Bear Shank Osso Buco. It is a meal so commanding that just the name is a sentence of its own. I can’t think of a dish that I feel more comforted by and calm while preparing, but at the same time have zero patience as I wait for it to finish in the oven. It is, to me, the definition of comfort food.

Translating from Italian to English, Osso Buco literally means “bone with a hole” because the dish is the braising of the shank from an animal. The shanks are crosscut, exposing the marrow hole of the bone, and the meat surrounding the bone is tough. Osso Buco takes these two unique aspects of the cut of meat, the still intact marrow of the bone and the ligament filled tough meat, to create a very flavorful, hearty, and tender dish.

Though not a traditional Osso Buco, this Bear Shank Osso Buco is packed with a full flavor experience! The bear shank is tender and savory, the sauce is rich and silky from the bone marrow but also incredibly flavorful from the spice mixture, and the polenta is creamy and cheesy. It also isn’t too hard to pull off!

The hardest part of preparing Bear Shank Osso Buco is the wait. You brown your shank, chop up your vegetables, put all the kids in the dutch oven swimming pool, and then…you wait…for hours.

The wait is definitely worth it, but man-oh-man does it feel like forever.

Osso Buco’s story starts from Celtic origins and the culinary tradition of Lombard cuisine. Lombard cuisine, developed mostly in the Lombardy provinces of Italy, but this cacophony of cooking influences across centuries of cultures is a collection of rices, pastas, soups, risottos, and polenta. The cuisine is extremely varied, but utilizes a lot of butter, oils, and other cooking fats. It is also known for dishes that are “low and slow” such as braised meats and stews.

A traditional Lombard cuisine Osso Buco is a veal shank slow braised in white wine and broth with carrots, onions, and celery. With this simple presentation, the marrow is the star of the show.

This Bear Shank Osso Buco recipe has a little bit more going on than a traditional Osso Buco, but it was built using the blocks of a traditional Osso Buco with a little “adjusting” to help the bear shank shine a little more.

Let’s Make Bear Shank Osso Buco

So, let’s get started. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, preheat your dutch oven over medium heat. Once the dutch oven is hot, add about a half cup of chopped pancetta and brown until just crispy. Remove the pancetta and set to the side, but reserve the fats left behind for cooking the rest of the dish.

Lightly dust your bear shank in a mixture of flour, salt, and black pepper. Place the coated bear shank into the pancetta fat and brown five minutes per side. If your pancetta didn’t leave enough fat behind for browning your bear shank, add a little oil or butter to the pan.

Remove the browned shank and set aside. To the dutch oven, now add one large diced onion, four diced carrots, four diced stalks of celery, and a large minced shallot. Coat everything in the leftover fats and oils and let cook for five to seven minutes, or until the onion starts to turn translucent.

Braising liquid flavoring: diced carrots, celery, onions, and minced shallot.

Deglaze the dutch oven with a cup of white wine. I always take a minute to bask in the steam from the white wine hitting the hot pan. It smells amazing. I also do that when I put onions into butter. Nothing smells better than onions in butter. Anyway, let the wine cook down for a few minutes to release some of the alcohol, and then add the cup of vegetable stock.

This next step is where we will leave the familiar trail that leads to Osso Buco and add a little flair of our own. Traditionally, Osso Buco does not include tomatoes, but I was just feeling the need to have some tomatoes. I added a pint of cherry tomatoes to the dish. Season to taste with a little salt and pepper. It is also time to add our little bundle of spice joy.

To make your own little bundle of spices, cut a square from cheese cloth and get yourself some twine. You can leave the spices whole because you will pull the entire little bundle from the pot at the end of cooking. My little bouquet bundle included a few sprigs of fresh thyme, a stem of fresh rosemary, a little piece of mace, two bay leaves, a full star anise, and five whole cloves. Tie it up, take a moment to say “Awww” at how cute it is, and drop it into the pot.

Spice bouquet bundle: star anise, whole cloves, thyme, rosemary, mace, and bay leaves

Finally, nestle the bear shank back into the liquid and cover. The liquid should reach about halfway up the shank at all times, so you might check it throughout the braising process to ensure the liquid stays full enough. Shanks are a pretty tough cut of meat off most animals. They are also full of ligaments and tendons, which aren’t always the most appealing items to find in a dish; however, braising actually uses the “flaws” of a shank to the dish’s advantage. The slow cooking at a low temperature in basically a sauna of braising liquid takes the shank meat from tough to tender, sweet, and just a little caramelized from the initial browning. It also breaks down the tastier parts of the ligaments and tendons, releasing collagen into your braising liquid and thus laying the groundwork for a very flavorful and hearty gravy for your final dish.

Slide your dutch oven into a preheated oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Let the shank cook for at least three hours. The shank should be falling apart when you pull it out of the oven. It should be fork tender and shred easily.

Let’s Make Cheesy Polenta

About thirty minutes before your shank is ready to serve, start the polenta. I am in love with cheesy polenta. It is so creamy, a little salty, and soaks up the liquid of anything you top it with. It’s delicious!

You want to make sure your polenta cooks for about thirty minutes so you can start to really break down the corn bits. You want smooth and creamy here. If you do the quick cook recommended on the package, you will end up with chewier and even a bit hard polenta, which is fine, but trust me the slow longer cook is worth the time and effort.

Add three cups of water to a saucepan and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil and then whisk in your cup of polenta. Stir constantly while the polenta thickens. Turn the heat down to low and let the polenta slow cook for up to a half an hour, the longer the better. Stir it frequently to keep it from sticking to the bottom. If it starts to get to dried out, add a little more liquid.

Right before you are ready to pull the polenta from the stove, pour in a cup of cheese. I used gruyere for this dish. The salty but tangy flavor of gruyere sounded perfect with the spice bouquet used to braise the bear shank.

Whelp! It’s time to plate up this bear shank Osso Buco. I can hardly wait! Put a heaping scoop of cheesy, gooey, creamy polenta in a shallow bowl. Add chunks of tender, savory bear shank meat over the top and then drench in the braising liquid gravy. Be sure to get plenty of carrots, celery, and tomatoes. Sprinkle with pancetta bits and fresh minced parsley.

Finally, time to dig in!

Happy Hunting

If You Enjoyed This Recipe, You’ll Also Like…

Seared Deer Steak Medallions in a Cilantro Jalapeno Lime Sauce

I love the combination of squash and apples. The melded flavors are comforting, warm, savory, and just a little bit sweet. I think when the duo is mentioned many people think of a pie, a sweet and rich auburn pie served for Thanksgiving. But squash and apples don’t always have to be a dessert. They can create a rustic, homey dish like this Venison Stuffed Shells with Apple and Squash Sauce.

JUMP TO RECIPE

This dish takes a little bit of time to pull together, but the end result is worth the effort. To start, cook a medium sized butternut squash in oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. I cut the squash in half and place the squash cut side down on a large baking sheet. You can also line the sheet with aluminum for easier clean-up, as sometimes the squash weeps a little when roasting.

Remove the squash from the oven and let cool slightly before handling. I like to play Russian roulette with the squash and try to pick it up before it has properly cooled, usually resulting in burned hands, but that’s just me.

While the squash is cooling, prepare the venison sausage for stuffing the shells with. In a large skillet over medium heat, add some cooking oil, I like to use olive oil for this particular recipe but work with what you have. Once the oil is heated, add a medium diced onion and cook for five to seven minutes, or until the onion is soft. Next, add in the venison Italian sausage.

I make my own sausage. I grind the venison with bacon ends at a ratio of 80% meat to 20% bacon ends. This gives the sausage a nice fat content that isn’t overly greasy or fatty, but keeps the sausage moist when cooking. I season the sausage with salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper flake, Italian seasoning, allspice, garlic and onion powder, and plenty of fennel seed. I also add touch of brown sugar to sweeten it up a bit.

This recipe requires a pound of venison Italian sausage. Add the sausage to the onions and cook thoroughly, about five to seven minutes again. Once the sausage is cooked through, add a half cup of chopped pecans, a tablespoon of fresh minced sage, and a tablespoon of fresh minced rosemary. Stir together, turn off the heat, and set aside to cool.

While the sausage mixture is cooling, cook your pasta shells. I used jumbo pasta shells for this recipe, but you could also use manicotti. If you are really ambitious, you could make these into raviolis as well. Cook the shells to al dente, where they are soft but not falling apart.

Drain the shells and set aside to cool. As with the butternut squash, I played Russian roulette with the shells and tried to stuff them before they were cool enough for handling. It didn’t feel great.

Wow there are a lot of steps here, but bear with me, it is going to be worth it. Return to the cooled sausage mixture and mix in a container of ricotta cheese. Set that aside.

Back the squash! Scoop the squash guts into a blender and add a little salt and pepper for flavor and half cup to three quarters of a cup of stock. I used a vegetable stock. You could use chicken too if that is what you have on hand. If you were really fancy, this would also be a perfect opportunity to throw in some homemade bone broth.

Blend the butternut squash into a smooth puree. It should still hold together, so add the liquid slowly until you reach a consistency similar to the applesauce. Add the butternut squash puree to a large skillet with a cup of unsweet apple sauce. Turn the heat on medium low and stir until the sauces are combined. Slowly drizzle in a quarter cup of heavy cream and stir until a smooth, creamy, orange sauce forms. Add a cup of parmesan cheese and mix until completely melted.

Stuff the shells with the sausage mixture. Spoon a quarter of the apple and butternut squash sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Set the stuffed shells on top of the sauce. Once all the shells are set, pour the remaining apple and butternut squash sauce over the top and then sprinkle on a layer of mozzarella cheese. Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit preheated oven for 30 minutes, until the cheese is gooey and the sauce is bubbling!

And now! Time to enjoy! This dish is creamy, rich, and savory. It has hints of squash and apple layered with cheesy goodness and fresh herbs. It is one of my favorite dishes to serve for a crowd because it is easy to make large batches and is incredibly filling.

Happy Hunting!

Bear Shank Osso Buco

Let’s Make Bear Shank Osso Buco

Let’s Make Cheesy Polenta

If You Enjoyed This Recipe, You’ll Also Like…

Venison Stuffed Shells with Apple and Butternut Squash Sauce

If You Like This Dish, You Might Also Like….