Prepare the most exquisite veal shank, it melts in your mouth!

If you like to prepare a special meat for designated occasions, that also comes out 6 or 8 servings at once and that the pocket does not suffer much, without a doubt, the veal shank is one of those cuts with which you are going to succeed. It is the leg of veal, surely the osso buco sounds familiar to you, which is nothing more than the shank cut into portion slices.

Prepare the most exquisite veal shank, it melts in your mouth! It is a meat that when well cooked is super tender and juicy and also thanks to the bone it contains, it adds a lot of flavor to the liquid in which it is cooked and from which a very intense and somewhat creamy sauce comes out.

in the recipe You will learn to cook meat in a pressure cooker and in a traditional pot and you can also learn how to prepare the mashed potatoes and cabbage that I have chosen as a garnish. You will also find tips in case you want to prepare this dish in advance, which you can also keep for a few days in the fridge or even freeze it if you have any leftovers.

If you liked this recipe, I encourage you to prepare other veal dishes perfect for special occasions like Christmas, for example this Veal osso buco Milanese with gremolata and yellow risotto, the beef cheeks in sauce garnished with creamy polenta or the round of veal in Porto sauce. This is also very good beef entrecote with vegetables cooked at low temperature or sous vide with roner or the Grilled beef tenderloin with sweet potato chips, caramelized onion and foie micuit.

And if you want to opt for appetizers and also cold, do not miss this beef tenderloin carpaccio with parmesan cheese and tartar sauce or the steak tartare with one of the best dressings that you have tried, highly recommended!

Ingredients to prepare the most exquisite veal shank, it melts in your mouth! (6-8 people):

• 1 veal shank of about 2 or 2.5 kg in weight. It is the leg of veal, including the bone, and can weigh up to 4 kg. When I bought it at the butcher shop I asked them to cut it from the thinnest area to what measures the diameter of the pot that I am going to use so that the hock fits horizontally.
• 1/2 kg of coarse salt and sugar. Normally I use 350 gr of coarse salt and 150 gr of white sugar but if you prefer you can use only coarse salt.
• 4 cloves of garlic.
• 1 onion.
• 1 leek (only the white part).
• 200 ml of red wine. I usually use 100 ml of red wine and another 100 ml of sweet Pedro Ximénez type wine but feel free to use the wine of your choice.
• 4 bay leaves.
• A few sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary or if you only have dry it would be a dessert teaspoon of each.
• 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns.
• Olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and salt.
• Bridle thread.
• As a garnish I have prepared this trinxat but without bacon or garlic, just mashing the potato and cabbage and a little salt and butter at the end.

Preparation, how to make the veal shank recipe, it melts in your mouth:

1. We start with a brine for the hock to seal its juices and make the meat juicier, it’s very simple. Mix the coarse salt with the sugar and in a dish in which the hock fits just right, put a bed of salt and sugar.
2. On top place the veal shank and cover it with the rest of the salt and sugar mixture and also put it on the ends.
3. Let it rest for 3 hours in the fridge and after that time wash it under cold running water and dry it with kitchen paper.
4. Now it’s time to bridle the hock. You will see that I forgot to do it before browning it in the pot and I did it later but it is better to do it now, before cooking it. It’s very simple, first tie bridle thread around the thinnest end.
5. Then bring the thread to the base and pass it under from one side to the other.
6. Then simply go around the shank with the thread going up little by little and finally tie this end next to the initial knot that we had made.
7. Let’s go with the base sauce of the broth. Do not peel the garlic and crush them with the blade of the knife so that they are slightly flattened and open.
8. Peel the onion, cut it in half and then into thin strips.
9. Remove the green part and the end of the roots from the leek, also remove the first layer and cut it in half and into slices.
10. In the pot that you are going to use (traditional pot or quick pot) add a drizzle of olive oil and put it over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the garlic, onion and leek along with a little salt and cook the vegetables for 3 or 4 minutes, just long enough for them to brown slightly, stirring from time to time.
11. Take the vegetables aside, lower the heat a little so that it is at a medium temperature and put the shank in the pot. Leave it for a couple of minutes and then turn it around a bit until it is golden all around. You can also stand it upright to brown each end.
12. Add the vegetables again, add the red wine and cook for 2 or 3 minutes so that the alcohol practically evaporates.
13. Add the bay leaves, black peppercorns, thyme sprigs, and rosemary sprigs.
14. Completely cover the hock with water if you use a traditional pot and if it is a fast pot that is almost covered but does not reach the maximum limit allowed.
15. Now it’s time to cook of the veal shank. you have three options (and for the record, they are all incredibly delicious):
    1. In a traditional pot: keep the heat at high temperature until the liquid begins to boil and at that moment reduce the heat to a minimum, cover the pot but not completely and let it cook for about 3 hours or until the meat is very tender by pricking it with a fork.
    2. In a pressure cooker (it is the one I have used): close it and put the heat on high. When the valve is raised or the two pressure rings are visible, reduce the heat and let it cook for 40 minutes. The temperature of the fire should allow the pressure not to drop but not to rise during that time. When the time is up, remove the pot from the heat and let the steam escape little by little until it runs out of pressure with the spout or valve fully lowered and you can open it.
    3. In the oven: the pot must be suitable for the oven, without any plastic parts. Put the pot in the oven at 130ºC with heat up and down and cook the shank for about 5 hours. You can turn it halfway through cooking and to find out if it’s ready, check that the meat is already very tender by pricking it with a fork.
16. Meanwhile you can prepare the garnish. In this case I have opted for a mashed potato and cabbage that is very tasty, here you can see the recipe, it is the traditional trinxat but I have not added garlic or bacon, I have simply cooked potatoes and cabbage and then I have seasoned it with a little butter and salt, without having to put it in the pan.
17. When the veal shank is cooked, remove it to a separate plate or tray, being careful not to break the meat, which will be very tender, and when it cools down a bit, cut the strings and remove them.
18. Strain the broth and put less than half of it back into the pot with the heat on high to reduce it and thus concentrate its flavor and make it thicker. When what you have added has been reduced by half, add a little more broth and so on until all the broth has been reduced by half. I do it by adding it little by little because evaporation is faster that way, which is what we are looking for. This process can take half an hour although it depends on the temperature of the fire and the size of your pot.
19. Preheat the oven to 200ºC with heat up and down.
20. Put the shank on a baking tray, pour a little reduced broth on top and put it in the oven at medium height. Bake it for about 20 minutes but every 5 minutes take it out for a moment and pour its own juices over it again.

Time: between 2 and 6 hours depending on the type of cooking plus the time in brine

difficulty: medium

Serve and taste:

Once the shank is lacquered and for its presentation to be spectacular, put it on a tray in the center of the table and then cut it into portions. I really like to serve it vertically but in my case the meat was so tender that if I presented it that way it would tear, so I chose to place it horizontally and with the mashed potato and cabbage in a bowl in the center of the table. If you have any leftovers, you are very lucky, it keeps great in the fridge for 2-3 days and can also be frozen without problems, either bone-in or shredded and mixed with the sauce. However, it is better to prepare the mashed potatoes the day you are going to eat them and not left over, since the cold in the fridge makes the texture of the potato a little worse.

It is an exquisite meat dish, the shank is left with a texture that melts in the mouth and also all the fat and cuttlefish in between become tender and help the sauce to be creamy. And what to say about the sauce, made with the juices of the hock, the fried vegetables and the aromatic herbs, incredible flavor and the touch of wine feels great. Accompanied by a simple purée it is ideal for special occasions, without a doubt a real dish… scandal!

Variations of the veal shank recipe, it melts in your mouth!:

The process of lacquering the meat so that it is shiny and covered with the sauce can also be done, as well as in the oven, in a frying pan. Simply put a good amount of sauce in it and in the center the shank vertically. Turn the heat to medium temperature and water the hock with its sauce with the help of a soup spoon for about 10 minutes, until it has that appetizing glossy coverage that we are looking for.

Presented with the bone, it is spectacular but you can also bone it when you have it ready, divide the meat into pieces and mix it with the pot in the sauce to heat them for a few minutes just before serving without having to go through the lacquering process.

Tips:

Is a perfect recipe to leave it made in advance, either hours or even from the day before and just before serving the shank, heat it again for a few minutes in the oven. You can also prepare it without lacquering it and freezing it to lacquer it with the sauce just before serving it. What I recommend you prepare just before serving it is the puree.

If you only have sauce left over, you can always freeze it and use it to give a touch of flavor to some meat, for example if you prepare it on the grill later on the plate you can add this hot sauce or even simply on some boiled potatoes, it is delicious.