Osso-bucco de veau

The supermarket had what they call osso-bucco de veau — slices of veal shank — on sale for 9.90€ per kilogram this past week — that's only $4.50/lb. I couldn't get over there to buy some until Friday, and of course, despite huge signs advertising the product, there were no veal shanks to be found. As you can see, however, they did have veal shanks on display, but in bulk in the cut-to-order glass case instead of in self-serve plastic-wrapped trays. And they were priced at 15.60€/kg.

The man I assume to be the manager of the meat department happened to be out front, not behind the glass case, having a conversation with another shopper. I waited around, browsing through the other meats in the refrigerated cases, until the conversation ended. As the butcher walked by, my shouted Bonjour, monsieur ! got his attention. I asked him if he had any veal shanks at the lower price. Seeming not to have heard me on the price question, he pointed out the more expensive veal shanks in the display case.

Oui, mais c'est beaucoup plus cher, I told him. I'm kind of used to this happening, since I've been shopping in the local supermarkets for 16 years now. Oh, okay, I'll give them to you at the sale price, he said. I was flabbergasted. How many do you want? Four, I said. He weighed out four shank slices, looked at me, and asked if that would be enough. There are just two of us, I told him, so we'll have leftovers with just those four.

With osso bucco, he said, plus c'est réchauffé, meilleur c'est — veal shank benefits from being re-heated. I agree with that. To make osso-bucco, first I browned the slices of veal in duck fat (butter or olive oil would also be good). As they browned, I diced up a big carrot, an onion, and two celery stalks. I took the veal out of the pan and lightly browned the diced vegetables. I deglazed the pan with white wine and a secret ingredient: a splash of Triple Sec (a liqueur flavored with dried orange peels).

Then I put the veal back into the pan and added enough tomates concassées (crushed tomatoes, out of a can) to cover the meat, along with 2 bay leaves and some thyme, salt, and pepper. I also put in big spoonful of powdered veal stock, which contains some potato starch that thickens the tomato sauce. The veal and vegetables cooked on very low heat for 3 hours, covered. We served the osso-bucco with potato gnocchi, which seem suddenly to be widely available these days.