Osso Buco

Recipe for a nice dinner with family and friends

Advice: more for cold days, especially in autumn, winter and early spring:

It will take some of your precious time to prepare that dish; it is worth your time! You will love it!
(I prepare all the ingredients before I start)

Ingredients:

• 4 shanks of veal or young beef (choose these with a small bone so you have more meat), cut the skin on two opposite sides of the shank piece
• little flour, salt and pepper (white or black) to prepare the shanks
• vegetable oil to sear the shanks
• 1 leek, white and green part cut into 1 – 2 inch pieces
• 3 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 onion, cut into 4 pieces
• 2 gloves of garlic
• 1 celery root, cut into 6 pieces or 4 celery sticks, cut into 1 – 2 inch pieces
• 260 g (1 can ) of whole plum tomato

(variation: 1 onion, peeled, layered with a bay leaf held in place by a whole clove)

• 2 sticks of fresh thyme or 2 ml of dried thyme
• 3 juniper berries, dried
• 1 bay leaf, dried
• 5 crushed black peppercorns
• 500 ml red wine (Merlot or Syrah)
• 1 liter vegetable bouillon
• 10 ml of salt, add after 1.5 hours of the simmering time
• 3 medium sized potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed (represents a replacement of starch)

Gremolata:

• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• Zest of 1 lemon
• a bouquet of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

mix these three ingredients

First steps:

dry the meat with a paper towel before you put salt and fresh ground pepper on it

dredge the meat with flour

heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven and sear the shanks on high for 2 – 4 minutes per side in order that they get a slight brown colour

take out the meat and put it on a plate

reduce the heat to medium

Second step:

add some vegetable oil, if necessary and cook the leek, carrots, onion and the celery about 4 minutes in the same pan you seared the meat

note: the vegetable has to stay in its original colour and should not turn its colour in brown or black

add the whole tomato can and stir all ingredients

add 200 ml of red wine and let it cook for about 5 minutes

add the rest of the wine in three steps, cooking 2 minutes between each edition

Third step:

add the herbs (thyme, juniper berries, bay leaf and crushed peppercorns)

add 500 ml of the bouillon

let it boil on medium temperature for about 5 minutes

Fourth step:

take out all vegetables and place on a plate

put the shanks in the pan and cover them with the vegetables

add the rest of the bouillon

cover the pan and let it simmer (means cooking on a low temperature) for about 1.5 – 2 hours

Fifth step:

use some of the liquid and mix it together with the potatoes (preparation see above) and add it back to the simmering ingredients

add 10 ml of salt and stir all ingredients carefully without stirring the meat

cover the pan and let it simmer for 30 minutes on a low temperature

Be aware that the sauce will never condense and will stay a little liquid

Sixth step:

arrange the shanks on hot plates together with the vegetable and mashed potatoes or a risotto (recipe will be published soon)

garnish little of the gremolata on the shanks. It will taste like fresh mountain air.

Advice:

Prepare your next dinner and eat the remaining sauce with your favorite pasta. It is delicious.