Good to the bone

One of Italy's signature dishes has become one of our favourites. Osso Bucco was something I had read about, dreamt of but never tried until a couple of years ago, largely because I was stuck on the idea that it had to be made with veal shanks, and they aren't that easy to find.
It's funny how you can get stuck on something for no good reason.
And then Glenn and I fell in love with a restaurant in downtown St. John's that had Osso Bucco on the menu and it was made with lamb shanks. It was pure heaven: succent, falling-off-the-bone lamb in a rich, tomato and red-wine based sauce, served with garlic whipped potatoes and beautifully sauteed Beatrix Potter baby carrots, with green tops attached.
That restaurant became "our" restaurant, and it was where we got engaged.
Sadly, it is now defunct, but it inspired us to find our own Osso Bucco recipe and the one we found is so well-loved that the cookbook page is smeared with stains from lemon juice and fresh herbs.
Our version, unlike the restaurant dish we loved so well, is the Milanese "blond" version. It's made with white wine, not red, and has citrus flavours, not tomato. We've enjoyed "red" versions of Osso Bucco in Florence and at our friend Nancy's house, and they were absolutely wonderful, but for some reason this recipe sticks with us. We love buying the lamb shanks at Halliday's Meat Market downtown, where the prices are affordable and the service is warm, friendly and an experience in itself.
We serve this with whipped potatoes and the Mushrooms in Garlic Cream that I blogged about in an earlier post (and pictured here). Trust me, after this, you won't need dessert.
This recipe is from my go-to Italian cookbook, Jane Price's Italian Kitchen. It uses 12 pieces of veal shank, but I just substitute the lamb shanks.

Osso Bucco Alla Milanese (serves 4)
4 lamb shanks
flour for dusting, seasoned with salt and pepper in a Ziploc bag
1/4 cup olive oil
2 1/4 oz. butter
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped (and if you have celery leaves, chop those and throw them in, too)
1 cup dry white wine
1 bay leaf
a pinch of ground allspice
a pinch of ground cinnamon

Gremolata
2 tsps. grated lemon zest
2 tbsp. finely chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Dust each shank with the seasoned flour. Heat the oil, butter, garlic, onion and celery in a heavy-based frying pan or sacepan that is big enough to hold the shanks in a single layer (but don't add the shanks yet). Cook for about 5 minutes over low heat until softened but not browned. Add the shanks to the pan and cook for 12-15 minutes or until well browned all over. Pour in the wine and add the bay leaf, allspice and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and cover the pan. Turn the heat down to low.
Cook at a low simmer for 15 minutes, then add 1/2 cup of warm water. Continue cooking, covered, for 45-60 minutes (this may take longer because the lamb shanks can be thicker than veal shanks) or until the meat is tender and pulling away from the bone and you can cut it with a fork. Check the volume of liquid once or twice while it is simmering and add more water if needed. (I have never had to do that).
To make the gremolata, mix together the parsley, lemon zest and garlic.
Transfer the shanks to a plate and keep warm. Discard the bay leaf. Increase the heat under the pan and stir for 1-2 minutes until the sauce has thickened, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan. Season to taste and return the shanks to the pan. Heat everything through and stir in half the gremolata. Use the other half as garnish.

And if you can eat this without picking the shank up in your hands at some point, you're a stronger person than I.