Veal Shank Fricassee 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.

VEAL SHANKS WITH TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• In large, deep skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat, and saute the onions, carrots, leeks and celery for about 10 minutes, or until they are soft but not browned. Remove skillet from heat.
• In a separate skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Dredge the veal shanks in flour, and shake off excess. Brown them a few minutes on each side. Remove shanks and place them in the first skillet over the vegetables.
• Deglaze the empty browning skillet with white wine, and then reduce liquid by half. Pour this over the shanks. Put the skillet containing veal shanks back over the heat, and add remaining ingredients and salt and pepper to taste. Bring liquid to a boil; let it boil for 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Then test the meat; it should be tender.
• In a deep pot, bring lightly salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until done, 5 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness. Drain.
• Remove meat from the skillet, and keep it warm. Turn up heat, and reduce cooking liquid until it is fairly thick. Remove bay leaf, parsley sprigs, lemon strip and thyme sprigs. Pour sauce into a blender, and mix at low speed at first. Taste for seasoning. Then blend at high speed for about 10 seconds. Serve veal shanks with noodles on the side; pour sauce over both.