I'd say this is my take on an Italian dish, Osso Buco and I have been making it for years now. It is one of those dishes that I can almost cook with my eyes closed.
Let me start by calling things rustic for the time being because a picture perfect dish is not what I am aiming for right now. I'd like to focus on the quintessence of it that would make you want to make this more often. That means I may require for your patience in achieving a scrumptious beef dish.
With this dish, I'm even gonna spare you from the misery of securing each shank with a butcher's twine because that thing falls off anyway when the meat starts to shrink. Besides I would even suggest you be cautious in handling the shanks especially when stirring it. You don't want the marrow to slip out of the bones because you'd rather scoop that later and relish that fatty or creamy taste like bone marrow.
Once the meat starts to come off the bone, take them out carefully and set them aside. You can always put them back when the beef is finally fork tender and the rich sauce has reduced and thickened. You have 4 hours to let it simmer and simmer on a low heat so there is plenty of time to make good mashed potatoes or steam jasmine type of rice.
Ingredients
- 2 kilos Beef Shanks
- 3 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1 Tbsp Thyme
- 1 Tbsp Rosemary
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 large Vidalia or sweet onion
- 1 stalk celery, sliced
- 1 medium carrot , cubed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cinnamon bark
- 1 Cup Dry White Wine
- 3 Cups Chicken Broth or 2 Chicken Bouillion cubes dissolved in 3 Cups water
- Flour for dredging
- Salt & Pepper
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
Directions
- 1Season Beef Shanks with salt and pepper then dredge both sides in flour.
- 2Using vegetable oil, sear beef shanks until they are brown in a dutch oven. Set them aside on a plate.
- 3In that same dutch oven, saute garlic and onions then add in carrots, celery, rosemary and thyme and cook for about 2 mins.
- 4Stir the dollops of tomato paste and deglaze the pan or dutch oven with the wine. Make sure you scrape all the goodness from the bottom of the pan.
- 5Put the beef shanks one by one then pour the broth.
- 6When it starts to simmer, turn the heat down to low and allow all flavors to blend together while the beef tenderizes until it falls off its marrow. Start multi tasking because this may take about 4 hours.
- 7Stir occasionally making sure nothing sticks to the bottom.
- 8When the meat is fork tender and the sauce had thickened on its own, it's done!
- 9Serve it with some creamy mashed potatoes or rice.
