Leslie and I both enjoy eating veal but it is something we rarely order in restaurants and seldom if ever cook at home.
Too expensive and rather time consuming, a heavier entree than we usually serve, perhaps too big of a production. But I sure love it!
I was at Major Market the other day and saw a veal shank that spoke to me.
After our brief conversation I bought a couple of them and then went home and found this recipe online; The Best Osso Buco Recipe.
Leslie is not real comfortable with me cooking in her kitchen but let me share in the production of this dish tonight. It was superb!
The basis for this version of osso buco is the addition of pancetta. I used 4.6 oz, honestly we could have cut it in half.
Was a bit salty but not overly so. Not entirely necessary but still, a welcome component that added to the overall unami with a nice crispy flavor element.
This is an authentic milanese rendition, like the original way it was prepared in Italy, we added tomato paste because we wanted to. I am glad we did, it enhanced everything. Chopped tomatoes would have been great too.
We omitted the onion and did everything else by the book, serving it over polenta. Added a little olive oil to the pancetta fat.We cooked the pancetta and then the diced celery and carrot mix.
We then browned the shanks on the cooktop and transferred the dutch oven to our oven for an hour and a half.
So tender, so wonderful. All that braising.
The dutch oven is an old Le Creuset and was Leslie's moms. Ruth would not eat veal and might not approve of our meal. It was the perfect alembic for our fare tonight.
Both my dad and my mom would have loved it, Adelle loved marrow and so do all of her kids and it was nice to dig it out of these shank bones. Very hearty meal.
The topping was the parsley, lemon zest, raw garlic mixture. She wasn't sure about the garlic but it worked beautifully.
This dinner would probably cost you at least forty dollars a piece or so in a restaurant, maybe more.
Our meal cost us a grand total of less than $25 dollars, not exorbitant when you consider the delicious final result.
Honestly, the homemade version was so good that it will be difficult to order it in a restaurant again.
I can't wait to try another variation of the osso buco which is the Italian translation for hole in the bone. Avanti or Manhattan, I can't remember which, one of the great old La Jolla restaurants, used to make a fabulous veal chop that was almost caramelized in what I think was a brandy sauce. That would be fun too.
4 comments:
I’ve never had it but it sounds wonderful.
One of my favorites that and lamb shanks! Thanks for sharing!
I used to make also Osso Bucco quite often as I am half Italian, but I don’t indulge often because of the guilt of a young animal being killed. My Italian grandmother has it mastered. Glad you found a satisfactory recipe.
Was your recipe much different than this one?
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