Many times, when we open our cookbooks or find a recipe on Pinterest, we want to get right to making that special dish. But then we come across a term that we don’t understand, let alone how to apply it to what we want to cook! I will be sharing a few cooking terms that will help make cooking fun and easy.
Braising - covering meat with a braising liquid and cooking it low and slow until the meat falls apart. This method of cooking makes the meat tender and flavorful!
Below you will find the recipe and instructions to cook a dish known as Osso Buco, a rustic Italian dish that can be served with pasta, rice, polenta or spaghetti squash if you are forgoing carbs and starches.
Ingredients:
6 pork shanks or a 3 lb pork roast
Kosher salt and pepper for seasoning
3 T of olive oil
1 lg yellow onion chopped
1 lg carrot chopped
2 celery ribs chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1 t anchovy paste ( you can find at most grocery stores)
1 T finely grated lemon zest
½ t crushed red pepper flakes
1 C of dry white wine
2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes
2 C of chicken stock
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
Instructions:
In a baking dish, season the pork with salt and pepper and cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 325 or you can use a crock-pot. Brown pork in a pan over med/high heat using the olive oil. This takes about 8 minutes per side. Transfer to oven safe dutch oven or to the crock-pot whichever one you will be using.
Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from browning the pork. Add the onions, carrot, celery plus a generous pinch of salt and pepper.Cook over moderately high heat until the vegetables are softened and starting to brown. About 10 minutes. Stir the garlic, anchovies, lemon zest and crushed red peppers and cook until fragrant. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Pour mixture over the pork in a pan or crock-pot. Cover tightly with lid or foil and braise for about 3 hours in oven or 4 hours in a crock-pot, until meat is very tender.
Transfer the pork to a platter and tent with foil. Discard the herbs and spoon off the fat from the sauce. Working in batches puree the sauce in a blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon some of the sauce over the pork and reserve the rest for serving at the table.