Osso Buco

Osso Buco is a delicious beef dish made with beef shank. The meat is cooked slowly making this beef so tender you only need a fork to eat it!

It isn’t very often that I see some beef shanks in the grocery store where I buy my meat but I saw some the other day & picked up a couple of packages.

I thought about making it in my Instant Pot, but t was actually less work to make it in the oven. There are several steps to this recipe & I could do them all in one pot & some of the recipes for Osso Buco in the instant pot called for using the instant pot & other pots on the stove.

Looking around on the internet there were several recipes but I like recipes on the Martha Stewart site, so I decided to make this one. I was not disappointed. This was just delicious! I only made a couple of changes to the recipe from the Martha Stewart website….these are the changes I made.. I didn’t have a leek, so left it out…& the recipe called for fresh herbs but I used dry…also I didn’t use beef stock, & i forgot to use a lemon…opps!

Following the recipe for Osso Buco I have included a recipe for Polenta cooked in the microwave, non-dairy, to serve with the Osso Buco. You could also serve this with mashed potatoes.

Here is the recipe based on the recipe Osso Buco by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

3 tbsp oil

1/2 cup flour

I used 2 big beef shanks….approx. 4 – 5 pounds

salt & pepper

1 red onion, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces *** I used the mini carrots & used a few to what i though equaled 2 carrots!

1 rib of celery, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 dried bay leaf

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 14 oz can of whole tomatoes..crushed *** I used my food processor to crush them…

2 cups of red wine

2 cups of water *** the original recipe called for beef stock but I didn’t have any so I used water….

To garmish…..fresh parsley.chopped…, fresh lemon zest or dried parsly…which I used

Method

Preheat oven to 350f

A dutch oven with a lid

1. Put the oil into a dutch oven…*** I used a soup pot that could go into the oven!
2. Put the flour into a pie plate or plate
3. Season the beef shanks with salt & pepper
4. Dredge the beef shanks in the flour & shake off the excess
5. Heat the oil in the pan…& sear the floured pieces of beef shank..one at a time or as many that can fit in the pan without touching…turn over so that both sides will be seared.. & then when done but into a dish & set aside
6. Add the red onion, carrots, celery & cook until soft & browned, stirring often
7. Add the bay leaf, thyme, oregano & the can of tomatoes that you have crushed
8. Add the wine & water *** it looks like a lot of liquid at this point but you want the meat to be covered with the liquid & you will reduce it once the meat is cooked
9. Add the seared beef shanks
10. Bring all of this to a simmer
11. Once it is simmering, cover & put into the preheated oven & cook for 2 1/2 hours
12. When it is done & the meat is tender, remove from the oven
13. Take the meat our of the dutch oven & transfer to a dish..you cna cover it with foil to let it stay warm
14. Now, you are going to reduce the liquid in the pot by simmering it on a medium heat for about 15 minutes… watch it that it does not boil or burn
15. Put the meat back into the reduced liquid & serve…you can sprinkle some fresh parsley on to serve & some grated lemon zest *** which I did not do…but I sprinkled it with some dried parsley…

I made some soft polenta..in the microwave, using a recipe in MICROWAYS cookbook by NORENE GILLETZ…& i served the Osso Buco on top of the corn meal…it was delish!!!!

Here is the recipe for the polenta…made in the microwave

Ingredients

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

3 cups water

3/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp butter or oil

Method

1. Combine the cornmeal, water & salt in a microwave bowl that is big enough because this will bubble up… in the recipe it is recommended to use an 8 cup bowl…
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap & vent it..by poking a hole in the plastic
3. Microwave on high for 10 minutes, stir at half time…but be careful removing the plastic wrap…
4. Let this stand for about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in butter or oil…
5. Note: this can get really lumpy so the stirring is important!

Enjoy!