How to keep osso buco from falling apart?

[Hyperion]

I love ossobuco. But whenever I make it, the meat tends to fall off from each other, which looks really ugly. for example this one I made long time ago. The problem is that there are about three major muscles in each slice of ossobuco, and they are only connected by a few thin membranes. Once you braise the meat to its tenderness, the membranes are already gone, so as soon you touch the thing it falls apart. Is there any trick to it?

 

[buckytom]

you can tie butcher's twine around it once or twice for that kind of cut of osso buco.

btw, that looks delicous!!!

 

[Addie]

Or you can ask your butcher to do it for you. Mine already come tied.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I would use the string.

Now they do sell reusable oven safe silicone "rubber bands" for these types of things.

 

[Claire]

I thought shanks were supposed to fall apart.

 

[Addie]

Once they are cooked, yes. but for presentation, you want them in one piece. Looks prettier.

 

[Addie]

Is it my computer or is the view of these pictures filling the whole width of the page?

 

[buckytom]

i'm getting wider than my normal resolution, addie. they're not being scaled down automatically. you know, the "click here to see full size" prompt in the reduced border.

that's good because when scrolling around on my phone, it helps wipe the drool aside...

 

[Claire]

I'm having weird problems, too. I'll have to go over to tech or whatever it is called. Some pages I get the entire page, some 3/4 of it, and this is not even half.

 

[Meezenplaz]

That's an inherent problem with true veal OB, you trade a chunk of presentation factor for a platefull of that incomparable flavour. Even with string it falls apart when removed, and serving the string detracts as much (IMO) as that bare bone sticking up between that pile of deliciouis meat-mush.
Beef shanks or even Ox-tail don't seem as prone, but you sacrifice tenderness, flavour and texture, plus u can't truly call it Osso.
I've served OB in a small colored tapered allum tin, (like a short pot pie) to hold it together, the guest then removing before eating (or not) but for high-end dining that drops the "class" of the dish to below standards (or at least mine).
It's an interesting dliemma, Ive not yet found an easy answer.
Generally anything slow-braised tends to do that, well unless maybe you food-glue it all together first like a model airplane.

BTW, is that a risotto on the side? Meshes nicely.