StovetopItalian
Beef shank osso buco
Cross-cut shanks, wine, and time. The marrow is the prize. There is no steak in a shank — this is the cook it wants.
Made it?
3 hr 30 min · 35 min hands-on · pull 195°F · rest 15 min
Ingredients
2 lb on the fire · ~1.4 lb to the table · 3 plates at 8 oz
- beef shanks, 1½-inch cross-cut4 (2 lb)
- kosher salt2 tsp
- black pepper1 tsp
- oil2 tbsp
- onion, diced1
- carrots, diced2
- dry white wine1 cup
- beef stock1½ cups
- can crushed tomatoes (14 oz)1
- strips orange zest and a bay leaf2
Method
- 1
Tie each shank so it holds the bone. Salt and pepper. Brown hard in oil, 4 minutes a side. Set aside.
- 2
Sweat onion and carrot in the fond. Wine to deglaze. Stock, tomato, zest, bay. Nestle the shanks; liquid should come halfway up.
- 3
Cover and simmer gently 2½–3 hours, or 300°F oven, until a probe slides through the meat and the marrow is wobbly.
- 4
Rest 15 minutes in the pot. Serve on polenta or risotto with the sauce and a spoon of marrow.
If you don’t have it
- Beef shank → Veal shank or lamb shank. Same pot. Veal is milder and a little faster.
- White wine → Dry red. Red makes a darker sauce. Still deglaze the fond.
Same cook, different day
Oven only
You do not want the stove on. Brown, then 300°F covered 3 hours.
Gremolata
You want a bright finish. Lemon zest, garlic, parsley chopped and scattered at the table.
On the plate
With this, try
- With this dish, try making texas toast.
When you pull the meat. The rest window. Drippings or butter on thick slices. 30–45 seconds a side on the hot grate. Salt.
8 min
- With this dish, try making grilled onions.
Alongside a tri-tip or skirt. Thick rounds, oil, salt, the cool then hot zone until soft and marked.
25 min
- With this dish, try making baked potato.
In the oven when a reverse-sear steak goes on, or the last hour of a roast. Scrub, oil, salt the skin. 400°F until a probe slides, 50–70 minutes. Split, butter, sour cream, chives. Foil only if you like wet skin.
1 hr