Recipe: Osso Buco (3 recipes) for Murray

Hi Murray :-) I found these recipes on the internet. I have not tried any of them but they all sound really good. Also, if you type Osso Buco in the search box, you will find recipes for Osso Buco that have been previously posted at this site. I don't envy your having to choose just one of these to try since they all sound wonderful :-) Good luck with your experimenting!!

Osso Buco
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Yield: 6 servings

1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 dry bay leaf
2 whole cloves
Cheesecloth
Kitchen twine, for bouquet garni and tying the veal shanks
3 whole veal shanks (about 1 pound per shank), trimmed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
All purpose flour, for dredging
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 white wine
3 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Place the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and cloves into cheesecloth and secure with twine. This will be your bouquet garni.

For the veal shanks, pat dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Veal shanks will brown better when they are dry. Secure the meat to the bone with the kitchen twine. Season each shank with salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge the shanks in flour, shaking off excess.

In a large Dutch oven pot, heat vegetable oil until smoking. Add tied 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 bouquet garni 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. Cut off the kitchen twine and discard.
Remove and discard bouquet garni from the pot.

Pour all the juices and sauce from the pot over the shanks. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon zest.

Osso Buco
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 2 hours
Yield: 10 servings

10 meaty veal shanks, 2 to 3 inches thick
Salt and pepper
1/2 to 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter, divided
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 4 turns of the pan
1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into a fine dice
4 ribs celery, chopped
6 to 8 cloves garlic, crushed
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, stripped and finely chopped, about 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon allspice
2 cups white wine
1 (28-ounce) can chunky style crushed tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
2 (14-ounce) cans, cannelloni beans, drained
1 lemon, rind cut into pieces
Gremolata:
2 lemons, zested
4 cloves garlic, crushed
6 anchovy fillets in oil, drained
1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, 3 handfuls

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place a large, heavy bottomed skillet on the stove and heat pan over moderate to high flame. Salt and pepper the shanks and coat lightly and evenly in flour. Working in 2 batches, brown shanks in 1 1/2 tablespoons each butter and olive oil. Transfer shanks to a large roasting pan. Add remaining butter and oil to the pan and saute the root vegetables and crushed garlic 5 minutes, seasoning them with rosemary, allspice, salt and pepper. Add wine to the pan and reduce 2 to 3 minutes, lifting pan drippings up off the bottom of your pot. Add tomatoes, chicken stock and white beans to the pan and remove from heat. Stir to combine sauce. Pour sauce and vegetables evenly over shanks. Cover roasting pan tightly and roast for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until meat is very tender and pulling easily from bone. Baste meat in juices and sauce every 1/2 hour. In the last 1/2 hour, add lemon rinds to sauce.
Combine lemon zest, garlic, anchovies and parsley in a large pile. Mill the mixture with your knife into a finely chopped condiment.
To serve, place shank in a rimmed plate and spoon juices, beans and vegetable bits over and around meat. Top with a generous sprinkle of gremolata. Serve with Sauteed dark greens and crusty bread and/or garlic lemon potatoes.

CLASSIC OSSO BUCO from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan
"From being a regional dish from Piedmont in Italy, osso buco has caught the imagination worldwide. Thick slices from the veal shank with its central marrow bone are key to osso buco, so that the meat remains moist and becomes tender enough to fall from the bone. When the dish is cooked ahead, the flavor will deepen and mellow. As for the curious gremolata flavoring of garlic, parsley, and lemon, I myself like to add a generous sprinkling to my veal at the table, although purists use only just enough for a delicate nuance. Risotto milanese, flavored with veal stock and saffron is the classic accompaniment."

4 pounds (1.8 kg) veal shanks, cut in 1 1/2-inch ( 4 cm) slices
1/4 cup (30 g/1 oz) flour
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 bottle (375 ml) dry white wine
a 14.5-ounce (435 g) can plum tomatoes, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
grated zest of 2 oranges
1 cup (250 ml/8 fl oz) veal stock, more if needed

For the Gremolata
3 or 4 garlic cloves
bunch of flat-leaf parsley
grated zest of 2 lemons

1. Heat the oven to 350 F (176 F/Gas 4). Put the flour on a plate, add generous amounts of salt and pepper, and coat the veal slices, with flour, patting to remove the excess. Heat the oil and butter in a saut pan or frying pan big enough for all the veal slices to touch the bottom. Add half the slices and brown them over quite high heat, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn them, brown the other side and remove them to a plate. Brown the remaining slices and remove them also.

2. Lower the heat to medium, add the onion and carrot and saut until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour in the wine and boil until reduced by half, stirring to dissolve the pan juices. Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, orange zest, veal stock, salt, and pepper. Immerse the veal slices in this sauce - the liquid should come at least halfway up the sides. Cover the pan and bring it to a boil.

3. Braise the shanks in the oven until the meat is very tender and falling from the bone, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Stir from time to time, gently turning the slices, and if the pan seems dry, add more stock. At the end of cooking, taste and adjust seasoning of the sauce. Osso buco can be cooked ahead and stored up to 3 days in the refrigerator, or frozen. Keep it in the pan ready to be reheated on top of the stove.

4. For the gremolata, chop the garlic; pull parsley leaves from the stems, and chop the leaves together with the garlic. Stir in the grated lemon zest and pile the gremolata in a bowl. It can be served separately from the osso buco, for guests to help themselves, or sprinkled on the dish just before it goes to the table.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

(From someone who has made this recipe: "Love this recipe. Second time I've made it. This time used a nice Cabernet Sauvignon for cooking and served with a great Argentinian Malbec. Added sliced cremini mushrooms and more carrots. I added very good olive oil and a teaspoon or two of lemon juice, salt & pepper to the gremolata because otherwise it tasted bitter. Served with roasted butternut squash. This is an excellent dish!! Specially, if you like to experiment a little bit.")