Osso Buco alla Milanese

1. Heat the oven to 300°F.
2. Dredge the shanks: pour the flour into a shallow dish, season the veal shanks all over with salt and pepper, then roll each in the flour to coat, shaking off the excess. Discard the leftover flour.
3. Brown the shanks: heat the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a wide Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once the butter has melted and the oil shimmers, lower in the shanks flat-side down, in batches if needed, and brown, turning once, until both flat sides are well caramelised, about 5 minutes a side. Ease the heat down if the butter and oil start to burn, then move the shanks to a platter.
4. The aromatics: pour off and discard the fat, wipe out any burnt bits with a damp paper towel while keeping the caramelised ones, then add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and melt over medium heat. When it stops foaming, add the onion, carrot, celery and fennel, season with salt and pepper, and cook until starting to soften but not colour, about 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic, orange zest, marjoram and bay leaf and cook another minute or two.
5. The braising liquid: pour in the wine, turn the heat to high and boil, stirring now and then, until reduced by about half, around 5 minutes. Add the stock and the tomatoes with their juice and boil again to reduce the liquid to about 1 cup in total, around 10 minutes.
6. The braise: settle the shanks into the pot bone-side up and pour over any juices they've shed. Lay a piece of parchment pressed down so it almost touches the veal, cover tightly with the lid and slide into the lower oven to braise at a gentle simmer. Check after 15 minutes and drop the oven by 10 to 15 degrees if it's simmering too hard. Carry on braising, turning the shanks and spooning over the pan juices after the first 40 minutes, until the meat is completely tender and pulling from the bone, about 2 hours.
7. The gremolata: meanwhile, stir the garlic, parsley and lemon zest together in a small bowl, cover and set aside somewhere cool.
8. The finish: once the veal is fork-tender, lift off the lid, scatter over half the gremolata and return it to the oven uncovered for another 15 minutes to caramelise.
9. Lift the shanks carefully from the braising liquid with a slotted spatula, keeping them as whole as you can, and lay them out on a platter in a single layer, then cover with foil to keep warm.
10. Finish the sauce: set the pot on the stove, skim off any fat from the surface and taste. If it's thin, boil hard to reduce and concentrate it for 5 to 10 minutes, then adjust the salt and pepper, stirring in a teaspoon or two of gremolata if it wants more lift.
11. Serve one shank per person, or pull larger shanks apart along their natural seams for smaller portions, with risotto if you like. Just before serving, scatter over the rest of the gremolata and spoon over plenty of sauce.

Tips from the ZestyPlate Kitchen

• Tie a length of kitchen string around each shank before browning so it keeps its round shape through the long braise.
• Brown the shanks well and give them room in the pan. Those caramelised edges are where the depth comes from.
• Hold the braise at the barest simmer. If it bubbles hard, drop the oven temperature so the veal stays meltingly tender.
• Stir the gremolata in right at the end so its garlic and lemon keep their fresh bite.