The Ale House Restaurant Recipes

BRAISED PORK OSSO BUCCO

Steps:

• Dredge the pork shanks in flour seasoned with sea salt and black pepper.
• Add vegetable oil to a large dutch oven (6-7 quarts or a large skillet) over medium-high heat. Sear the pork shanks for about 2 minutes on each side.
• Once seared on all sides, remove the pork shanks from the pan and set aside until needed.**Discard the oil if it's burnt and start with fresh oil, but don't clean out the pan. We want all those tasty bits stuck to the pan for the sauce.
• Add the celery, carrots, onions, to the pot. Let the vegetables cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until they have all been lightly cooked
• After lightly cooking the vegetables, add the red wine to the dutch oven. Turn the heat down and scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan.**This process is called deglazing.
• After deglazing the pan, add the stock, tomatoes, tomato paste and herbs to the pot.Allow the mixture to simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes
• Add the pork shanks back into the pot of tomato sauce. Cover and place into a preheated 325-degree oven and let the pork shanks braise in the sauce for 3 hours.
• After three hours, the pork shanks will be fork tender and incredibly delicious. As you can see there is a good amount of fat that has been cooked off.Gently remove the pork shanks from the pan and skim off most of the fat. Mix the remaining fat into the sauce. This fat will add an incredible amount of flavor so don't take it all out.
• Spoon the finished tomato sauce onto a serving dish or casserole and place the pork shanks on the sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley.
• Serve with potatoes, polenta, or your favorite pasta or grain and enjoy!

BEST-EVER BEER CHEESE SOUP

Steps:

• In a large stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, peppers and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until well incorporated, about 5 minutes more.
• Add the chicken stock, beer and half-and-half and cook, whisking often, at a very slow simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.
• Add the cheddar to the soup by the handful, whisking each batch until smooth. Add the Worcestershire, hot sauce, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, the nutmeg, mustard and lemon juice, and stir to combine.
• Puree the soup in batches in a blender (holding a thick towel over the lid to prevent overflow) until very smooth.
• Just before serving, reheat the soup until steaming and taste for seasoning, adding salt as necessary. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each bowl with a swirl of mustard oil, a dollop of goat cheese and a sprinkle of thyme.