This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe was a perfect chilly-weather comfort food dish – osso buco. Osso buco translates to “bone with a hole” and generally means round, thick slices cut crosswise from a veal shank, with meat surrounding the central hole of the bone, which is filled with marrow. I wasn’t concerned about finding the ingredients for this, though one of the other Doristas posted a photo showing she had spent $80 on this dish which I wasn’t prepared to do – sorry, Dorie – I knew I’d either be minifying this to the max or using beef.
I happen to live in a neighbourhood with two fabulous butcher shops and didn’t think to order my shanks ahead of time – each time I have been in at least one of those stores recently they have had veal shanks (or at least beef shanks, an excellent substitute) in stock. Sadly last weekend, on Friday night, there were no veal or beef shanks to be found and I went home planning to get that organised the following day. Saturday came and went and I woke up early on Sunday morning thinking “Osso Buco. Need to make today!” I phoned around a few places and noone had veal in stock, a few places had lamb but it was frozen but finally I found some fresh beef shanks which I instructed Mr Neil to collect on his way home from out of town. Bonus? 1.5kg was just $11.
This is a slow braised dish with flavours like orange, thyme, basil, Herbes de Provence along with the usual suspects of tomatoes, garlic and onions. I made it in the afternoon and we ate it for dinner- the meat was falling-off-the-bone tender and it was pretty tasty but intrepid taste tester Mr Neil reported from the lunchroom on Monday that it was “definitely much better” the following day (and I made sure to not send too many carrots, since cooked carrots are the one thing he is picky about). As I had suspected, And why I had wanted to make it on a Saturday and serve it on a Sunday. Best laid plans and all that…
In any case, it was a reminder to me to not forget about beef shanks when I am at the butcher. As we move into the winter, slow-braised dishes are ones I love to make – they don’t generally require a lot of hands-on time and are easy to make in larger batches – perfect for weekend meal prep for the week ahead!
Get the recipe for Dorie Greenspan’s Osso Buco à l’Arman on page 270 of Around my French Table.
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Oh, you got a steal!!! And with this latest weather front coming through, it’s definitely time to add more slow cooked recipes to our menu. Your osso buco looks divine, Mardi!
I LOVE osso buco.
Certainly better with veal than beef from a flavor perspective, but these were really nice. As I’m still decidedly in autumn mode (leaves on trees, not yet chilly), what I liked about this was the fact the herb/citrus combination made for a “lighter” version, if that makes any sense. (Often when I’ve cooked shank dishes in the past, they’re decidedly heavier.)
I paired this with a Syrah from Languedoc Roussillon.
Some times the sourcing IS the most adventurous part of these recipes. We used beef shank as well- I felt much better about spending 14$ on 3 beef shanks than the 50-60$ that the veal would have cost…
I really like your first photo: something about that aged wood background really evokes cool weather (and, of course, the color is a great contrast with the orange-y red of the osso buco)! You _did_ get a fantastic price on the shanks and it turned out beautifully!
Like you, I am not ready to spend that much money when I cook a meal. I really like your dish and I should try it with beef shanks.
This was really good! Perfect for a chilly fall day! Love your photos, delicious looking!
Mardi your dish looks very good with the beef and I have to agree with Mr.Neil, this is thinner
than my usual osso buco recipe. We enjoyed it and I will definitely be making it again.
This was so perfect for the season! All markets around me were shank-less this week and I didn’t think to order ahead. I like the search process, though not when I can’t find what I’m looking for.
It seems a lot of people went with beef shank. I can always find veal, though I only buy the humanly raised veal from Whole Foods… it must be because there are so many Italians in NY. The only meat I ever ate as kid other than pork was veal. Yours looks like such an amazing stew… really beautiful.
Braising meat is one of our favorite methods from AMFT – it just renders such wonderful results every time. Using beef is a great option. Your photos are great!
I agree that this dish was better next day, and I loved how it melted in the mouth. Good price on the beef!
I am probably experiencing PTSD from the carrot overload a few weeks ago and halved the carrots (and forgot to mention it). I love the picture of your Dutch oven and the perfectly formed shank.
I agree Mardi! Love braising and big pots of winter food! I don’t think I’ve ever cooked beef shanks and need to look for them. As I type this it occurs to me I think I have a package in the freezer. How did I forget that? Lovely photos!
I wish my veal only cost $11. It was still worth the purchase for me. You are right that it is easy to make and I look forward to using the rest of my veal that is parked in my freezer.
Gorgeous photos! I love slow-braised meals, too. It’s not so cold here yet, but it’s rainy and that means soup and stew weather has begun. I’m glad you were able to find beef shanks (and at such a great price).