Lone Doe Osso Buco Recipe by Margie Nelson

Margie’s  Osso Buco Recipe

Shanks cut 1 1/2 inches thick from one whitetail or mule deer

flour and salt and pepper for dredging (I use a little Cavender’s greek seasoning)

Avacado or olive oil

1/2 Cup diced Pancetta

one diced sweet onion

4 cloves garlic (I put them through a garlic press)

4 medium carrots diced

4 sticks celery diced

5 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 springs of fresh rosemary

2 springs of fresh oregano

28 oz can of diced fire roasted tomatoes

1 cup red wine

5 cups chicken stock

Dredge the shanks in flour and seasoning and brown in the oil on all sides. Remove and place in the bottom of large roaster.
Add more oil to the same pan and add pancetta, onion, garlic, carrots, celery and cook until slightly tender. Using a slotted spoon take out of the pan and put over the top of the meat.
Add the wine and chicken stock to the pan with the fresh herbs and simmer for about 15 minutes. While simmering add the can of tomatoes to the rest of the dish in the roaster
Remove the herbs and pour the liquid over the all other ingredients. If the liquid doesn’t cover everything, add more stock.
Put the lid on the Roaster, set at 250F and walk away from this for about 4 hours and then turn it down to 150 for another 4-5 hours. Fall apart goodness in your mouth right here.

You can serve this with mashed potatoes, rice, risotto, polenta…what ever floats your boat!

And if you’re feeling really fancy, and want traditional Osso Buco top this all off with.

Gremolata

1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
zest of one lemon, finely chopped

Serves…a bunch of hungry folks! ENJOY!!

The Hunt…

Last year was a banner year hunting…for my friends!
I took 6 different fellas hunting over several outings on some private, but mostly all BLM land and they harvested two nice bull elk, two mature cow elk, a tender calf and one very nice 5×5 whitetail buck. I got a doe! A tender yummy, didn’t know I was there doe!
Here in Montana the elk are plentiful and the hunters are too. BLM lands have a reputation for elk being there, and they certainly are by the hundreds. But then that also brings out every kind of hunter.  So, I went to private land for a last ditch effort.
I have friends that have always been gracious to allow us to hunt on their property and the elk were around because shots were being fired at the neighboring State land and also at an Outfitter neighbors property. So I laid down on a grassy knoll and waited for something to cross my path.

I got comfy, put one in the chamber and laid in wait with the safety on…for at least five minutes. And there she came, up from the creek. She walked between two trees and looked right at me. I thought, Well… I’m busted. Then she put her head down and grazed to within about 75 yrds of me. I had a doe tag for this area and while I was basically elk hunting, I still wanted something yummy in my freezer and what better than an unsuspecting fat alfalfa fed doe. She turned left, safety off, down she went. I had three other people with me who had gone up on the bench across the creek and by the time they got back to me I had her all field dressed and ready to go.

This beautiful doe I went all Wild Gourmet on and when I processed her. I frenched one side of the back straps which fed four people a lovely meal of rack of whitetail. The other side I made Whitetail Wellington with locally harvested morel mushrooms for our Christmas dinner with friends. I made some breakfast sausage, brautwurst and lots of different experimental jerky as well as two beautful Roasts. Then there was the shanks…those darn tedious shanks. A few years ago I pondered how much work went into cleaning up the shanks for burger or jerky and I just hate messing around with the shanks…Shanks are stupid! And I thought…”there must be a better way”… And then a little light went off in my head…Osso Buco. Into the freezer they went. After a proper freezing I cut them into 1 1/2 inch pieces and packaged them. For the last few years I have made Osso Buco in the fall to welcome the new hunting season

I grew up hunting, but even if I hadn’t…I love shooting guns, I love biology (dissection is my favorite part) and I love to cook…So it only makes sense that I hunt! And while I always have general tags for that big bull elk, that giant whitetail or Mule deer and for a wolf or two that I may stumble upon. I will only shoot a doe or a cow elk that is calm and doesn’t know I’m there, because I love, love love eating wild!

I hope you enjoy this recipe for Osso Buco. My friends and family seem to.

Margie is the President at the National Wild Turkey Federation, Upper Yellowstone Chapter, Montana and is a very avid hunter both nationally and abroad.  She is also a Prois Field Staff Member.