Osso Bucco

This is such a beautiful thing when you are in a carnivorous mood.  Milk fed veal (said so right on the packages), braised for hours, low and slow to make a tough piece of meat incredibly tender.

Served with the vegetables used to flavor the broth and all laid out on a bed of blue cheese polenta.


But, best of all, it takes all of 10 minutes in prep time, a few hours untouched in the oven and this seemingly complex dish is served to impress...

Serves 2...

2 whole veal shanks (about 1 pound per shank), trimmed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
All purpose flour, for dredging

4 TBS "Not Your Grandmother's Herbes de Provence"
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 small carrot, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 stalk celery, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
3 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon Grated Parmesan Cheese
For the veal shanks, pat dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Veal shanks will brown better when they are dry. Season each shank with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add 2 TBS of the "Not Your Grandmother's Herbes de Provence" to the flour.  Dredge the shanks in flour, shaking off excess.

In a large Dutch oven pot, heat vegetable oil until smoking. Add veal shanks to the hot pan and brown all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove browned shanks and reserve.

In the same pot, add the onion, carrot and celery. Season with salt at this point to help draw out the moisture from the vegetables. Saute until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Return browned shanks to the pan and add the white wine and reduce liquid by half, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining "Not Your Grandmother's Herbes de Provence" and 2 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Check every 15 minutes, turning shanks and adding more chicken stock as necessary. The level of cooking liquid should always be about 3/4 the way up the shank.

Carefully remove the cooked shanks from the pot and place in decorative serving platter.

Pour all the juices and sauce from the pot over the shanks. Garnishwith chopped parsley and lemon zest and cheese!