Ossobuco - The Royal Italian Dish

To Eat with Those Royal Tuscan Reds  

 


A Serious Italian Table Serving 
the Antipasto before the Ossobuco


While most good cooks and especially high profile restaurant chefs seek out the very best to create their culinary masterpieces, they admit that once they use their special skills to find these top quality ingredients, the final cooking efforts become a little easier. Much of the finish work is looked upon as merely “cutting and heating” the food. 

Many say the true test of cooking is to take less expensive products and tougher cuts and create tenderness and flavor. The Chinese do it quickly with small cuts, high heat, woks, spices and impeccable timing. But their civilization and interest in sophisticated food goes back more than 3,000 years. The Western Civilization approach requires less skill and is specifically called braising. The recent trend toward more casual and lower cost “Bistro “ dining has increased many chefs’ interest in this technique.  There are also many advantages for the home cook especially when entertaining.   

You can opt for lower priced cuts of meat. It is a two part process that is a bit time consuming but relatively simple. Essentially braising is cooking something slowly in a small amount of liquid after searing the item first in oil or fat and then using the remaining reduced liquid as the serving sauce. Familiar braises are pot roast, beef stew, short ribs, lamb shank, oxtail and the more expensive king of them all ossobuco. It means bone with a hole.
  All of the work to make ossobuco can be done ahead of time so when the guests arrive, all you do is go to the oven and serve from the pot. If your guests are late it will have minimum effect upon the taste of the finished product. All stress is removed, and the slightly added food cost creates a main course that will draw both admiration and accolades.

Ossobuco is braising at the top level. It is done with veal shanks (lamb shanks can be substituted to reduce the cost, but the recipe is slightly different). Thus, it is a North Ranch dish rather than Simi Valley. Veal shanks can be bought from $5 a lb. to $12 depending upon whether they are front or rear shanks. Front shanks are smaller, less tender, less flavorful and less expensive. However, since the meat is cooked with tremendous flavor, large portions are not needed to create a satisfying meal. Still, you may have to order the meat ahead.  

Ossobuco can actually be prepared a day or two ahead, refrigerated and then reheated gently over the stove adding a bit of water if needed. Serves 6-8  
Ossobuco Ingredients  
1 cup onion chopped fine 
2/3 cup carrot chopped fine 
2/3 cup celery chopped fine 
½ stick butter 
1 teaspoon garlic chopped fine 
2 strips lemon peel (no white pith) 
1/3 cup vegetable oil
8 1 ½ “ thick cuts of veal shank (skin on) each tied tightly around middle 		 Flour 
1 cup dry white wine 
½ cup canned beef broth with ½ cup water 
1 ½ cups canned Italian plum tomatoes coarsely chopped with their juice 
½ teaspoon fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried a few sprigs of parsley 
Freshly ground black pepper 
2 Bay leaves    

Preparation and Cooking        
  1. Preheat oven to 350       
  2. Select a heavy bottom and deep pot like a Dutch Oven so that later, shanks can sit up in a single layer. Put in onion, carrots, celery and butter. Turn stovetop heat on to medium and cook for 6 or 7 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and lemon peel and cook another 2-3 minutes until vegetables soften. Remove from heat.
  3. Put vegetable oil in a skillet and turn stovetop to medium high. At this time lightly and fully flour veal. Shake off excess flour.  
  4. When the oil is quite hot, put in the shanks and brown deeply all over. Oil should sizzle when veal is put in.  
  5. Remove shanks from skillet with slotted spoon or spatula and stand them side by side in the pot over the cooked vegetables.  
  6. Tip the skillet and spoon off all but a little bit of oil. Add the wine and reduce by simmering over medium heat while scraping loose the browning residues stuck to the bottom and sides. Pour the skillet juices over the veal in the large pot.  
  7. Add the broth to the skillet, bring it to simmer and add it to the large pot along with the chopped tomatoes and their juice, thyme, bay leaves, parsley, pepper and salt. Broth should come 2/3 up to the top of the shanks. Bring liquid in the pot to simmer, Cover the pot tightly and place in lower third of the preheated oven. Cook for about 2 hours, turning and basting the shanks every 20 minutes, until meat is tender when prodded with a fork and a dense creamy sauce has formed. If liquid in pot becomes too low add water, two tablespoons at a time.
  8. When ossobuco is done, place it on a warm platter while removing trussing strings. Pour the sauce from the pot over it and serve immediately. If juice is too thin, place over burner at high heat and boil down excess liquid and then pour over ossobuco on the platter.  
  9. Classic ossobuco is usually served with risotto Milanaise that requires serious last minute attention and expensive saffron. I’d avoid it the first time. Steamed rice with the sauce from the osso buco is fine. It can be served without other vegetables but if you feel the need, small peas are a good choice. Some people also create an aromatic mixture called gremolada to add to the shanks. I don’t think it is worth the trouble.
  10. This dish deserves a nice Italian Barolo or a reasonably aged Napa Cabernet to complement the strong flavors of ossobuco. A light red or white wine will not hold up against it.