Osso Buco With Gremolata And Polenta Recipes

Steps:

• Osso buco: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Tie veal shanks at the equator with kitchen twine. Preheat a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Season veal shanks with salt and pepper on all sides, then evenly dust with flour. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pot and swirl to evenly heat, 30 seconds. When oil is shimmering, add the veal shanks and sear on both sides until brown, 2-3 minutes per side. Then sear the sides. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables.
• While the veal shanks are browning, prepare the mirepoix: Trim carrots and celery, then cut into a uniform large dice. Peel and halve the onion, then dice into the same size as the carrots and celery. Meanwhile, continue turning the veal shanks so they brown on all sides (turn heat down to low if the pot gets too smoky). The brown bits forming on the bottom of the pan, called "fond," will be used to flavor the sauce later. Smash garlic; remove skin, trim the tip, and slice. Turn off heat, remove browned shanks from pot, and set aside, leaving fond and drippings in the pot.
• Turn heat to medium-low. Add butter and all of the vegetables to the pot. Season with salt and stir, scraping up the fond. Sauté until soft, 3-4 minutes. Turn heat to medium and add wine to the vegetable mixture. Stir and scrape to finish deglazing the pot, then reduce by half, 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, make a bouquet garni by tying the parsley stems and thyme together with twine. (Making a bouquet will make it easier to remove and discard the herbs when the dish is finished.) Add to the pot. Peel three long strips of lemon peel, from top to bottom, and add to the pot, followed by the bay leaves. Stir, then add the beef broth and crushed tomatoes.
• Bring sauce to a simmer, and continue simmering until reduced slightly, 6-8 minutes. Nestle the osso buco pieces into the vegetable sauce mixture; it should come halfway up the sides of the veal shanks. Spoon sauce over the tops of the shanks. Cover and place in the oven to braise for a total of 2 hours, checking after 1 hour and basting with sauce. Meanwhile, make the gremolata.
• Gremolata: Pick the leaves off the parsley and finely chop. Set aside. Peel strips of lemon peel from top to bottom, trying to avoid the white pith as much as possible. Julienne the peel into long slivers, then finely dice. (Alternatively, you can use a Microplane zester.) Add zest to the parsley mixture. Smash and peel the garlic cloves; finely chop 1½ cloves and add to the bowl. Season to taste with salt, stir, and set aside.
• Assembly: After 2 hours of braising, remove osso buco from the oven. Shanks should be fork tender, with sauce clinging to the meat. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer shanks to a serving platter and remove the strings. Discard bouquet garni, bay leaves, and lemon peels. Ladle sauce over the shanks, followed by a sprinkling of gremolata. Serve with remaining gremolata on the side.

Steps:

• Put the flour in a large shallow platter and season it with a fair amount of salt and pepper. Get in the habit of always tasting your flour; once it coats the veal it is harder to adjust the seasoning. Dredge the veal shanks in the seasoned flour and then tap off the excess (extra flour will burn and make the dish off-tasting). Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and hit it with a 3-count drizzle of oil. Add the butter and swirl it around the pan to melt. Sear the veal shanks, turning carefully with tongs, until all sides are a rich brown caramel color. Drizzle with a little more oil if needed. (Do this in batches if the shanks are big and look crowded in the pot.) Remove the browned veal shanks to a side plate. There will be a lot of flavor left over in the bottom of the pot. You're going to use that to create your sauce.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Using the same pot, sauté the onion, celery, carrots, lemon zest, garlic, bay leaves, and parsley over medium heat. Cook the vegetables down until they start to get some color and develop a deep, rich aroma. Season with salt and pepper; add a little oil if needed. Nestle the veal shanks back in the pot. Pour in the wine and let it simmer down for 20 minutes, until the wine has reduced by half. Reducing is key for intense flavor. Add the beef broth and tomatoes and stir everything together. Cover the pot and put it in the oven. Braise for 1 1/2 hours. Then remove the cover and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. The sauce should be thick and the veal tender and nearly falling off the bone.
• For the gremolata, mash the pine nuts, anchovy, and garlic together in a mini chopper or with a mortar and pestle. Fold that into the orange zest and parsley. Scatter the gremolata over the Osso Buco before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Liberally season all sides of the shanks with salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil to the pan and sear the shanks until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes a side. Transfer to a plate.
• Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the Dutch oven, then add the carrots, celery and onions. Season with salt and pepper and saute until the vegetables are slightly soft and browned, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 second. Add the wine to deglaze, scraping all the bits off the bottom. Add the shanks, any accumulated juices, the warm stock, tomatoes and bay leaves. Cover, transfer to the oven and cook until the shanks are extremely fork-tender, about 2 hours. Remove the shanks and tent with foil on a plate.
• If the braising liquid is a bit thin, right before serving, simmer the remaining liquid until thickened slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
• For each serving, put a ladle of Creamy Polenta in a shallow bowl, followed by a warm shank with a ladle of rich braising liquid, then top with the fresh Gremolata.
• Bring 6 cups water to a rolling boil in a heavy-bottomed 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting, add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and pour the cornmeal into the water in a very slow stream from a measuring cup, all the while whisking in a circular motion to prevent lumps.
• Cover and cook, vigorously stirring the polenta with a wooden spoon for about 10 seconds once every 5 minutes and making sure to scrape clean the bottom and corners of the pot, until the polenta has lost its raw cornmeal taste and becomes soft and smooth, about 30 minutes. Stir in the cream, butter, cheese and salt and pepper to taste.
• Mix the parsley, lemon zest, orange zest and garlic together in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in your small pot. Rub salt over the veal shank, and put it into the sizzling oil. Brown lightly on one side, then turn and brown the other. Turn the veal on its side to make room for the onion, carrot, tomato, and leek pieces. Sauté them for a minute or two, then flip the shank over so it is bone side down, and pour in the wine. Stir to get up any browned bits, and reduce the wine by half. Pour in the broth; add several grindings of pepper, lay the rosemary and parsley stems on top, and cover. Let cook for 1 3/4 hours at a gentle simmer.
• Meanwhile, put together the gremolata-the tasty, garlicky topping-by simply mixing the minced garlic, lemon peel, and parsley together.
• When the meat is very tender, remove it to a warm plate, discarding the parsley stems, and sprinkle the top with as much of the gremolata as you like. Eat with some crusty bread to sop up the sauce. And don't forget the marrow. Use a little coffee spoon to scrape it out and extract the last precious morsel.