Osso Buco in the crock

We made this on Sunday (great crock pot day!). I was wandering around Publix’s website looking for party trays and found a recipe area (Apron's) on their site. It’s actually a really, really good site! If you’ve ever been in the store and seen someone demo-ing quick meals where you buy stuff already cooked or cut, these are the recipes that go along with it. They give you an entire meal, complete with sides and then the grocery list, equipment needed, etc.

The meal called for Osso Buco with saffron risotto. I couldn’t find risotto in the store and was in too much of a hurry to blindly wander around for 10 minutes looking. So, I made saffron rice instead. Just as good and probably easier.

My only recommendation would be to cut up the shanks at the end, when it says to discard the bones and herbs. We used 2 shanks and one was significantly more fatty than the other, so one of us got a bunch of meat, and the other a bunch of fat. If you cut up the meat, discard the fatty parts, and stir it back in, you’ll get a better distribution of meat and avoid the fat.

Verdict – AWESOME! We will definitely be making this again. Neither one of us had ever cooked Osso Buco and it was wonderful!

Osso Buco
Ingredients
1/4 cup flourlarge zip-top bag
2 pounds veal shanks (about 4 shanks)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (10-ounce) bag frozen seasoning blend (contains diced onions, green/red peppers and celery)
1 (8-ounce) bag shredded carrots
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
1 (12-ounce) jar chicken gravy
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 teaspoon Maggi seasoning sauce
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 sprig fresh rosemary
4 bay leaves

Steps
1. Preheat large saucepan on high 1–2 minutes. Preheat slow cooker on low. Place flour in zip-top bag. Season veal shanks with salt and pepper; add to bag, seal tightly and shake to coat.
2. Place olive oil in saucepan. Add veal; cook 3 minutes, turning occasionally, to brown. Add seasoning blendand cook 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Place veal shanks into bottom of slow cooker and top with remaining mixture, covering veal completely. Cover and cook 8 to 10 hours.
4. Skim any excess fat from top. Remove and discard bones, rosemary sprig and bay leaves. Serve. (Makes 6 servings.)

CALORIES (per 1/6 recipe) 317kcal; FAT 10g; CHOL 118mg; SODIUM 736mg; CARB 17g; FIBER 2g; PROTEIN 34g; VIT A 165%; VIT C 21%; CALC 3%; IRON 10%