The war continues, and new tariffs have been imposed, so expect prices to rise further. As I have said many times, learn to cook simple meals at home, and you will find it is one of the best ways to save money.

I grew up in a family of 7, with one income. We almost never ate out. In fact, the first time I ever ate in a real restaurant was in 6th or 7th grade. It was a local family restaurant, and my uncle paid. I think I ordered mac and cheese because it was the cheapest thing on the menu, not because my uncle asked me too, but because I didn’t want to take advantage of his generosity.

My mom was such a great cook that I never felt my lack of dining experiences was a loss. She knew how to stretch a dollar, and I learned the same skill by watching her.

She made all of the usuals, but also a lot of foods that seem rare nowadays. Foods like liver and onions, Swiss steak (made from round steak, oxtail stew, beans with ham hock, and so on. My local market doesn’t sell any of these cuts.

I came across a recipe for Osso Buco that uses the very delicious yet super-tough beef shank. The ingredients were simple, and the meat could easily be tenderized in a pressure cooker, but my grocer didn’t carry beef shank. By the way, Osso Boco sounds very fancy, but it translates to bone with a hole.

Fate was with me, and in a strange way. Last week I was camping in the Northwoods on Lake Superior. My wife loves to check out local grocery stores, and there was one in a nearby tiny town. Lo and behold, they were selling beef shanks. I have a fridge in my homemade adventure van, so I bought one! The ideal shank is relatively small and meaty, this one was more of a Let’s make beef soup type. However, it was good enough and cost a reasonable $5.80.

This is more of a soup bone, but it was the best that I could find. Beef shank is a very tough cut of meat, but it is full of flavor, which is enhanced by the marrow and bone. With an electric pressure cooker, meat goes from tough to tender.

Here are the ingredients; they are simple and basic. The recipe is from Cook At Home Mom. There are many variations on the Osso Buco theme; this one uses dry herbs, while others use fresh.

Here is a visual of the ingredients. Ossco Boco, when made in the oven, can take 3 hours. In an electric pressure cooker, it took 45 minutes of pressure time, with a total time of around one hour.

I started by cutting up my vegetables into a relatively small dice.

I wiped my beef shank with a paper towel. This reduces splattering when browning. I seasoned it with seasoning salt, but you could use salt and pepper, or whatever you like.

I put my Instant Pot clone on sauté high and gave it a few minutes to heat up. Then, I added some EVOO, probably around a tablespoon or two.

I browned the shank on both sides, cooking each side for a few minutes. You can see the huge bone on the flip side of the meat. I was just making this for Julie and me, so there was still plenty of meat. However, this meal would not be one of the classic presentations where an entire shank is served, I would need to separate the meat from the bone. Flexibility in cooking is key.

I removed the shank and set it aside.

I sautéed the vegetables for a few minutes. You can see the fond on the bottom of the pot. Fond has a lot of flavor. I got most of it off and into the dish as I sautéed the vegetables. I’ll get the rest when I deglaze the pan with a little wine.

In went the dry spices. I like to cook them for about 20 seconds; when I can smell them, I move on to the next step. You don’t want to burn them; that would be gross.

In goes the salt. I’m using very little salt because the broth I’ll add has quite a bit of salt in it. I will adjust the salt and pepper at the end of my cooking.

In goes the wine. With a little scraping, I removed the rest of the fond. If you leave burnt food on the bottom of the pot, it could trigger a Burn warning and shut the pot off.

Now the tomatoes, juices and all.

Next, the beef broth. As usual, I’m using Better Than Bouillon.

In goes the browned beef shank. If this were a proper Osso Boco, I would have several smaller and meatier shanks, and everyone could get their own.

I closed the lid on my Instant Pot clone, set the regulator to Seal, and set the machine to high pressure for 45 minutes. When the cook was done, I let it sit in the sealed pot for another 10 minutes before I released the pressure. As I was waiting I sipped on a glass of wine and read the news. It seemed like the Italian thing to do.

Towards the end of the cook, I made the gremolota. A spoonful on top of the Osso Buco adds a nice freshness to the dish. Naturally, I mixed it together before serving.

Here it is served up. I’m serving it with the gemolota on a bed of mashed potatoes. You could use rice, polenta, risotto, or whatever suites your fancy as the base for this dish.

The meat was very tender, and the meal was delicious. We have some international markets in town, and I may drive over to one to see if I can get some other meats I used to like, perhaps oxtails or round steak.

Most electric pressure cookers can follow an Instant Pot recipe exactly. Electric pressure cookers are the most versatile cooking appliances that I have ever used. Recently, I have picked up a few at thrift stores for prices ranging from $7.00 to $20. They are fast, and make delicious food. They now have a multitude of safety features, so don’t worry about them exploiding. If you decide to pick one up read the manual (if it came it one) or watch a Getting Started video on YouTube. It is important to follow the simple safety rules.

Peace

Mike

Camping in my homemade adventure van in the Northwoods, on Lake Superior. Who knew I would bring home a beef shank!

Peace

Mike

Photos are used for educational purposes and are my own.