osso buco

Last week my friend and her boyfriend (now fiancé!) came to visit me all the way out here in chocolate town so I could meet this lucky guy! I decided to pull one of Ina's fancy pants recipes from the book to make for them. I decided on osso buco. Was I nervous? Yes. I've never cooked a shank of anything, let alone veal shanks! In preparation for the big meal, I went to several different stores with no luck. I thought maybe veal shanks didn't exist until I met a nice butcher who saw a puzzled look of concern on my face and strolled my way. I told him about my hunt and he says "Oh, are you making osso buco?" How did he know?! He found some veal shanks frozen in the back and cut them right in front of my face in whatever size I wanted. It was gross sounding so I walked away. Also another note to self; next time you make veal shanks, work overtime in order to pay for them! No wonder they weren't sitting out on the shelf at any of the stores.

This meal takes a decent amount of preparation and then it has to bake for 1 3/4 - 2 hours so I woke early the morning of the meal to dice all my veggies! Leaks, celery, carrots, onion... yum! Two others also adorned the dinner table, boyfriend and one of my besties. She so graciously patted the veal dry after soaking as I browned the other half in the pan. I accidentally burned some oil in the bottom of the stock pot and basically smoked everyone out of the house. Oops. After all the browning and prep, I let those little guys simmer in Chardonnay and chicken broth until the smell was absolutely mesmerizing! Then into the oven the whole stock pot went for 1 3/4 hours. Oh the suspense. When I pulled it out, everyone gathered because the smell was so wonderfully overpowering! I wanted to stick my head right in and take a bite! Friend's fiancé mashed potatoes and the five of us sat down to a meal made from team effort and an adventurous spirit. Bestie even tried the bone marrow! Don't worry... I recorded it!

I would highly recommend this recipe. The veal was so tender it literally fell off the bone and the vegetables simmering in the Chardonnay and broth were magnificent. If I make this meal again, I may try another kind of shank to save a little on the expense of the meal. Also, I've really become accustomed to cooking with leeks and lemon zest now. I had never used either before starting this book and they are in every other recipe. I can tell Ina loves those ingredients!

So, one of my favorite things about cooking through this cook book? The people who gather.