This take on a classic Southern French daube really challenged what I thought I knew about braising.Braising 101is essentially: choose a tough cut of meat, brown it, and place it in a pot with a flavorful liquid to cook low and slow until fall-apart tender and succulent. I also naively thought that red meat demanded to be cooked in red wine.

Here’s how this recipe is different. You don’t have to brown the meat first. (I know, if you’ve done a lot of braising, this feels very wrong.) And the only liquid you’re adding is an entire bottle of cheap, dry, white wine and some citrus juice. As the braise slowly progresses, the wine cooks down which makes a flavorful, concentrated broth and and allows caramelization of the meat to occur in the Dutch oven while you go about your day. Because this process takes so long, you can opt to cook it overnight and easily reheat once ready to serve.

No stock, no scraping of the pan, and no spattering of grease on your cooktop. This is the perfect lazy-day braise that yields fantastic flavors without much effort. The mellow notes of the white wine, citrus, and herbs allow the venison's natural flavors to really shine.

I prefer bone-in shanks for a good collagen-rich broth, a neck roast would be another good option, but any tougher cut will do (lessen cook-time if it’s not bone-in). To make this a complete meal, I recommend simultaneously simmering brothy, herby beans in the low-temp oven then roasting some vegetables once the meat is almost done. You could also serve with buttery egg noodles, hearty greens, or cheesy parmesan grits—and maybe another bottle of cheap white wine.

Also works with

Special equipment

Shop

1. Prepare gremolata. Zest the lemons (or lemon and orange) into a bowl and grate one clove of garlic into it. Chop only the leaves of the parsley (reserve the stems) and add in. Mix together—with a glug of olive oil if you’d like, or leave it dry—season with a pinch of salt, and place in fridge until braise is done.
2. Preheat your oven to 275°F. Season shanks liberally with salt and pepper (if you can do this a day or two in advance, great; if not, no sweat). Halve a head of garlic and place in Dutch oven with shanks. Tie the parsley stems with a few branches of whatever fresh herbs you have on hand (oregano, sage, thyme, etc.) and place in pot as well. Add in bay leaves and the entire bottle of white wine. Halve the zested lemons (and/or orange), squeeze the juice into pot, and place the halves directly into the braising liquid. Finish with a couple glugs of olive oil, a hearty pinch of salt, and a few good cracks of pepper.
3. Place in 275°F oven with the lid on and cook for 8 to 10 hours. Check halfway through to turn the meat, taste the broth (the lovely aroma filling up your kitchen will demand to be tasted at this point), and season as needed.
4. When the meat is done, it should effortlessly fall apart. Serve in large chunks with the sides of your choosing and a zesty sprinkle of gremolata on top.