Veal Shanks With Porcini Food

VEAL CACCIATORE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F with rack in middle.
• Bring wine to a simmer in a small saucepan. Stir in porcini and remove from heat.
• Pat veal dry and season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wide 6-to 8-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then brown veal, turning, about 12 minutes.
• Transfer veal to a plate. Discard fat from pot and add remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Add pancetta and sauté over medium-high heat until it begins to brown. Add onions and sauté until softened, about 8 minutes.
• Drain porcini in a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, pressing on mushrooms and reserving wine. Coarsely chop porcini and add to pancetta mixture with carrots, celery, and garlic. Sauté until softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in wine and cook until most has evaporated, about 2 minutes.
• Coarsely chop tomatoes and add to pot with their juice. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes. Add veal with meat juices from plate, rosemary, bay leaves, and olives. Cover pot and braise veal in oven, turning roast occasionally, until center of meat is fork-tender, 2 3/4 to 3 hours.
• Transfer veal to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered. Simmer sauce over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and a pinch of sugar if desired. Cut off strings from roast and discard bay leaves and rosemary. Thickly slice veal and return to pot, basting with sauce.

OSSO BUCO (ITALIAN BRAISED VEAL SHANKS) RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Season veal shanks all over with salt and pepper. If you have butcher's twine, you can tie a length of it tightly around the circumference of each shank; this can help them hold their shape during cooking, but is not absolutely necessary.
• Add butter to Dutch oven, along with onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until vegetables are softened and just starting to turn a light golden color, about 6 minutes.
• Prepare a parchment paper lid following these instructions . Cover shanks with parchment lid and transfer to oven. Cook for 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, for the Gremolata: In a small bowl, stir together parsley, lemon zest, and garlic. Set aside.
• Carefully transfer shanks to a platter. (Using a spatula and tongs together can help prevent them from falling apart.) Using a spoon, carefully scrape off any excess fat on surface of braising juices. The liquid should be saucy and thick; you can adjust the consistency by adding either water or stock to thin the sauce, or simmering it on the stovetop until more fully reduced. Discard thyme and bay leaf and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
• Remove twine from shanks, if used. Serve shanks on plates, spooning braising sauce on top and passing remaining gremolata at the table for diners to sprinkle as a garnish to their own taste; make sure to offer small spoons for scooping out marrow from bones. Osso buco is traditionally served with Risotto alla Milanese .

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.

VEAL SHANKS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine flour, salt and pepper. Add veal, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat. In an ovenproof Dutch oven, brown meat in oil in batches on all sides; drain., In a large skillet, saute the onion, carrot, celery and garlic in butter until tender. Return veal to the Dutch oven; top with vegetable mixture. Add tomatoes, broth, basil, thyme and bay leaves., Cover and bake 2 to 2-1/4 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender. Discard bay leaves. Just before serving, combine garnish ingredients; sprinkle over veal. Freeze option: Place individual portions to cooled meat and cooking juices in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a saucepan, stirring occasionally and adding a little broth if necessary.

BRAISED VEAL SHANKS WITH PORCINI AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Place porcini in bowl. Pour water over; let stand until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid. Chop porcini.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, rosemary and bay leaves; sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add fresh and dried mushrooms and potatoes; cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Season veal with salt and pepper. Coat with flour. Add to skillet; brown well, about 4 minutes per side. Place atop vegetables in Dutch oven. Add wine to skillet; bring to boil, stirring up any browned bits. Boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add to Dutch oven. Add porcini soaking liquid, leaving any sediment behind. Add broth and juice. Bring to boil. Cover, place in oven and bake until veal is tender, about 1 hour 15 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)
• Uncover stew; cook over medium-high heat until liquid is thickened, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaves. Add peas; cook until heated through.
• Mix parsley and lemon peel in bowl. Top stew with parsley mixture and serve.

VEAL SHANKS WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND SAGE

Steps:

• Sprinkle veal with salt and pepper. Combine flour and dried sage in shallow bowl. Set 3 tablespoons flour mixture aside. Dredge veal in remaining flour mixture to coat; shake off excess. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large very wide pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook veal until brown, about 7 minutes per side. Transfer veal to bowl.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in same pot. Add onions and sauté until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and sauté onions until very deep brown, about 35 minutes longer. Add garlic and sauté 5 minutes. Add whole sage leaves and reserved 3 tablespoons flour mixture; stir 2 minutes. Add wine; bring to boil.
• Arrange veal in single layer in pot. Add broth. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until meat is very tender but does not fall off bone, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Uncover; simmer until juices thicken enough to coat spoon, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Place 1 veal shank on each plate. Spoon sauce and onion mixture over. Sprinkle with additional fresh sage.

VEAL SHANKS WITH PORCINI

Steps:

• 1 Place the mushrooms in a bowl with 1 cup warm water. Let stand 30 minutes. Lift the mushrooms out of the liquid and rinse them well under running water, paying special attention to the base of the stems where soil collects. Drain and chop fine. Strain the mushroom liquid through a paper coffee filter into a bowl. Reserve the liquid. 2 In a Dutch oven large enough to hold the veal shanks side by side, or another deep, heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, heat the olive oil with the butter over medium heat. Add the veal and cook, turning the shanks occasionally, until browned, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 3 Scatter the mushrooms, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic around the shanks and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the white wine and let simmer for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste, mushroom liquid, and herbs. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat, turning the meat occasionally, until it is very tender and comes away from the bone when tested with a fork, about 2 hours. (Add a little water if the liquid evaporates too quickly.) 4 Transfer the meat to a platter and cover to keep warm. Tip the pot and skim the fat from the juices. Discard the herbs. Boil the juices until slightly thickened. 5 Remove the strings from the veal shanks. Holding each shank by the bone, carve the meat lengthwise. Arrange the slices on a platter and spoon the juices over all. Serve immediately. From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.