Shank This!

Here's the long-delayed (and, apparently, greatly anticipated) osso buco recipe. Making an osso buco is a rite of passage for many foodies, and the rich taste and tender meat are worth the fuss.

This stew of marrowbones is a family favorite, made for guests or just the two of us. It serves 3-4, or 2 with plenty left over. Find yourself a good butcher and take it slowly, and it may well become one of your favorites, too.

Ingredients:
4 2-inch thick cuts of veal shank
Balsamic vinegar
Flour, salt, pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 parsnip, chopped
1 turnip, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 cup white wine
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried

I bought the meat at the Pennington Market for $9.99/lb. Many recipes call for using tomatoes, but my wife prefers not to -- she dislikes the way the tomato flavor dominates. Instead, we add winter vegetables (parsnip and turnip, both $1.99/lb), and sometimes mushrooms. She also insists, as she always does with any meat, that the veal be marinated in balsamic vinegar, even if only for a few minutes.

Sometimes I use a cast-iron Dutch oven for this recipe, as it can be used on the stove top for browning and in the oven for baking. If I’m making too much to fit in my Dutch oven, I’ll do the browning in a cast-iron skillet and the baking in a ceramic dish with a lid. It is important that the shanks fit in the vessel in one layer.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Tie the shank pieces with butcher’s string to keep the meat on the bone. Marinate the meat in balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle it with salt, pepper, and flour. Brown the shanks in batches in the butter & olive oil over medium-high heat; this should take about 10 minutes. Remove the meat to a plate. Cook the vegetables in the fat until the onions start to turn color. Add the garlic to the vegetables. Pour in the can of chicken broth and the wine. Add the bay leaf and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn off the heat. (Transfer the mixture to the oven-proof vessel, if what you’re using on the stove top is not oven-proof.) Arrange the veal shanks in one layer on top of the vegetables. The liquid should cover the bottom 1/3 to 1/2 of the shanks. Bake in the oven, covered, for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Done properly, the meat will be very tender, falling off the bone. Remove the bay leaf and carefully cut off the twine with scissors; try to keep the shanks intact. We like to serve it over couscous, with a gremolata topping.

Gremolata Topping:
3 tablespoons parsley, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Mix ingredients in a serving bowl and place it on the dinner table to spoon on top of the osso buco.

This recipe can be scaled up to serve larger groups, as long as you have enough covered baking dishes. Make one veal shank piece for every diner, plus a few spares: You don’t want to run short. It yields delicious leftovers, too.