Serves 6-8 Ingredients: 1 kg baby veal shanks 300 gm orzo 500 ml stock (or) 2 bouillon cubes in water Extra virgin olive oil (to drizzle) 25 gm butter + 1 tbsp vegetable oil Salt + pepper Method: Pat dry veal shanks with kitchen paper towels. Season them on all sides with salt and pepper. Drizzle some olive oil on the base of a rectangular, squared or an oval ovenproof dish, that has its own tight cover. Place seasoned shanks over the oil; in one layer. Drizzle on top of shanks some more olive oil. Tightly cover dish with its cover; (do not attempt to use a loose cover or aluminum foil). Place in the middle of a preheated oven at 200 degrees C. In the meantime, heat a medium-sized pan on high. Add butter and oil. Lower heat to medium. Add orzo and stir fry constantly, until golden brown. Season and add hot stock. Bring to a boil. Simmer covered for a few minutes, until most liquid is absorbed. Stir gently to redistribute heat from all sides and from base to top. When liquid is almost absorbed, cover back and place upon a simmering ring, over very low heat. Allow to cook. Meanwhile, check on the baking shanks. Slowly and with a pair of oven gloves, uncover dish; this should be approximately over one hour from the start of baking time. You will find waters released and top of shanks slightly browned. By means of a pair of tongs, turn them on the other side. Cover back and continue baking for over another hour. Meanwhile the orzo should be done. Fluff it with a cooking fork and remove away from heat. Remove shanks from the oven. Loosen them with a spatula from bottom of dish. There would be a small amount of liquid with the shanks and the meat would be done. Pour over the fluffed orzo, combining it gently with the shanks and the remaining liquid residue, while revealing some parts of the meat from within the orzo. This will bake them better and slightly brown their top. Cover back and bake the mixture for an extra 30 to 40 minutes. This will mix and enrich the flavour of both; binded together with the amount of waters released from the shanks; rendering them moist and juicy. Serve hot with a dish of warm kishk aside.
