Osso Bucco

So, if there is a way for me to burn the crap out of myself while cooking I will find it. I recieved a great set of stainless steal cookware for Christmas, and decied to use it to make my Osso Bucco. After removing it from the oven, I grabbed the handle with bare hands, thankfully I only got burned on my thumb and index finger, but ouch, stailess steal in a 375 degree oven for two hours if f-ing hot! Anyway, the meal came out great and it was not only well worth my time, it was worth the burn too. Here is my recipe, if you try it I hope that you enjoy it as much as my family and I did.

Osso Bucco

Ingredients:

4-6 veal shanks
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter
2 medium carrots, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
2 tablespoons of fresh thyme leaves
2 cups of tomato sauce
2 cups of beef stock
2 cups of dry white wine

Preheat oven to 375˚ F. Generously salt and pepper veal shanks. In a large stock pot or dutch oven heat olive oil and butter until butter browns. Place shanks in pan and brown for about 5 minutes on each side. Remove shanks and place to side. Reduce heat to medium and add carrots, onion, celery, thyme, and garlic, cook stirring regularly until onions are golden and all vegetables are softened. Add tomato sauce, beef stock, and wine, bring to a boil. Place veal shanks back into pan, making sure that meat is covered at least ¾ of the way. If meat is not covered, add more stock. Cover pan and place in oven for 2 hours or until meat is falling off the bone. Remove meat from pan and cover with tin foil to keep warm. Place pan on burner and reduce mixture until thick and sauce like about 20-30 minutes. While sauce is reducing make Risotto Milanese and gremolata.

Plate by putting risotto on plate, place sauce on top, add meat, and gremolata and enjoy.

Gremolata

Zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic chopped
2 tablespoons of fresh chopped Italian parsley

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle on top of osso bucco.

Mario Baltali’s Risotto Milanese

¼ cup of extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into ¼ -inch dice
1 teaspoon if Saffron threads
2 cups of Arborio Rice
4 cups of chicken stock (I used 6)
4 tablespoons of butter
½ cup of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

In a 12-to-14 inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook unitl softened and translucent, but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add saffron and cook, stirring, for 1 minutes. Add rice and stir with a wooden spoon until toasted and opaque, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add a 4 to 6 ounce ladle of the stock and cook, stirring until it is absorbed. Continue adding stock a ladle at a time, waiting until liquid is absorbed before adding more. Cook until rice is tender and creamy and yet still a little al dente, about 15 minutes. Stir in butter and cheese until well mixed.