Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [169]
3. After 10 minutes or so, look into the pan to see if the liquid has become insufficient to continue cooking. If, as is likely, this is the case, add ⅓ cup warm water. Check the pan from time to time, and add more water as needed. The total cooking time will come to 2 or 2½ hours: The shanks are done when the meat comes easily away from the bone and is tender enough to be cut with a fork. When done, transfer the veal to a warm plate, using a slotted spoon or spatula.
4. Add the chopped lemon peel and parsley to the pan, turn the heat up to medium, and stir for about 1 minute with a wooden spoon, loosening cooking residues from the bottom and sides, and reducing any runny juices in the pan. Return the shanks to the pan, turn them briefly in the juices, then transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time note The light, fragrant flavor of this particular ossobuco does not withstand refrigeration well, so it is not advisable to prepare it very long in advance. It can certainly be made early on the day it is to be served; reheat it in the pan it was cooked in, covered, over low heat, for 10 or 15 minutes until the meat is warmed all the way through. If the juices in the pan become insufficient, replenish with 1 or 2 tablespoons water.
Stinco—Braised Whole Veal Shank, Trieste Style
Stinco is Italian for what Trieste’s dialect calls schinco, a veal shank slowly braised whole, then served carved off the bone in very thin slices. It comes from the same part of the hind leg that Milan uses for ossobuco, whose succulent quality it shares, but unlike ossobuco, it is not made with tomatoes. The anchovies that are part of the flavor base dissolve and become undetectable, but they contribute subtly to the depth of taste that is the distinctive feature of this dish. Stinco, or schinco, tastes best when cooked entirely over the stove in the classic Italian pan-roasting method.
For 8 servings
2 whole veal shanks (see note below)
2 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter
½ cup chopped onion
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
⅓ cup dry white wine
6 flat anchovy fillets (preferably the ones prepared at home as described)
Note The shanks must come from the hind leg. Have the joint at the broad end of the shank sawed off flat so that the bone can be brought to the table standing up, surrounded by the carved slices. Also have the butcher take off enough of the bone at the narrow end to expose the marrow, which, at table, can be picked out with a narrow implement and is most delectable.
1. Stand the shanks on their broad ends and, with a sharp knife, loosen the skin, flesh, and tendons at the narrow end. This will cause the meat, as it cooks, to come away from the bone at that end, and to gather in a plump mass at the base of the shank, giving the stinco a shape like that of a giant lollypop. If you find this difficult to do when the meat is raw, try it after 10 minutes’ cooking, when it becomes much easier.
2. Lightly mash the garlic with a knife handle, just hard enough to split the skin, which you will loosen and discard.
3. You will need a heavy-bottomed pot, preferably oval in shape, that can subsequently snugly accommodate both shanks. Put in the oil and butter, turn on the heat to medium high, and when the butter foam begins to subside, put in both shanks.
4. Turn the shanks over to brown the veal deeply all over, then lower the heat to medium and add the chopped onion, nudging it in between the meat to the bottom of the pot.
5. Cook the onion, stirring, until it becomes colored gold. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, and wine. Let the wine simmer for about 1 minute, turning the shanks once or twice, then add the anchovy fillets, turn the heat down to very low, and cover the pot, setting the lid slightly ajar. Cook for about 2 hours, until the meat feels very tender when prodded with a fork. Turn the veal over from time to time. Whenever there is so little liquid in the pot that the meat begins to stick to the bottom, add