Beef Shanks with Polenta and Crunchy Salad

Beef shanks are something that I don't use all that often, but I really enjoy them for a change of pace. I prepared these like a traditional osso bucco, browning then braising and adding tomatoes to prepare a sauce.

I chose not to cook these too long so that they maintained some of their texture and we were able to cut through the large pieces of meat. Although the picture doesn't look all that appetizing, they were quite good.

I left the polenta fairly rough and didn't add milk or much cheese to keep the texture grainy, which I think succeeded in keeping the richness of the dish to a minimum.


I had a lot of veggies around so I decided to make an arugula salad with a lot of crunch and flavor. I chose to add the diakon, fennel and kumquats to the salad. I also added stilton and topped it with a peppadew.

I topped the salad with a light vinaigrette.