My first attempt at Osso Buco

I have an affinity for Osso Buco that goes beyond normal. I try not to think about it too much, as the extra layer under my chin doesn’t need any more fatty goodness and marrow, however, when FreshDirect had it on sale, I couldn’t resist. I really wasn’t sure how to make it, so I found a recipe with a picture that reminded me of the ones I have preferred (most notably at Montenapo and Becco, as well as the lamb one at Charles).

The recipe wound up being very simple and basic, actually. The only thing it really requires is time. 2.5 hours of braising made it clearly a Sunday meal.

I paired it with a quick prepare, microwavable side from Fresh Direct (“Sides in a Snap” Mascarpone and Mushroom Risotto with Chives) and a steamed artichoke dipped in Roasted Garlic Butter. Adding roasted garlic to butter for dipping is my new favorite way to eat artichokes. There are few things I find more easily delightful to make than roasted garlic.

The final meal was a great combination, and the Osso Buco was good, but it just wasn’t great. I guess I really shouldn’t compare my first attempt with restaurants that are known for making it great… but I still wanted more. It was perfectly tender but the meat itself just didn’t have the same flavor. I’m not sure if this was the fault of the cut or my preparation. But I will try again and work to improve it to <3 caliber.

_____________________________________________________________

RECIPE
_____________________________________________________________

Osso Buco

Ingredients:

·      1/4 cup all-purpose flour

·      2 teaspoons salt

·      1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

·      2 pounds veal shank

·      3 tablespoons butter

·      3 tablespoons olive oil

·      1 cup chopped onion

·      1 cup thinly sliced carrots

·      1/2 cup chopped celery (I omitted due to hatred)

·      2 cloves garlic, crushed

·      1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

·      1 cup water

·      1 teaspoon dried basil

·      1 teaspoon dried thyme

·      3 sprigs fresh parsley (I used dried. Seemed fine)

·      1 bay leaf

Directions:

1.         In a shallow dish, stir together flour, salt, and black pepper. Dredge meat in seasoned flour. In a large skillet, melt butter with oil over medium heat. Brown meat. Remove meat from pan, and set aside.

2.         Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic to drippings in pan. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes.

3.         Stir in tomato sauce, water, basil, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Return meat to pan. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to simmer. Cover, and cook for 2 1/2 hours.

Borrowed sauce, semi-fresh pasta, and roasted garlic bread

My mom came to visit and brought me some sauce made with tomatoes, zucchini, and sausage. It was delicious (though the veggies produced too much water and adding corn starch just gave it a powdery texture that didn’t work. Oh well!) We put it over some of the semi-homemade pastas, like Buiton, that are now popping up more and more in grocery stores (not quite dried but not quite as fresh as the ones in Italian Markets). The linguini was good (though still not as good as the real fresh stuff) but the artichoke raviolis were disappointing. As a lover of artichokes, I hardly tasted artichoke flavor AT ALL. Boo.

As a side, we decided to make some garlic bread. I roasted up some garlic (take a head of garlic, cut off the points so you can see each clove, coat the top in olive oil and wrap it in tinfoil. Put it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour. The garlic should be soft enough to just mush right out of its casing). The roasting takes away the sharpness and leaves you with a delicious piece of garlic that can be eaten all by itself. We, however, mashed it into melted butter and spread it on italian bread. Then broiled the Italian bread for just a few minutes to crisp it up. So easy and so good!

Spread the Nom Nom love...

My first attempt at Osso Buco

Borrowed sauce, semi-fresh pasta, and roasted garlic bread