Sonoran Osso Bucco with Ancho Chile Sauce

Sonoran Osso Bucco

I first made this wonderful dish for ABC 15's The Sonoran Grill, back when I was cooking on TV here in the beautiful Sonoran desert.  It's the best of comfort foods with that amazing "southwestern twist!"

Plantains give this dish a nice mildly sweet background flavor.

2 beef or 4 veal shanks cut 1 inch thick

flour with salt and pepper for dredging

2 Tbl corn oil

4 medium carrots, diced

4 celery sticks, diced

1 medium white onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

6 oz tomato paste

1 ripe plantain, peeled and diced

1 cup red wine

2 cups chicken broth

3 cups of ancho chile sauce or canned enchilada sauce * 

salt and pepper to taste

1 large banana leaf

Dredge the beef or veal in the flour and brown in hot oil in a heavy skillet.  Remove the beef or veal and set aside.  Add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic to the hot skillet and brown.  Add the tomato paste and stir in, then fry until paste starts to brown.  Deglaze with wine and then add chicken broth.  Add the beef and ancho chile sauce.  Bring to a simmer.  Place in a heavy Dutch oven or slow cooker lined with banana leaves.  Cover and place in 350°f oven for 3 to 4 hours or until beef is fork tender.  If using a slow cooker cook all day.  If needed add more chicken broth. 

Serve with fresh, hot corn tortillas, chopped cilantro, chopped white onion, lime wedges and fresh salsa.

Ancho Chile Sauce

Great with enchiladas or Huevos Rancheros

10 to 12 dried chiles Anchos

4 cups consomé de pollo or chicken broth

2 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

Toast the chiles on a hot, dry comal or griddle, until soft and pliable. Remove chiles from comal and allow to cool a little. Remove and discard the stems and seeds. Place all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes. Pour into a blender, 1/2 cup at a time, and purée. (Be careful; hot liquids expand in a blender and can spill out the top and burn you.)

work the sauce through a sieve into a bowl, mashing with rubber spatula, until only the chile solids are left in the sieve. Discard solids. If sauce is too thin, place back in saucepan and reduce to about the consistency of a thick tomato sauce or thicken with a slurry. Serve sauce warm.

Makes about 5 cups