Posted by Loulou on Oct 12, 2015 | 6 comments

No, I did not tear the throat out of a tyrannosaurus…

Well, there were some people coming for lunch the other day and I thought I would just whip up a little ossobuco for the crowd and mama said she would help. I know I have mentioned this succulent  veal dish before in other blogs, but I think it’s time for the recipe, which, by the way, will do very well with chunks of beef or lamb or pork, so you don’t have to use veal shanks, but, of course, what’s good about this dish is the marrow in the bone!

So get yourself six nice cross-cuts of veal shank (or those other meats-no cross cuts for lamb shank, just nice chunks, because the marrow is pretty strong) and toss them in a bag with a cup of flour, a little salt and pepper and a teaspoon of sweet paprika.

Heat the oven to 325F/165C and in a large skillet, heat 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil and a spoon of butter. Put the floured meat in the skillet and sauté well on both sides until crispy, about 5 minutes total. Remove the meat to a casserole and in the pan put 4 cloves of garlic, chopped, and cook for a few seconds to take off the edge. Now pour 1/2 bottle of white wine in the skillet to de-glaze it and let that cook for a couple of minutes, then pour the whole shebang over the meat in the casserole. Add 4 cups of very rich beef or chicken broth, and the grated peel of a lemon. Cover and place in the oven for 1 1/2 hours, then turn off the oven and if you are serving it that day, leave the casserole there until you are ready to eat or for a few hours. If you are making this a day ahead, just place the casserole in the fridge and take it out on the day you are serving it. Heat in a moderate oven for 30 minutes before serving.

For the risotto alla milanese:

I love this rice because it has such a nice color. In a large, deep pan for the stove, heat 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. Add a medium sweet onion, chopped fine, and 2 cups of Arborio or round-grain rice and cook everything together for a few minutes until the rice is coated and sealed. Add a generous pinch of salt.

Add 2 cups of white wine and a generous pinch of saffron or saffron threads, and stir until it is absorbed.

Add 4-5 cups of chicken broth, one cup at a time, making sure the liquid is absorbed and then add the next cup. I just stare off into space while I am doing this and it goes pretty fast.

Take a taste of the rice to see if it is al dente, “at the tooth” or nice to bite without any sense of a raw grain of rice under your teeth.

Halfway cooked, still a bit too raw

Just before serving, mama advised me to add a small carton of whole plain yogurt, or a dash of heavy cream, or a spoon of butter—take your pick. Or cream and butter, or yogurt and butter, or none of the above. Just play with it.

Serve the rice alongside the osso buco with its nice juice.

Chop fresh lemon rind, a small garlic clove, and a few sprigs of parsley very fine (NOT FINELY!!!) and sprinkle over the top before serving.

Now if you think I’m not getting any of that meat cut up in little pieces in my food dish, you’ve got another think coming!

Man, that was soooooo good–I’ll just have to sleep it off.

NOTE: This is ossobuco in bianco, so NO tomatoes are used. It is my favourite and the classic osso buco, but mama says that if you want a couple of spoons of tomato sauce in the juice, no worries, mate.