Rosie Makes ... Osso Buco.

Yesterday, Mr. Hawthorne and I went to Harris Teeter, trying to find something we hadn't eaten before. So now, O is for Osso buco.
Remember, I'm still working my way through the culinary alphabet? 

Osso buco alla Milanese, basically braised veal shanks or cross sections of the leg, is a classic Italian dish from Milan. The name, osso buco, means bone with a hole, and the bone marrow is part of the appeal of the dish, giving the stew body and unctuousness. My recipe comes from both Giada's osso buco and this recipe for osso buco, plus a few personal additions.

First, I gathered my herbs and spices: Rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and whole cloves.

I wrapped the herbs and cloves in cheesecloth and tied to make a bouquet garni.

My ingredients: From top right, clockwise - white wine osso buco bouquet garni garlic cloves

onion celery carrot can of chopped tomatoes homemade chicken consomme homemade veal stock If you recall, my veal stock is a Three Day

Event.

I secured the meat with kitchen twine.

Then I minced the garlic and chopped the celery, carrot, and onion.

I floured, salted, and peppered the meat.

Then I decided button mushrooms should go in, although Italians are probably shaking their heads in disdain and tsk-tsking me.

That's my chicken consomme on the left and my rich, velvety veal stock on the right.

And here's everything in place, ready to go.

First, I seared the veal about 6-7 minutes over medium heat until nicely browned.

Flipped over and seared the other side until browned.

Then I seared the sides, turning all around.

Set the veal aside.

Onions went into the pot for a few minutes.

Then I put the mushrooms in.

Carrots went in.

And the celery. Cook for a few minutes.

Then I added in the garlic, stirring for about 1 minute.

Tomatoes went in.

And about a cup or more of white wine.

Bouquet garni goes in. And I cooked until the wine was reduced by almost half.

Next, I added in my chicken consomme.

Finally, the veal went into the mix.

The pot got covered and it went into a 350-degree oven for 2 hours to braise and break down connective tissues that would normally give you a tough piece of meat. The braising process transforms this cut into a fall-off-the-bone-tender, succulent meat.

Partway through, I added in the veal stock. And may I just say my house is smelling amazing right now.

Some osso buco recipes call for gremolata and others don't. Since I like gremolata, I'm including it.

Very simple ingredients: rosemary parsley lemon zest garlic

I minced the garlic, rosemary, and parsley and micro-zested the peel of a whole lemon.

I decided to add in a bit of crushed red pepper.

And a bit of olive oil. Most classic osso buco recipes call for Risotto Milanese as an accompaniment. However, I have an acorn squash on hand and I'm going with that.

I halved my squash since there are only two of us here and saved the other half for another day.

I cleaned the seeds out, put the squash in a dish with water halfway up, and organized my stuffing ingredients: (From bottom left, clockwise.) orange pineapple brown sugar coconut orange blossom honey pecans butter

First I halved the orange, sectioned one half, placing the sections in the squash, and juicing the other half.

Next pineapple goes in the hole.

A little brown sugar.

Pecans make everything better.

Coconut next.

Dang, I almost forgot the raisins.

Orange blossom honey gets drizzled over top.

And finally buttah. 'Cause buttah makes everything better. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour, or until tender. I put the acorn squash in after the veal had been in for an hour, so both were ready at the same time. And WALLAH!

Sweet, fruity, nutty, buttery, crunchy delicious acorn squash. This could only be improved by adding vanilla ice cream.

Tender, aromatic osso buco.

This is so tender, the bone pulls right out. Take a wooden spoon handle and push the marrow out of the bone and onto the plate.

And here's dinner.

I know this looks monochromatic because ... well ... it is. But part of the problem is indoor lighting. Nothing beats natural lighting.

Note to self: For crying out loud, buy some plain WHITE PLATES. This dish would have looked so much better on a white background. But, back to the food. The squash was excellent and the veal extremely tender and flavorful. This is a very nice dish to serve on a cool fall night, except the temperature went back up to the mid 70's yesterday afternoon after raining all day and it was so hot and humid in the house I had to turn on the AC.

Savory marrow.

Shoot. Almost forgot the gremolata. It certainly needed a little greenery.

Bottom line. A delicious meal. However, at $9.99/lb for veal shanks, that's too steep for me. I think I could have settled for a much cheaper cut, say a veal chuck, and gotten the same results for a lot less.