- 1.5-2 pounds veal or stew beef (1 1/2 inch cubes) or 3 veal shanks
- 1/2 cup AP flour, or enough to lightly dust the meat cubes
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 6-8 peeled small whole white onions (blanch them with their skins on for 1 to 2 minutes in boiling water. Drop in cold water just so they are not too hot to handle, then slip off the skins) or buy the frozen ones
- 1 large shallot, finely chopped
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, finely chopped and a nice small leafy piece to toss in the braise
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups white wine
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 5-6 San Marzano canned tomatoes hand squished
- 1 cup Kalamata or oil cured pitted olives, halved
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 sprigs fresh parsley
- 1 small sprig of fresh rosemary, maybe a 2 inch piece for just a hint of flavor
You can tie the herb sprigs together, easier to fish out before serving
- 2-3 strips of orange zest (zest of 2 clementines)
- 2 strips of lemon zest
- 2 bay leaves
- salt & pepper
- 5 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, grated and a little orange zest
Preheat oven to 350°F
Heat the oil and butter in dutch oven medium high heat.
Pat meat dry with paper towels, season with salt & pepper, toss in a flour and shake off excess. Brown meat in batches. Set aside while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Reduce heat to medium and add the small onions, saute for a couple of minutes and add the shallot, carrots, celery and cook until soft ( the small onions will soften in the braise), add the garlic for the last 30-60 seconds. Season with salt and pepper, toss in the wine and scrape brown bits while wine is slightly reducing then add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a slight boil and add the meat
Crumple a piece of parchment paper and cover the stew, gently press down to the top of the stew to lightly cover, place lid on pot and braise for about 1-1/2 hours, check the liquid level and add a little more wine and stock if necessary as I did, continue braising for another 1/2-3/4 hour
When done, remove bay leaf, parsley, rosemary and thyme stems. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Mix gremolata ingredients together. Using a microplane to grate both garlic & lemon zest will give a nice fine texture.
Serve over rice, risotto, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, or rosemary skillet roasted potatoes.
Place a little gremolata in each bowl.
