This great veal dish is perfect for a cold winter day. It is most tasty and very satisfying. I thank Marie for introducing me to this great dish. Either buttered parsley potatoes or Marie’s oven browned potatoes go great with this dish. A nice loaf of crusty French bread and butter are nice as well.

Serves two adults.

Ingredients:

1 sprig of rosemary

1 sprig of thyme

1 dry bay leaf

2 whole cloves

3 whole veal shanks, about 1 lb. per shank, trimmed

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Flour for dredging

½ cup of vegetable oil

1 small onion diced into ½ inch cubes

1 small carrot diced into ½ inch cubes

1 stalk of celery diced into ½ inch cubes

1 tbsp. of tomato paste

1 cup of dry white wine

3 cups of chicken stock

3 tbsp. of fresh flat leaf Italian parsley chopped

1 tbsp. of lemon zest

Directions:

Place the rosemary, thyme and cloves into cheesecloth as a bouquet garni.

The veal shanks should have all moisture removed with paper towels. Secure the meat to the bone with kitchen twine. Season each shank with salt and pepper. Dredge the shanks in flour.

In a large Dutch oven heat the vegetable oil until it starts to smoke. Put the tied veal shanks into the hot pan and brown on all sides about 3 minutes per side. Remove the shanks and reserve them for later use.

In the same Dutch oven add the onion, carrot and celery. Season the mixture with salt to help draw out the moisture from the vegetables. Sauté on medium heat until the vegetables are soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix well.

Return the browned veal to the pan and add the white wine and reduce the liquid by half (about 5 minutes) on medium heat. Add the bouquet garni and 2 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low, cover the Dutch oven and simmer for about 1½ hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Check every 15 minutes, turning the shanks and adding more chicken stock as necessary. The level of cooking liquid should always be about ¾ of the way up the shank.

Carefully remove the cooked shanks from the pot and place them in a decorative serving platter. Cut off the kitchen twine and discard it.

Pour all the juices and sauce from the pot over the shanks. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon zest.

Serve.