Lobels veal shanks for osso buco?

[tboner6]

I have been a big fan of Lobels dry aged prime steaks, and am considering trying their veal shanks. That being said, I am not sure that the difference in taste will bethe same as it is for their steaks. I was wondering if any one here has tried these and if so, how they compare to what i get from my local butcher.

thanks

[RCC]

I'd go against the grain here and say go for the Lobel's. Most of us here have never had Lobel's veal shank and perhaps you can report back and let us know it went.

[tboner6]

Well, I decided to try the Lobels. My local butcher has them for about $12-16/lb; Lobels comes out at around $30/lb. Pretty steep for shanks. That being said, they were all beautiful and had very low "bone to meat " ratio, with fresh marrow. I am cooking tonight for a wine tasting dinner, so I will report back in the next day or two with the verdict. As much as I love Lobels for their steaks, I suspect that the shanks will be good, but not worth the price compared to what I get locally.

[280 Ninth]

Wow...$30/lb. is absurdly expensive, but if you can swing it.....

How'd it turn out?

[tboner6]

So the report: not worth the extra money, as most chow hounders suspected. I hosted a wine tasting dinner, where we had some extremely special old Bordeuax (1906 Lafitte, 1929 Cruse Masterpol, and a horizontal of 1970's to start). I made osso buco as the main. The shanks were prepared as per my usual recipe which I have used for years.

Although the shanks were very good, they almost seemed drier than usual. Flavor was good, but certainly not the same visceral experience as a rare dry aged strip. So, all in all, I will stick with my local butcher, and leave Lobels for the beef.

Happy TGiving to all!

[City Kid]

Never purchased at Lobel's but I have gotten good osso buco at Costco. For what is essentially a hearty peasant dish that cooks for hours, it seems to me a waste to invest in Lobel's.

[gavspen]

Agree. If you're braising for 2 hours you dont need to pay up. I've gotten osso bucco from FreshDirect at a good price. Once in a while some of the pieces had too high a bone to meat ratio, but when I pointed out that if I had been in a butcher shop I would never have picked out these pieces, they shipped more right away at no cost. Good customer service, that.

[280 Ninth]

haven't tried them, but it sounds like a relatively low-risk proposition to me...even less-than-perfect veal shanks, if cooked properly, will yield a very fine osso buco.

[erica]

Certainly not a low financial risk. Although the meat will undoubtedly be top quality, given the retailer, I would not think it makes good financial sense to use Lobel-quality meat for braising, unless price is no object. Having said that, I should also add that I have never purchased veal shanks from Lobel; if I were making osso buco, I would probably head for Florence or Ottomanelli on Bleecker. Or even Fairway.

[280 Ninth]

Yup, I'd go to Ottomanelli' since it's closest to me..imho.

[RCC]

Yup +1 here on Ottomanelli's Bleecker veal shanks.