This is an older type of recipe, one more commonly known as osso bucco. If you like osso bucco or would like a break from Italian cooking, try this one. If you have never tried cooking beef shanks on their own, they are fantastic. I can honestly say they are so full of flavor and easy but they are less trendy of a meat cut. Part of the Bovine thigh bone, these also provide amazing marrow. Serve that marrow on toast points as a Chef’s treat for an hors devours and it’s a complete meal.
3-4 medium sized beef shanks sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
½ beef stock
Gravy ingredients
2 cups beef shank drippings (includes any residual fat)
¼ cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt (if needed)
In a hot skillet, sear the outsides of the shanks 2-3 minutes per side. Once seared, place in a slow cooker atop the sliced onions. Pour over beef stock and garlic. Sprinkle salt and pepper, cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Once cooked, remove from the slow cooker and separate out the drippings for gravy. In a separate saucepan whisk together beef shank drippings with flour over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil for about 1 minute stirring constantly. If you do not have enough drippings, simply mix what you have with beef stock prior to mixing with the flour. Add salt to taste if needed and drizzle over the beef shanks. Chop parsley and sprinkle on top before serving.
