Old Timber Outdoors
More elk recipes

Elk shank, whole or cross-cut

Elk Shank Osso Buco with Lemon Gremolata

Elk shanks braised slowly with white wine, tomatoes and vegetables until the meat falls from the bone, finished with lemon, parsley and garlic over soft polenta.

Serves
4
Hands-on
55 min
Total
4 hr 50 min
Skill
Confident cook

Cooks on: Stovetop + oven · Dinner

Ingredients

  • 4 lbElk shank, whole or cross-cut, cross-cut into 2-inch pieces, or 2 whole shanks
  • ¼ cupFlour
  • 1Onions, diced
  • 2Carrots, diced
  • 4 clovesGarlic, 3 minced for the braise, 1 finely minced for the gremolata
  • 14½ ozCanned diced tomatoes, one can, with juice
  • 1Lemon, zested
  • 1½ cupPolenta or pasta, coarse polenta, to serve
  • 2 tbspButter, for the polenta
  • 3 tspSalt, kosher, divided, plus more to taste
  • 1 tspBlack pepper, ground
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 celery stalks, diced
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 2 cups beef or game stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 6 cups water, for the polenta
  • Kitchen twine, about 4 feet

You'll need

  • Dutch oven
  • Oven
  • Stovetop

Helpful: instant-read thermometer, kitchen twine.

Contains

Gluten, Dairy.

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 300°F. Tie a loop of twine around each shank piece so it holds together. Season with 1½ tsp of the salt and the pepper and dredge in the flour, shaking off the excess.
  2. Heat the olive oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the shanks well on all sides, in batches, about 10 minutes in all. Set them aside.
  3. Lower the heat to medium. Cook the onion, carrots and celery until soft, about 8 minutes, then add the 3 cloves minced garlic for 1 minute.
  4. Pour in the wine and scrape up the browned bits; simmer 3 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, stock and bay leaves, then nestle the shanks in so the liquid comes about two-thirds of the way up.
  5. Cover and braise in the oven 3½ to 4 hours, turning the shanks once, until a fork slides in without resistance and the meat is tender enough to fall from the bone. If it still clings, it needs more time, not more heat.
  6. About 40 minutes before the shanks are done, bring the water and the remaining 1½ tsp salt to a boil, whisk in the polenta, and cook over low heat, stirring often, until thick and creamy, 30 to 40 minutes. Stir in the butter.
  7. For the gremolata, chop together the parsley, the lemon zest and the last clove of garlic.
  8. Lift the shanks onto a plate to rest 10 minutes and cut off the twine. Remove the bay leaves, spoon off the fat that rises to the top of the sauce, and if it is thin, simmer it on the stove until it lightly coats a spoon. Taste and add salt as needed. Serve the shanks over the polenta with the sauce spooned over and the gremolata scattered on top; the raw lemon and garlic are what wake up the rich braise.

When it's done: fork-tender

It is done when a fork slides in and the meat pulls apart with little effort. Tough cuts pass 160°F long before they turn tender, so keep going until they do; if it is still firm, it needs more time, not more heat.

If it goes wrong

Meat still tight on the bone
It needs more time, not more heat. Cover and check again every 30 minutes.
Sauce too thin
Lift out the shanks and simmer the sauce on the stove, uncovered, until it coats a spoon.
Polenta lumpy
Whisk it in a slow stream into boiling water, and whisk hard for the first minute.

Leftovers. Refrigerate within 2 hours. Reheat leftover shanks in their sauce to 165°F.