Food Blog

This very hearty, earthy meal contains everything required to satisfy every craving. The veal shank itself settles the craving to gnaw on a big hunk of meat, the marrow satisfies the need for a rich fatty delicacy, the wild yam soba provides the carbs and the root vegetable puree made from beets, turnips and black radish provides a sweet-spicy foil to all the fat and meat. A few butter-fried okra slices give some color and accompanies the puree perfectly.

The only things I wish I had done was to find I use for the beet greens and I would have braised the shanks for much longer if I hadn’t been so hungry. Normally I’d cook them until the meat falls of the bone and all the connective tissue dissolved into a wonderful goo, but I stopped just short of that.

veal shanks, as many as you need, I made 4

1 tsp Coriander seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp flour

2-3 small to medium size beets

1 medium size turnip

1/4 of a black radish

ginger root

5-6 okra pods

1/2 stick of butter

wild yam soba

Put the pepper, coriander and mustard seeds in a plastic bag and crush (unless you own a mortar and pestle). Season the shanks with the seasoning, some salt and the flour. Brown in an iron skillet, add water or veal stock, if you can get it, until the liquid comes half way up the meat. Braise in a 350° oven for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. You may want to do it a bit slower and longer if you have time.

Peel the root veggies, cut them up into roughly equal cubes. I added just a slice of ginger root (maybe two US Quarter-sized slices) as to not overwhelm the turnip and beet, and used a piece of black radish, just larger than thumb size to add just a touch of spicyness to the sweet beets. A daikon would probably be a bit milder. Boil until tender, 30-40 minutes depending on the size of the cubes. Drain, melt in 1/4 stick of butter, and puree with a hand blender. I baked the puree for about ten minutes.

Pan fry the sliced okra pods in the other 1/4 stick of butter, and maybe a bit of oil. Pan frying gives you a crisp slightly browned okra, which will suprise any okra hater.

Cook the soba according to directions.

Plate the soba, with a shank on top, puring some pan drippings over both, then put a few spoonfuls of the puree around the plate and top with the okra for a very bright red-green contrast.