I’ve been living too long in Berkeley to eat veal any more, but, heaven help me, I love me some osso buco. So I created this dish using short ribs instead. Someday, when I’m truly green, I will stop eating meat altogether and share my recipe for osso bucco with tempeh. But that’s not today. Or anytime in 2008.
This dish can be doubled or tripled and then frozen with excellent results.
A note about cooking methods:
I have tested this recipe in the oven and in a crock pot. Both work just fine. By attaching an electric timer to the crock pot, you can leave the house and come back to great results.
A note about searing:
I have tested this recipe searing the meat first and also just throwing it in the pot. There is no question that searing the meat (as shown in the picture) make the meat more juicy and gives it that dark carmelized look that I like. If, however, that’s too much work, you can skip it.
Osso Buco:
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
pepper
3 lbs boneless short ribs, fat trimmed
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
1 celery stalk, diced
6 cloves garlic (yeah, 6), chopped thin
2 bay leaves
1 lemon, zest peeled in wide strips (for easy removal)
1 bottle burgundy (amarone is traditional, but expensive)
2 cups chicken broth
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 bunch curly parsley, stemmed and cut
3 tbl of flour blended with 3 tbl oil
½ cup marsala
If you are using a crockpot, turn it on high. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Heat oil in dutch oven or large frying pan (I prefer cast iron). Dredge short ribs in pepper and pan sear on all sides (about 6 minutes). Remove from pan. Add the onions, shallots, celery and garlic and sauté until transparent and soft (if you need to add a little more olive oil, do so).
Season with salt and pepper and return the short ribs. Pour in the wine, the tomatoes, the broth, the parsley, lemon zest, bay leaves and bring it back to a simmer. Reduce on the stove for 20 minutes, then transfer to crockpot or oven and cover, cooking for 3 -3 ½ hours.
Remove ribs and simmer liquid on stovetop for 20 minutes (if you have time, refrigerate the sauce and let the fat rise to the top so you can remove it, then return to stove). Remove peel and bay leaves and discared. Whisk in the oil-flour mixture and cook 15 minutes to thicken. Add marsala and return ribs to sauce. Serve with your favorite vegetable.
Prior to becoming a legal goddess, Tsan worked in the food industry, both as chef (in Cambridge and New Hampshire) and as an event planner (in Vail). She also ran the Culinary, Hospitality and Restaurant Management Certificate Program at UCLA Extension.
Aw, come on Tsan. You don’t have to give up meat to share the tempeh version. You can even test out the recipe on me. Please?
Hurray for beef – at least once in a while, come on! (BTW – LOVE Ver Brugge in Oakland for all cuts of meat including fish). I love the tofu and tempah too – don’t get me wrong – but I do so adore the meat products. I’m not offering an apology unless you feel the need for one. Thank you for the recipe Tsan!
This sounds great! I wanna make it this Sunday for about 10 people. How many servings does your recipe make?
Serves about 6 if they eat like Dan. Also, since I no longer serve my short ribs with mashed potatoes (lest I feel the wrath of Stev-il), people tend to load up on the meat. I’d double the recipe so you can take the leftovers to work.
Can you sub the mash potatoes with steamed broccoli?
Tsan, your recipes rock. I was reading, re-reading, and cooking them before I even joined up. (Sorry Steve, it really was Tsan that hooked me on IC!)
Plus I’ll always remember during my very first week, Stevie Wonder came on while we were all doing unending squats, and you totally rocked out the whole time. It was fabulous!
Oh, and I just read a – likely controversial – study that says that a high-vegetable diet with a small amount of (sustainably sourced) meat and dairy is actually less environmentally impactful than an all-veggie diet, since the latter requires more high-quality soil dedicated to agriculture. [But I am SO not trying to start a brawl, and as a former vegetarian/vegan I know that there are lots of other good reasons why people choose not to eat animals.]
Will definitely be trying the OB short ribs one of these days. Yum!
sb
There are no mashers served with this. That’s all meat. Instead of broccoli, however, I’d probably go with something softer, like sauteed zucchini or other squash (butternut).
Can you make a sample?
Dinner Sunday was a smashing beefy success! The meat was absolutely delicious. We served it over cous-cous. Many people asked for the recipe. Thanks, Tsan!