A couple of days ago, Robin asked me to see if I could get some veal bones for stock at the market. They did not have any plain bones, but they had some veal shanks. So I bought the shanks and decided that we could have some Veal Osso Buco tonight. Great choice. It was awesome. The photo to the right is the plated dinner. We found a good recipe for some oven roasted vegetables that went extremely well with the dinner. Here are the recipes and some photos. Enjoy!

Recipe Adapted From: Giada De Laurntiis

Ingredients:
1 sprig fresh Rosemary
1 sprig fresh Thyme
2 dry Bay Leaf
4 whole Cloves
Cheesecloth
Kitchen twine, for bouquet garni and tying the veal shanks
4 whole Veal Shanks (about 1 pound per shank), trimmed
Sea salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
All-Purpose Flour, for dredging
½ c Vegetable oil
1 med Onion, diced into ½ inch cubes
6 Cipolline Onions
1 med Carrot, diced into ½ inch cubes
1 stalk Celery, diced into ½ inch cubes
2 Tomato Paste
1¼ c dry White Wine
2 c Chicken Stock
3 T fresh flat-leaf Italian Parsley, chopped
1 T Lemon Zest

Directions:
Place the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and cloves into cheesecloth and secure with twine. This will be your bouquet garni.

For the veal shanks, pat dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Veal shanks will brown better when they are dry. Secure the meat to the bone with the kitchen twine. Season each shank with salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge the shanks in flour, shaking off excess.

In a large Dutch Oven pot, heat vegetable oil until smoking. Add tied veal shanks to the hot pan and brown all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove browned shanks and reserve.

In the same pot, add the onion, carrot and celery. Season with salt at this point to help draw out the moisture from the vegetables. Saute until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Return browned shanks to the pan and add the white wine and reduce liquid by half, about 5 minutes. Add the bouquet garni and 2 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the cipolline onions. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for about 1½ hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Check every 15 minutes, turning shanks and adding more chicken stock as necessary. The level of cooking liquid should always be about ¾ the way up the shank.

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

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

Recipe Adapted From: Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients:
1/3 c Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
3 med Carrots (about ¾ pound), cut into 1½ inch thick circles
1½ c Brussels Sprouts, halved
4 c Petite Mixed Fingerling Potatoes, cut into 1½ inch thick slices
3 med Parsnips, cut into 1½ inch thick slices
2 med Sweet Potatoes, cut into 1½ inch thick slices
1 T Oregano, dried
2 t Rosemary, dried
1 t Thyme, dried
1 t Basil, dried
¼ t Sea Salt
2 T freshly ground Black Pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 ºF

Grease an 11 by 17-inch baking sheet pan with extra-virgin olive oil. Place vegetables in baking sheet and add the dried herbs, salt and pepper. Toss well, evenly coating all the vegetables with the seasonings and oil. Add more oil if the vegetables seem dry

Spread the vegetables evenly on a large baking sheet. Place on middle rack in oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

And here is the finished product ready to be enjoyed. We served it with a 2003 Ravenswood Dickerson Vineyard Zinfandel. The dinner and the wine were awesome!