Osso Bucco

AKA Beef Shanks

I love Osso Bucco. I’ve ordered it before and am typically presented with what looks like half a cow leg. Which is why I am really excited about this cook. The purveyor, Porter Road, offers nice small, manageable cuts of beef shank.

Capt. Ron posts some excellent BGE videos on the Fogo Charcoal site and cooked these a short while back. One watch and I was smitten. Ellen watched the video and said, “Yup, that looks great.”

So away we go. And, to keep as true as possible to Ron’s recipe, I ordered Bourbon Barrel Blocks to smoke the meat. I opened the bag and took a whiff – and holy cow! It’s like taking a sniff of a glass of bourbon. I can’t wait. I took a few more pics than usual.

Phase 1 is to cook and put some smoke on the meat. I apply some salt pepper garlic rub. The shanks sit atop a grate which sits atop an aluminum pan. The intent is to catch the drippings to be included in the braising liquid. The recipe calls for a Dutch oven, but I don’t have one available. Not a huge issue, this worked out great. It was also recommended that string be used to wrap around the shanks to help them keep their shape. Note the nice size and shape of the shanks.

My medium Egg is set up for indirect cooking. Legs on the platesetter are up which allows me to set the grill grate on the platesetter and the aluminum pan on that. I set the Egg for 300 degrees and plan on 90 minutes.

And for those of you with eagle eyes, yes I am using a Flameboss to control the heat. I have longer than 3 hours and it’s easier to let this device control the heat so I can put it out of my mind.

While this is cooking, I prepare the braising liquid. It is similar to other braising recipes I have used. A delicious combination of red wine, beef broth, some veggies, a whole onion, etc.

After 90 minutes, I open the egg and must admit the meat looks great. Contrary to my style, I did not check on it after 45 minutes. It has curled just a bit, which suggests that next time I cook a shorter period of time, or perhaps I reduce the heat. But, there is absolutely no worry because I know the braising will render fork tender shanks when done. And, the drippings from the shanks will be incorporated into the braising liquid for a nice boost in flavor.

The plan is simple: remove the meat, remove the grate, add and stir the liquid, return the meat, seal it up with heavy duty aluminum foil and back to cooking. I also created a Bouquet Garni bag, cheese cloth filled with fresh thyme, sage and rosemary. Here we are, ready to go.

It cooks for a full 2 hours before removing it from the Egg. Upon removing the aluminum foil, the smell just blew me away! It was beyond awesome. I had lost some liquid, but plenty remained. The meat had pulled away from the bone – always a good sign.

The recipe offers suggestions for plating, mashed potatoes, rice, polenta. We opted for smashed potatoes. As predicted, the meat was extremely tender, almost falling apart when I picked it up, but not quite. Just a perfect tenderness.

Conclusion: This has to be one of THE most flavorful meals I have ever cooked. Period. Seriously, it was that good. When Capt. Ron took his first taste in the video, he said “Holy shit,” although Fogo bleeped it. The meat was super tender, and the braising liquid integrated with the onion, veggies, Wocestershire sauce, created an incredible sauce. Topped on the potatoes, it was an totally inspiring meal. I confess, I had trouble going to sleep last night thinking about it. If I owned a restaurant, I would offer this dish and then offer the leftover sauce as an option for rice, potatoes, etc. Call it OB Sauce.

Fortunately, I bought 2 packages of shanks, so I can do it again. Perhaps invite a couple guests, get a larger pan, double the recipe, cook it on the XL Egg. Who know, the possibilities are endless. All I know is that it won’t be long.

Update:

And it wasn’t too long - about 3 months later. I followed the exact recipe, but with a few modifications.

1. I used a temperature of 250 to smoke the shanks, but braised at 275.

2. Don’t tie up the beef shank. Both times, it caused the shanks to warp and form an odd shape. Doesn’t allow the shank to lay flat in the braising sauce. Not needed.

3. Braise for at least 2 hours.

4. I used whole baby carrots. And whole baby portabellas would be OK, unless they are too large.

5. I didn’t make a Bouqet Garni bag.