This version is a nice looking casserole but too red for me.
And perhaps too oily.
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Sunday, April 28, 2019
Osso Buco.
One of my favorite meals.
Why has it been so long since I’ve prepared it.
It’s certainly not complicated.
Brown the shanks.
Brown the aromatics (or mirepoix.)
Add liquids and simmer for 90 minutes.
Serve with saffron rice.
One important reason is that veal shanks are not found in every butcher shop, and are not found with regularity.
Another is that this once economical dish has become expensive, 12.99 a pound.
Perhaps nearly double that when we factor in that the shank includes the bone, a large bone (osso means bone; buco means hole.)
The prized marrow is in that bone; the meat attached almost an afterthought to the marrow.
In any case, I’ll be serving it on Sunday, at the start of the Celtics playoff game against Milwaukee.
Not pork ribs, more traditional with sports events.
Yet, I have every confidence dinner will be met with approbation from my sports-minded guests, who also share an interest in food.
I’ve thought about the recipe and have decided to break tradition and introduce scallions in place of onions. Never seen that done.
And will cast one of the rare votes for using fresh tomatoes instead of canned or for using tomatoes at all. By moderating the quantity and by retaining the integrity of the tomato pieces, I won’t turn the gravy into a tomato sauce, which violates the traditional style of the dish.
And, of course, I will use my own chicken stock and a fine white wine to braise the meal.
Osso Buco.
One of my favorite meals.
Looking forward to the dinner.
Six of the next seven days may show rain.
Let’s actively enjoy our time despite the weather.
If we don’t, the hours will tick away and another day will click past.
Unnoticed.
Unappreciated.
Tick Tock.
In clock language:
Tick Tock.
In clock language:
Enjoy today.
Enjoy the week.
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Postings Count, Weather Brief, and Dinner
Sunday, April 28, 2019
My 387th consecutive posting, committed to 5,000.
After 387 posts we’re at the 7.74% mark of my commitment, the commitment a different way of marking the passage of time.
Time is 12.01am.
On Sunday, Boston’s temperature will reach a high of 55* with a feels-like of 54* with showers.
Dinner for tonight will be Osso Buco.
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Question of the Day:
What is Osso Buco?
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Chuckle for Sunday, April 28, 2019
A man comes home to find his wife of 10 years packing her bags.
"Where are you going?”
"To Las Vegas! I found out that there are men that will pay me $500 cash to do what I do for you for free!"
The man pondered that thought for a moment, and then he, too, began packing his bags.
"Where are you going?” she asked.
"I'm going to Las Vegas with you... I want to see how you're going to live on $1,000 a year!"
Golden Nugget and Pioneer Club along Fremont Street in 1952
Edward N. Edstrom - Photo taken by my father, Edward N. Edstrom, and released to the public domain by me, his son,
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Short Take
I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to get Mail chimp up and running.
Each time I sit down to it I get closer.
Still several days away from it, however.
We’ll announce when we launch, perhaps Monday or Wednesday?
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Answer to the Question of the Day:
Ossobuco or osso buco is a specialty of Lombard cuisine of cross-cut veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine and broth.
Ossobuco or osso buco is Italian for "bone with a hole" (osso "bone", buco "hole"), a reference to the marrow hole at the center of the cross-cut veal shank.
The marrow in the hole in the bone, a prized delicacy, is the defining feature of the dish.
The meat of the shank is tough but braising tenderizes it.
It is often garnished with gremolata and traditionally served with either risotto Milanese or polenta, depending on the regional variation.
Veal shank, used to be common, relatively cheap, and flavorful.
No longer.
Types of osso buco include a modern version that has tomatoes and the original version which does not.
The older version, osso buco in bianco, is flavored with cinnamon, bay leaf, and gremolata.
The modern and more popular recipe includes tomatoes, carrots, celery and onions; gremolata is optional.
While veal is the traditional meat used for osso buco, dishes with other meats such as pork have been called osso buco.
The cut traditionally used for this dish comes from the top of the shin which has a higher proportion of bone to meat than other meaty cuts of veal.
The shank is then cross-cut into sections about 2” thick.
For four people we’ll need four large veal shanks, from12 to 16oz per shank, and a Dutch oven to cook them all in.
Dry the shanks and then dredge them in flour seasoned with salt and pepper and a bit of garlic powder.
Heat a combination of 2TB of butter and 2TB of olive oil.
When hot enough to sear the shanks, place the shanks in the fat and cook without moving them for at least five minutes.
Turn them over: they should be very attractively browned. Caramelized even. You’ll get no complaints.
Remove to a ss bowl.
Scrape any meat pieces free from the bottom but leave in place.
The fat is now imbued with the delicious aromas and tastes of the veal.
If more fat is needed, add it, judiciously.
Heat the fat and then add:
4oz each of carrots, scallions, and celery, the veggies cut into 3” lengths, the thickness of a medium scallion
6 cloves of garlic, gently smashed
Brown the vegetables and remove them to the same bowl as is holding the veal.
Return the veal to the Dutch oven and add the following:
8oz of our own chicken stock
This is closest to how I see the final product.
Will take a picture of mine, tomorrow.
8oz of a fine white wine
4oz of fresh tomato chunks, skin on
½ cup each of fresh Italian parsley and basil, chopped coarsely
2Tb lemon zest, chopped finely
1/2t sage powder
Bring Dutch oven to active simmer, cover, and then place in a 200* oven for 60 minutes, turning the veal 30 minutes into the cook.
Check the juices. There should be enough of the cook’s juices left in the Dutch oven to provide a gravy for the veal and the risotto Milanese. If not enough add more wine and stock.
On the stovetop, bring the Dutch oven to an active simmer.
Return the vegetables to the Dutch oven and the Dutch oven to the oven and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
Take a look at the cook. This is the last good opportunity to adjust the quantity of gravy.
There should be enough of the cook’s juices left in the Dutch oven to provide a gravy for the veal and the risotto Milanese. If not enough add more wine and stock. Turn the veal over.
Cover optional, cook for another 30 minutes.
Should be perfect.
Osso Buco is traditionally sprinkled with gremolata and served alongside a serving of risotto Milanese.
I have an extra hard-copy of the recipe.
Want it?
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Good Morning on this Sunday, the Twenty-Eighth Day of April.
We posted a thought on our fondness for Osso Buco and, in short order, we counted our postings, talked about the weather, and decided on Osso Buco for dinner.
We posted a note explaining where a lot of our time is going these days. Lie an apology, suppose.
We posted a chuckle: $1,000.00 per year. Now what did he mean by that, we wonder?
Our q and a dealt with the making of Osso Buco.
And now? Gotta go.
Che vuoi? Le pocketbook?
See you soon.
Your love.