stock; drop in all the strips of citrus zest and the remaining salt, and bring the liquids to a boil.
• Return the ossobuco to the saucepan, standing them on end so they're evenly immersed in the sauce. Add more hot stock, if necessary, just to cover the tops of the ossobuco with liquid. Cover the pan, and lower the heat so the sauce is perking steadily but not too fast. Cook for an hour or so, covered, checking that the sauce has not reduced and is still covering the meat (add stock if needed). Turn the ossobuco over in the pan so the meat cooks evenly.
• Uncover the pan, and cook for another hour or more at a bubbling simmer, adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain slow but steady concentration of the sauce. As the braising-liquid level gradually drops, carefully turn the shanks again, so no parts dry out.
• Cook for 2 to 3 hours in all, until the meat at its thickest part is tender enough to pierce with a fork with only slight resistance, and the sauce is thick, reduced well below the tops of the shank pieces. Season with fresh pepper to taste and stir. Turn off the heat. Lift each ossobuco from the cooking pot with sturdy tongs, letting the sauce drain off, and place it on a large platter. Snip the knotted twine pieces with a scissors; pull off and discard. Lift out the cheesecloth sachet, press to release all the juices back into the pot, and discard.
• Set a wire-mesh sieve in a bowl or saucepan. Strain all the sauce through the sieve, pressing the liquid from the strips of peel and vegetable bits. The sauce should be thick and velvety, with the consistency of molasses (if it is too thin, quickly reduce it over high heat). Taste the sauce, and adjust the seasoning for the last time.
• Chop and stir together the chopped parsley, garlic, and lemon zest for the gremolata just before serving, for freshness. Spoon the Risotto alla Milanese (page 48) into the center of six wide plates, and nestle the ossobuco in the center of the risotto. Spoon over it some of the sauce, and sprinkle lightly with gremolata (about 1/2 teaspoon per serving). Serve with small spoons for scooping the delicious marrow from the bones, and pass the remaining gremolata at the table.