Osso Buco to Die For
Serves: 8
Ingredients
8-10 10-oz meaty cross-cut veal shanks. (Look for even marbling throughout.)
½ C flour
3-4 T rendered bacon fat (or other rendered animal fat such as lard or tallow)
1 large onion, halved through root end then peeled back and thinly sliced
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely sliced
3 chard or kale leaves, stems removed, rolled then sliced thinly (chiffonade)
6-8 large garlic cloves, sliced or chopped
1 C dry white wine
1 C homemade chicken broth
Directions
At end: Juice from ½ - 1 freshly squeezed lemon
Optional: Drizzle 1-2 T extra virgin olive oil at the end to bring out fruity flavor
Unrefined sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven 225 degrees.
1. Rinse shanks, pat dry and sprinkle liberally with sea salt and pepper. Dredge in flour. Set aside on platter.
2. Heat wide-bottom 7- to 9-quart heavy dutch oven over medium-high heat until warm (about 30 seconds on a gas stove). Melt rendered fat until hot but not smoking. Brown shanks evenly all over in one layer, in batches if necessary. Set aside on platter.
3. Turn down heat to medium and add onions, carrot and celery, with a couple large pinches of salt, stirring so as not to burn. Once soft, about 5 minutes, add garlic and stir so as not to burn. Add chard or kale, another small pinch of salt, and stir.
4. Add remaining stew ingredients, another pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and bring to a slight boil, stirring. Arrange shanks in pot in one layer and braise until very tender, 4 hours, or when fork pulls away easily. (To make in less time, set oven at 325 degrees for 2 ½ hours.) Squeeze lemon on top to taste.
*Optional: tie each shank with a string. Sometimes, even when you tie the shanks, they fall apart and come undone. Maybe you like it that way. That’s why I note it as optional.
** Gluten-free flours are available at Bob’s Red Mill or from your local coop or Whole Foods market. GF flours include potato, lentil, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, corn, brown rice, among others.