Try Todd English’s root beer pork osso buco

Video: Root beer and pork? Todd English makes osso buco

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   >> this morning on a "today's kitchen" todd english is putting together a unique pairing that may sound odd -- root beer and pork. i understand the combination makes a winning osso buco . todd is owner of cross bar restaurant here in new york city .

   >> great to be here. it's chilly out still, so braising is something i love to do. it's something i don't think people do enough. you know, braising is a moist cooking. it's really about -- this is a pork shank. if you haven't done pork shank it's really incredible.

   >> you go to the butcher, say you want a pork shank and you're browning it.

   >> you sear it. it's like braising a lamb shank. such great flavor. different from getting a pork chop , throwing it on the grill. it has great flavor. we're going to sear those off, add mirepoix of vegetables. karat carrot, celery and onion. we do carrot with ginger ale . this is all pork so it's wine, swine and dine. we have guinness --

   >> are you calling the people who come to the restaurant swine as well?

   >> we wouldn't do that.

   >> this is a couple kinds of beer?

   >> we have guinness and root beer in there.

   >> the whole thing?

   >> two root beers and a guinness .

   >> you can add stock to it. but really the idea is to let it reduce down. put the pork shank back in.

   >> how long?

   >> two to three hours. we have cinnamon, star anise and black peppercorns to add to the spiciness of the root beer .

   >> it smells terrific.

   >> we'll let them braise and i will show you what happens here. we're actually going to make grits . to this we're going to get this boiling like that. we add this beautiful grits . we'll have cheddar grits .

   >> what is --

   >> it's regular grits and i add cheese to it.

   >> oh, it makes cheddar grits . once it's cooked --

   >> looks like this.

   >> uh-huh.

   >> we add cheese to this.

   >> thank you.

   >> some nice beautiful spring ramps. that's a spring garlic.

   >> look at that. cheddar grits . good morning, guys.

   >> mm, cheddar.

   >> grits with cheddar cheese and ramps.

   >> beautiful grits .

   >> take a look. i want you to know one of the biggest fans of osso buco is in the house. well, two. they would vie against each other.

   >> pull them out of the pan like that.

   >> he made this with root beer and guinness .

   >> just falls off the bone.

   >> we take the glaze and add a little bit of brandied cherry over the top .

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