Osso Buco Classic Italian Veal Stew Food

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.

CLASSIC OSSO BUCO

Steps:

• 1. Heat the oven to 350°F (176°F/Gas 4). Put the flour on a plate, add generous amounts of salt and pepper, and coat the veal slices, with flour, patting to remove the excess. Heat the oil and butter in a sauté pan or frying pan big enough for all the veal slices to touch the bottom. Add half the slices and brown them over quite high heat, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn them, brown the other side and remove them to a plate. Brown the remaining slices and remove them also.
• 2. Lower the heat to medium, add the onion and carrot and sauté until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour in the wine and boil until reduced by half, stirring to dissolve the pan juices. Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, orange zest, veal stock, salt, and pepper. Immerse the veal slices in this sauce - the liquid should come at least halfway up the sides. Cover the pan and bring it to a boil.
• 3. Braise the shanks in the oven until the meat is very tender and falling from the bone, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Stir from time to time, gently turning the slices, and if the pan seems dry, add more stock. At the end of cooking, taste and adjust seasoning of the sauce. Osso buco can be cooked ahead and stored up to 3 days in the refrigerator, or frozen. Keep it in the pan ready to be reheated on top of the stove.
• 4. For the gremolata, chop the garlic; pull parsley leaves from the stems, and chop the leaves together with the garlic. Stir in the grated lemon zest and pile the gremolata in a bowl. It can be served separately from the osso buco, for guests to help themselves, or sprinkled on the dish just before it goes to the table.

OSSO BUCO

Steps:

• Place the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and cloves into cheesecloth and secure with twine. This will be your bouquet garni.
• For the veal shanks, pat dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Veal shanks will brown better when they are dry. Secure the meat to the bone with the kitchen twine. Season each shank with salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge the shanks in flour, shaking off excess.
• In a large Dutch oven pot, heat vegetable oil until smoking. Add tied veal shanks to the hot pan and brown all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove browned shanks and reserve.
• In the same pot, add the onion, carrot and celery. Season with salt at this point to help draw out the moisture from the vegetables. Saute until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Return browned shanks to the pan and add the white wine and reduce liquid by half, about 5 minutes. Add the bouquet garni and 2 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Check every 15 minutes, turning shanks and adding more chicken stock as necessary. The level of cooking liquid should always be about 3/4 the way up the shank.
• Carefully remove the cooked shanks from the pot and place in decorative serving platter. Cut off the kitchen twine and discard.
• Remove and discard bouquet garni from the pot.
• Pour all the juices and sauce from the pot over the shanks. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon zest.

OSSO BUCO

Steps:

• Heat one ounce of the butter in a large Texas skillet or Dutch oven.
• Add peeled & finely chopped carrot, onion, celery and one of the crushed garlic cloves. Cook gently until onions are golden brown. Remove from heat & transfer to a large ovenproof casserole.
• Coat shanks in flour seasoned with salt & pepper. Heat remaining butter & oil in large frying pan. Add shanks and brown on all sides.
• Carefully pack shanks on top of vegetables in casserole; stand shanks upright to retain marrow in the bones.
• If pan is oily drain excess oil off. Add tomatoes and chop into pan with wooden spoon until the tomatoes are all popped. You could also start with chopped tomatoes or you can puree them. I just find the flavor better with the whole tomatoes and enjoy the tomato chunks with the rest of the veggies and the meat. Deglaze the pan by scraping the goodies up off the bottom of the pan into the tomato juices with a wooden spoon. Add wine, beef broth, basil, thyme, oregano, bay leaf & strip of lemon rind. Taste. Add salt & pepper to taste if necessary.
• Pour sauce over veal shanks & veg in casserole. Bake in moderate (350°F) oven for 2 hours, or until meat is falling away from bones. (Stir occasionally during cooking.)
• Serve over rice, pasta, potatoes or polenta.
• Quickly blend the chopped parsley, grated lemon rind & other crushed garlic clove and serve separately as a fresh, crisp garnish.

VEAL OSSO BUCO (YUMMY)

Steps:

• In a shallow dish, stir together flour, salt, and black pepper.
• Dredge meat in seasoned flour.
• In a large skillet, melt butter with oil over medium heat.
• Brown meat in skillet.
• Remove meat from pan, and set aside.
• Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic to drippings in pan.
• Cook and stir for about 5 minutes.
• Stir in tomato sauce, water, basil, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf.
• Return meat to pan.
• Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to simmer.
• Cover, and cook for 2 1/2 hours.
• Serve the delicious sauce over meat, a bed of rice, or mashed potatoes.

VEAL OSSO BUCO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°.
• Preheat a dutch cast iron oven over medium heat.
• Season the veal shank liberally with salt and pepper.
• Add the diced pancetta to the preheated pan, and cook, stirring occasionally.
• When the pancetta is crispy and most of the fat has rendered (about 5 minutes of cooking), remove the pancetta to a plate covered with some paper towel.
• If necessary, drain off all but two tablespoons of the fat from the pan add olive oil.
• Dredge the veal shanks through some flour, shake off any excess and add the meat to the hot fat in the pan.
• Turn the heat under the dutch oven to medium high and cook the meat on each side until well browned (about 5 minutes per side).
• Remove the shanks to a plate.
• Add the mirepoix to the dutch oven.
• Cook the mirepoix (Carrots, Onion, & Celery), until the onions are translucent (about five minutes) and toss in the garlic, thyme, capers, olives and anchovies.
• Continue cooking until the vegetables just begin to brown (about 10 minutes).
• Add the pancetta & shanks back to the pan.
• Pour in the wine, and then add enough stock or broth to come about half way up the side of the shanks.
• Cover the pan and put it in the oven to cook until the meat is as tender.
• The more braising time, the more tender the meat.
• It should take at least 2 hours, at which point you'll have a fine dish.
• More time is better, but make sure to add more wine if needed.
• Optional: Remove meat and cover add the slurry to the liquid stir in completely and cook 5 more minutes stove top till thickened.
• Top with Gremolata.