Santceloni Veal Shin

From the great Santi Santceloni. I will always remember this truly special dish that Michelle and I had at his famed Restaurante Santceloni in Madrid circa 2005. The great chef has since passed on, so one only hopes that his family is sustaining its great culinary tradition. This is literally the entire veal shin that is cooked and braised over several hours. So simple yet so terrifyingly good.

1 knuckle (or shin) of suckling veal (1.5 kg)
2 onions
2 carrots
2 sprigs thyme
1 head garlic
250 ml white wine
1 liter veal stock
3 tblsp EVOO
half leg of veal bone
100 gr butter
maldon sea salt
pepper

1. tie the knuckle of veal and season with salt and pepper; brown in an ovenproof dish (creuset perfect)
2. add chopped onions, carrots, garlic and herbs and leave to sweat; prevent the onion from burning
3. pour over the white wine and reduce; add 2 liters of veal stock
4. cover and bake in the oven at 80 degrees centigrade for 7-8 hours, checking that the liquid does not evaporate; remove when the meat is tender
5. cut the leg of veal into pieces and brown in the oven; reduce 1 liter of veal stock with the leg of veal; flavor with thyme. The reduction should end up very thick so that it can be used to glaze the meat.
6. remove the knuckle meat from its cooking juices, dry and brown in oil and butter; place in the oven at 220 degrees centigrade to give it a better color and a crisper texture; remove the string
7. glaze with the reduced veal stock and return to oven; repeat this operation until the veal is well glazed all over
8. strain the cooking juices, reduce to the desired consistency, bind with a little butter and season with salt and pepper