Osso Buco a la Mexicana

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This version of Osso Buco is outstanding. A winner. I wish I had thought of this recipe, but I didn’t. I saw it on the TV food episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives featuring the Park City, UT restaurant Silver Star Cafe and adapted for my blog.

Braising the pork shanks with two simple ingredients – onions and poblano peppers imparts an amazing rich earthy flavor on the caramelized meat. Upon serving, salsa verde with balanced flavors from the sweetness from the roasted poblanos and the acidity of tomatillos, is poured over the shanks. Adding a sprinkle of cotija cheese adds another subtle layer of saltiness to the off-the-bone pork. Yum.

The salsa verde in this recipe uses the milder poblanos in lieu of powerful serranos so you get a distinct complex earthy flavor of poblanos. It’s a mild salsa that anyone can eat. Let’s get started.

Ingredients

Serves 2

Salsa Verde

1 lb tomatillos, husks removed and washed.

2 small tomatoes (romas are good)

3 to 4 large poblano peppers

⅓ cup white onion keep whole piece for roasting

1 clove garlic, peeled

1-2 serrano peppers, optional if you want a spicier salsa

Salt

Osso Buco

2 pork shanks

¼ cup flour for dusting meat

cooking twine

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup white onion roughly chopped

3 large fresh poblano peppers, and roughly chopped

3 cups chicken broth

¼ cup crumbled cotija cheese

¼ cup cilantro leaves

Salt and pepper

Polenta

1 small kabocha or butternut squash

½ cup polenta

2 cups water

2 tablespoons butter

Salt

Preparation

Salsa Verde

The level of “chile-hot” can be unpredictable so when liquifying salsa in a blender, add the chiles in increments and taste test as you go along. Start with the poblano peppers first because serranos are chile-hot. Salsa verde made with poblano peppers is not traditional, probably because of their mildness, but using them produced a perfect rich deep earth flavor for this recipe. I would only add the serrano peppers to brighten the sauce if desired.

Preheat the oven broiler and place the tomatillos, tomatoes, onion, garlic and poblano peppers in a roasting pan. Char the vegetables long enough to get them well blackened rotating them in the process. Some items blacken faster than others so remove them and set aside. This may take 20-30 minutes. Allow items to cool then process the roasted ingredients in a food blender. Add water, about 1 cup of water to thin out the sauce.

Osso Buco

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Pat dry the pork shanks with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Pork shanks will brown better when they are dry. Secure the meat to the bone with the kitchen twine tied around the shank. Season each shank with salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge the shanks in flour, shaking off excess.

In a large Dutch oven pot, heat vegetable oil until smoking. Add tied pork shanks to the hot pan and brown all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove browned shanks and set aside.

In the same pot, add the roughly chopped onion and poblano peppers. Season with salt at this point to help draw out the moisture from the vegetables. Sauté until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Return browned shanks to the pan and add the chicken stock to a level of cooking liquid ¾ of the way up the shank and bring to a boil.

Cover and place the pork in the oven for about 2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Check every 30 minutes, turning shanks and adding more chicken stock as necessary.

Polenta

Cut and deseed squash, steam for about 20-30 minutes or until soft then puree.

Begin your preparation of Polenta 40 minutes prior to serving. In a large saucepan, bring water and ¼ teaspoon of salt to a boil, gradually stir in polenta. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, until mixture is very thick (about 20 minutes). Stir in 1 tablespoon of butter and 1½ cups of squash puree. Salt and pepper to taste.

Plating

On each serving dish, place a bed of polenta then carefully remove the cooked shanks from the pot and place on the polenta. Cut off the kitchen twine and discard. Pour several tablespoons juices and sauce from the pot over the shanks then generously cover the shanks with salsa verde. Garnish with crumbled cotija cheese and cilantro.

Note:

Polenta and squash can be optional. Salsa verde and pureed squash can be prepared a day in advance. You will have left over salsa for other uses; it keeps for days.

Buen Provecho

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