Braised Veal Shanks With Apricot Orange And Fennel Food

BRAISED VEAL SHANKS WITH APRICOT, ORANGE AND FENNEL

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pat shanks dry with paper towels and season very liberally with salt and pepper.
• Place a large, heavy roasting pan across two stove-top burners over high heat. Add 4 tablespoons of oil and heat for 30 seconds. Add veal and sear until well browned on both sides, about 15 minutes. Transfer veal to a platter. If pan looks dry, add another tablespoon oil, and onion, carrots, celery, garlic, diced fennel bulb, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a generous pinch of pepper. Sauté over medium heat until onions are translucent and tender, 7 minutes. Add tomato paste and continue to sauté for 2 minutes longer.
• Pour in wine and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits. Let simmer for 2 minutes, then add broth and simmer until liquid is reduced by a third, about 5 minutes. Stir in orange juice, anchovies (if using), sage, thyme, bay leaf, half the apricots and 2 tablespoons fennel fronds. Nestle meat into vegetable mixture and pour in any meat juices from platter. Cover pan with foil, leaving a corner turned up so some steam can escape, and braise in oven for about 2 hours, turning shanks two or three times as they cook.
• When meat is quite tender, transfer it to a platter (on top of hot kasha if desired). Cover with foil to keep warm. Remove bay leaf from pan. Using a slotted spoon, transfer about a third of the vegetables to a blender or food processor and purée.
• Add purée back to pan juices. Add remaining apricots and bring to a simmer for 3 minutes. Taste and correct seasonings. Spoon sauce over meat, and serve garnished with more fennel fronds.

MILAN-STYLE BRAISED VEAL SHANKS

Steps:

• Tie kitchen twine around circumference of each veal shank so that veal will hold shape while cooking. Set heavy large pot over medium heat (pot should be big enough to accommodate veal arranged in single layer). Add 1/4 cup butter to pot and melt. Add onions, carrot and 2 1/2 teaspoons garlic and sauté until vegetables are tender but not brown, about 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
• Sprinkle veal shanks with salt and pepper. Coat veal with flour, shaking off excess. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add veal to skillet and cook until brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer veal to pot with vegetables. Discard fat in skillet.
• Add 1 cup white wine to skillet and boil until liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup, scraping up browned bits, about 3 minutes. Pour over veal and vegetables. Add canned tomatoes with juices, 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped basil and lemon peel strips to pot. Add enough beef broth to cover veal. Bring mixture to boil. Cover pot tightly with aluminum foil, then lid. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until veal is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Cool, cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium-low heat before continuing.)
• Transfer veal to platter; cover to keep warm. Boil sauce until slightly thickened and reduced to 4 cups, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Mix grated lemon peel, remaining 1 teaspoon garlic and 2 tablespoons parsley in small bowl. Pour sauce over veal. Sprinkle with lemon peel mixture.

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.

ROMAN-STYLE BRAISED FENNEL

Steps:

• In a 12-inch high-sided skillet, melt butter over medium. Add shallots, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add oil and garlic, and stir until fragrant, 1 minute. Add fennel, wine, lemon juice, oregano, parsley and 1½ cups of water, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high, stirring to evenly coat the fennel in the liquid. Arrange the fennel in an even layer.
• Cover, reduce heat to medium and braise until fennel is tender, about 30 minutes, stirring and flipping halfway through.
• Transfer fennel to a serving platter, and spoon over the shallots and sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley, and serve warm or at room temperature.

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.

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.