Beef or Veal Osso Buco

• beef or veal shanks, with bone in (ossobuco - "bone with a hole/marrow")
• 1/2 cup flour
•  salt
• pepper
• 2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
• 1 white onion chopped
• 1 cup carrots, sliced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1/2 cup parsnips
• butter/duck fat
• beef stock
• white/red wine
• fresh tomatoes on vine
• bouqet garni, consisting of oregano, rosemary, 1 bay leaf

Clean the meat, patting it dry. Salt. Let the meat sit until close to room temperature achieved (no longer than 20 minutes, so it will cook evenly). Then pepper. Tie along the outer fat with kitchen twine to help bind the meat to the bone -- the braising process tenderizes the tough shank, which often becomes separated from the bone after cooking.

Dredge the meat in flour. Cover all sides, shake off excess.

Heat canola or vegetable oil in sauce pan to high temperature. Add the meat, browning on all sides. The flour crisps in the high heat and aids the browning process. Keep the meat on the hot pan no longer than a few minutes on either side. Use the hot sides of the pan to brown the edges of the meat. Remove browned shanks and set aside in dutch oven.

De-glaze pan with wine -- white is typically used alla Milannese, but we had a really good red on hand. Make sure to scrape up the caramelized crunchy bits leftover from the browning shanks. Now add butter/duck fat, and then onions, carrots, and celery. Saute over medium heat until slightly browned.

Add the bouqet garni.

Pour the vegetables and their sauce over the meat and the bouqet garni. Add chopped fresh tomatoes. Cover and put in oven preheated to 350 degrees. Bake for 1 hour. Reduce heat to 275 degrees and bake for another 3 or 4 hours or until very tender.

Remove (carefully) from oven. and transfer meat to a separate plate.

Set up a cheese cloth basin and strain liquid from vegetables. Set vegetables aside for serving.

Reduce liquid by half.

Add reduced sauce to shanks.

Make gremolata by shaving together lemon, garlic, and parsley. Plate shanks, top with gremolata, serve with vegetables and other sides (the meal is typically served with mashed potatoes, polenta, or risotto alla milanese, which consists of risotto cooked in beef stock with added beef bone marrow, lard, cheese, and saffron). 

Ossobuco is a traditional Lombard/Milanese dish, in which the bone marrow in the center of the shank (which is itself a cheap cut and is to be painstakingly flavored) is the prized delicacy. There are two dominant versions: when typically prepared north of the Po River, the dish is referred to a ossobuco bianco, and is prepared with cinnamon, bay leaves, and gremolata; south of the Po, the dish is similar, but typified by using tomatoes instead of cinnamon.

The Po River Valley

~Ciao & Bon Appétit.