We are now in the habit of regularly visiting the Thursday Farmer’s Market here in Medford. It is great place to get super fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables. Last Thursday I picked up some goat osso buco and some local fresh tomatoes. Osso Buco is a Northern Italian dish made with veal shanks. We don’t eat veal, but I have had goat in Monterrey Mexico, where the whole goat carcass is skewered on a rebar stake, highly seasoned, and cooked over an open wood fire… some of the best food I have ever eaten. I tried to recreate the spiciness of that goat in this dish.
You could make this dish with lamb shanks if you cannot find goat.
After patting the meat dry with a paper towel, I made a rub consisting of cumin, coriander, chili powder and cayenne. I sprinkled the shanks with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper and then rubbed on some olive oil. I let them sit for several hours to allow the flavors to penetrate the meat.
I put the shanks on our outdoor grill to brown the meat on the outside.
While this was happening, I cut up some onions, carrots, and celery and placed them in a Dutch Oven. I added a bit of olive oil and sauteed them for five minutes, I added a bay leaf and some chopped garlic, about a cup of white wine and let the wine cook off.
I added the shanks and enough chicken stock to cover them about 3/4 of the way up.
I put the lid on and placed the pot in a 350 degree oven for 3 hours.
The result was a very tender meat that could be cut with a fork. However the spices did not seem to be coming through. Next time I will add much more spice.
We served it with a grilled tomato salad and white rice.
Grill the tomatoes for a few minutes on each side. Let cool then cut into 1/2″ cubes. Add tomatoes along with their juice, some olive oil, cumin, coriander, salt pepper, parsley,and lemon juice and toss.
