Meat, like love, comes in many shapes and sizes. If cuts of meat were debutantes at a ball, the shank would be the scullery maid peeling potatoes in the basement. This part of the animal serves such a relentless function to help the cow survive that—once rendered to the butcher—ends up being dry, tough, and flavorless.
Thankfully, the Italians saw right to the bone of this vexing body part and did what all good people do with inexpensive cuts: braise them in fragrant liquid for hours on end until the meat is utterly transformed.
At less than $5 a pound, osso bucco makes for a hearty, decadent, economical Valentine’s Day dish. I’ll spare you the labor of love aphorisms and instead invite you to eat your heart out (eek…couldn’t help it!) with my original recipe of this comforting classic. Sipping a simple Nebbiolo while listening to Verdi is heartily encouraged.
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Osso Bucco w. Gremolata Whipped Potatoes
Feeds: 2-4 people
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: Slow and low for 4+ hours (or until meat in no way resembles its original state)
Ingredients:
2 large or 4 small beef (or veal) shanks
1/2 C. Flour
Salt
Pepper
8-12T. Olive Oil
Soffritto: 4 carrots, 1-2 onions, 4 stocks celery
1-2 C. Beef Stock
1 Can Tomato Paste
Generous sloshes of decent Italian red wine (I say this because sometimes you want to drink a bit of the bottle but if not go ahead and put in 1/2 a bottle now and save some to keep braising levels right)
Gremolata Whipped Potatoes
Bunch of parsley
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 Lemon (some rind minched and juice)
4 Yukon Gold potatoes (scrubbed and peeled)
2T Butter
2-4 T Milk/Cream/Greek Yogurt
Instructions:
1) Pat meat dry, dredge in flour, salt, pepper and brown on both sides in olive oil-laced, dutch oven. Pull meat out.
2) Add soffritto to bubbling oil and add more oil to cover. You really want those veggies cooking and darkening…and deepening. This takes 20 minutes on vigorous heat.
3)“Cook” tomato paste in pot with veggies until you can smell it.
4) Add meat back into Dutch oven. Add beef stock, red wine, (to braise—not submerge) some salt and pepper to taste, and bring to a simmer before lowering heat and going to watch a movie.
5) Check on braising liquid every hour and add to it so it’s up to 1/2 the sides of the meat.
6) Once meat is done, cover and set aside. Cook potatoes in boiling salty water and drain. Rice potatoes in pot. Add warm milk and butter and hand whip. Fold in parsley and garlic and lemon zest. Add a generous squeeze of lemon over everything…osso bucco included.
7) I like to serve it in a bowl with the potatoes in the middle with a meat atop and a braising liquid moat for dipping.