My First try at Braising, Osso Buco Style!

The progression of a person’s cooking style is an interesting thing. When I was little, my mom used a pressure cooker, a lot. It was the perfect way for a working mother to be able to cook an amazing hot meal that seemed like it would have cooked all day. Because of that, my early experiences with cooking all involved pressure cookers. That’s right, I was the 8 year old standing on a stepping stool and peeking over the top of the pressure cooker to make sure my tomato bredie was cooking just right. Dangerous, probably, but a great hobby for a kid!

Given the frequent use of the pressure cooker in our house, there was no slow roasting or braising that I can recall. What exactly is braising? Well, it is searing a meat and then cooking it in liquid for an extended period of time to make it extra tender and tasty. With my braising definition in hand, I was on the hunt for a fool-proof recipe that I would not be disappointed in. It was my first time braising after all, it should be special!

Then it came to me…in an email from a friend…Saveur Magazine’s 15 Braised Meat Recipes! The Osso Buco was the one, THAT would be my 1st braising recipe. I would, however, use beef instead of veal. I would also like to take a minute to warn you to take the “shank” cut as a shank cut, and NOT look up what that means. I did. I put off making the recipe for a couple of weeks….

But I digress. I picked up a new pan especially for braising, and of course I named her! So everyone, please welcome Eta to the family! Why Eta?  Well because she sings to me of course! Since her arrival last week, Eta has produced 4 amazing meals. But this one was truly the most decadent. Honestly, this is a meal I would have paid 5 star restaurant prices for. And it wasn’t even that hard!! You could definitely make this meal at home and completely wow your dinner guests. I served the Osso Buco with super easy and delicious garlic parsley new potatoes (that recipe is below as well).  I hope you enjoy the recipes as much as we did!

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First Timer Osso Buco

Adapted from this recipe in Saveur Magazine

Ingredients

• 2 Beef, Lamb or Veal Shanks, about an inch + thick per piece (I used beef)
• Flour
• Salt & Pepper
• Olive Oil
• 3 tbs butter
• 2 medium carrots (minced, I used my food processor)
• 1/2 vidalia onion (minced, I used my food processor)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1.5 cup white wine (I used Avia Chardonnay)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 5 sprigs of fresh parsley (tied together with cooking twine)
• 2 large bay leaves

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325
• Salt and  pepper your shanks and then dust with flour
• In a large dutch oven, drizzle the pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat
• Brown the shanks for approximately 5 minutes per side, or until brown
• Remove shanks from pan and cover with tin foil
• Add butter to the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan as the butter melts
• Add minced onions and carrots and allow to simmer until the carrots soften, approximately 10 minutes
• Add the tomato paste and stir well
• Add wine, chicken broth, parsley and bay leaves and stir well
• Add shanks back to pan and bring to a simmer
• Cover the pan and place it in the oven
• After an hour, quickly flip the shanks, replace lid and return to oven
• Cook for an additional hour
• Reduce heat to 200 degree while you prepare your side dishes (up to 45 minutes max, just make sure there is still enough liquid in the pan. If not, add an additional 1/2 cup of chicken stock)
• When your side dishes are ready, spoon sauce over the shanks and serve!

Garlic Parsley New Potatoes

Ingredients

• Approximately 10 new potatoes (halved)
• 3 tbsp margarine (may sub butter)
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
• 2 large garlic cloves (chopped)
• Pepper

Directions

• In a medium pan, cover potatoes with water
• Bring to a boil and allow to boil until potatoes are tender to the bite (approximately 10 minutes after it begins to boil)
• Drain the potatoes
• In the mean time, melt butter in a medium pan until melted
• Add garlic and allow to saute for approximately 4 minutes
• If the butter reduces too much, add a dash or two of olive oil
• Add parsley and simmer for 1 more minute
• Toss the potatoes in the butter mixture
• Add pepper to taste
• Enjoy!