Osso Buco With Gremolata And Polenta Food

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 WITH GREMOLATA

Steps:

• For the osso buco: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Heat the EVOO in a large Dutch oven over medium-high to high heat. Sprinkle the shanks with salt and pepper and brown all over, turning occasionally, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a large plate.
• Stir the garlic, celery, carrots, onions and fennel seeds into the pot, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the rosemary, thyme, tomato paste and bay leaves, sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir 1 minute, then pour in the wine and deglaze the pot, scraping and stirring 1 minute longer. Add the chicken stock and saffron, followed by the tomatoes. Add the orange peel, juice and chile. Scrape down the pot and add the meat back into the pot. Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook, turning the meat once about halfway through, 2 hours.
• For the gremolata: When the meat is about ready to come out of the oven, combine the orange zest on aboard with the lemon zest. Finely chop the parsley and combine with zest and the chopped or processed nuts.
• For serving: Transfer the shanks to a platter and cut off the kitchen string. Split the crusty bread and warm through in the oven. Fish the bay leaves out of the sauce and place the Dutch oven back on the stove over medium-high heat. Whisk the sauce to combine and thicken, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Serve the shanks in shallow bowls topped with the chunky sauce and gremolata. Serve the crusty bread on the side for mopping.

OSSO BUCO WITH GREMOLATA

Steps:

• Osso buco: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Tie veal shanks at the equator with kitchen twine. Preheat a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Season veal shanks with salt and pepper on all sides, then evenly dust with flour. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pot and swirl to evenly heat, 30 seconds. When oil is shimmering, add the veal shanks and sear on both sides until brown, 2-3 minutes per side. Then sear the sides. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables.
• While the veal shanks are browning, prepare the mirepoix: Trim carrots and celery, then cut into a uniform large dice. Peel and halve the onion, then dice into the same size as the carrots and celery. Meanwhile, continue turning the veal shanks so they brown on all sides (turn heat down to low if the pot gets too smoky). The brown bits forming on the bottom of the pan, called "fond," will be used to flavor the sauce later. Smash garlic; remove skin, trim the tip, and slice. Turn off heat, remove browned shanks from pot, and set aside, leaving fond and drippings in the pot.
• Turn heat to medium-low. Add butter and all of the vegetables to the pot. Season with salt and stir, scraping up the fond. Sauté until soft, 3-4 minutes. Turn heat to medium and add wine to the vegetable mixture. Stir and scrape to finish deglazing the pot, then reduce by half, 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, make a bouquet garni by tying the parsley stems and thyme together with twine. (Making a bouquet will make it easier to remove and discard the herbs when the dish is finished.) Add to the pot. Peel three long strips of lemon peel, from top to bottom, and add to the pot, followed by the bay leaves. Stir, then add the beef broth and crushed tomatoes.
• Bring sauce to a simmer, and continue simmering until reduced slightly, 6-8 minutes. Nestle the osso buco pieces into the vegetable sauce mixture; it should come halfway up the sides of the veal shanks. Spoon sauce over the tops of the shanks. Cover and place in the oven to braise for a total of 2 hours, checking after 1 hour and basting with sauce. Meanwhile, make the gremolata.
• Gremolata: Pick the leaves off the parsley and finely chop. Set aside. Peel strips of lemon peel from top to bottom, trying to avoid the white pith as much as possible. Julienne the peel into long slivers, then finely dice. (Alternatively, you can use a Microplane zester.) Add zest to the parsley mixture. Smash and peel the garlic cloves; finely chop 1½ cloves and add to the bowl. Season to taste with salt, stir, and set aside.
• Assembly: After 2 hours of braising, remove osso buco from the oven. Shanks should be fork tender, with sauce clinging to the meat. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer shanks to a serving platter and remove the strings. Discard bouquet garni, bay leaves, and lemon peels. Ladle sauce over the shanks, followed by a sprinkling of gremolata. Serve with remaining gremolata on the side.

PORK SHANK OSSO BUCO WITH POLENTA AND GREMOLATA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Liberally season all sides of the shanks with salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil to the pan and sear the shanks until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes a side. Transfer to a plate.
• Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the Dutch oven, then add the carrots, celery and onions. Season with salt and pepper and saute until the vegetables are slightly soft and browned, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 second. Add the wine to deglaze, scraping all the bits off the bottom. Add the shanks, any accumulated juices, the warm stock, tomatoes and bay leaves. Cover, transfer to the oven and cook until the shanks are extremely fork-tender, about 2 hours. Remove the shanks and tent with foil on a plate.
• If the braising liquid is a bit thin, right before serving, simmer the remaining liquid until thickened slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
• For each serving, put a ladle of Creamy Polenta in a shallow bowl, followed by a warm shank with a ladle of rich braising liquid, then top with the fresh Gremolata.
• Bring 6 cups water to a rolling boil in a heavy-bottomed 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting, add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and pour the cornmeal into the water in a very slow stream from a measuring cup, all the while whisking in a circular motion to prevent lumps.
• Cover and cook, vigorously stirring the polenta with a wooden spoon for about 10 seconds once every 5 minutes and making sure to scrape clean the bottom and corners of the pot, until the polenta has lost its raw cornmeal taste and becomes soft and smooth, about 30 minutes. Stir in the cream, butter, cheese and salt and pepper to taste.
• Mix the parsley, lemon zest, orange zest and garlic together in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

OSSO BUCO WITH GREMOLATA

Steps:

• In a large flame proof casserole, melt the butter in the oil over moderate heat.
• Dredge the veal in the flour and shake off any excess. Working in batches, saute veal on all sides until golden brown. Do not crowd the pan. Remove to a bowl.
• Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
• Place the veal on top of the vegetables, making sure the bones are upright. Sprinkle the marjoram, basil and thyme on top. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, white wine, chicken stock, strips of lemon zest, bay leaf and parsley sprigs. If necessary, add enough water to cover the shanks.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until the meat is tender, about 2 hours.
• Transfer the veal shanks to a heated platter, remove the strings and cover with foil to keep warm. Increase the heat to high and boil, stirring frequently until the sauce is reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Pour the sauce over the meat.
• Just before serving , combine the parsley, garlic and lemon zest to make the gremolata. Sprinkle over the top of the Osso Buco.