I’m doing a series of big game cooking articles. Now for a unique one. I met Chris Lalik years ago when he worked at Puma Knives. Every year he’d tell me how great smoked shanks were. I didn’t believe him. Shanks are a working muscle and are super tough. On top of that, they are half tendons, collagen, and ligaments. I don’t even like grinding them in my sausage anymore because they put so many tendons in it but after 8-10 years my curiosity got the best of me and I finally had to check them out this year.

I looked on the dreaded internet for an Osso Buco recipe and improvised it a bit. This will be a semi-detailed recipe but not hard.

-Put in the pot 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, 1 sprig of thyme, 1 bay leaf, and 2 cloves

-Dust in flour and sauté’ shanks

-Some people sauté’ 1 onion, 1 carrot, and 1 stick of celery (Dice all). I skipped the sauté route and just threw all of the above in the Dutch oven raw.

-1 tbsp of chopped garlic

-Throw all of the above in a Dutch oven.

-Add 1 cup dry white wine, 3 tbsp. of chopped parsley, 1 tbsp of lemon juice or chopped lemon and 2 tbsp of tomato paste and 3 cups of chicken stock or beef stock.

-I heat this up on the stovetop to speed up the process.

-Throw the sautéed shanks in the Dutch Oven with all of the above pre-heated items and then place the top on the Dutch oven and slide in the oven at 300. When it falls off the bone it is done. The secret on Osso Buco is slow and moist.

This will be a unique, exquisite meal and a great way to utilize a cut that a lot of times the coyotes get. A lot of the old, old trapper books talk about throwing bones in a pot of stew that had been sawed in half to allow the bone marrow to leak out into the stew/soup. I imagine this would really be necessary on larger animals like moose, elk, scimitar onyx etc. so they can even fit in the pot.

I cooked some rice with a little chopped celery in it and then scooped out the Osso Buco and juice and poured over the rice. From now on this will be a definite dish that I cook every year. The collagen dissolves and you’re able to eat nearly all of the shank (Except of course the bone).

And lastly, don’t forget to take a second at your Thanksgiving feast to thank God that you live in the best country in the world!