Ricardos Osso Buco Food

OSSO BUCO MILANESE

Steps:

• In a large shallow platter, season flour with salt and pepper. Dredge the veal shanks in the mixture and tap off any excess. In a large heavy skillet or Dutch oven, over medium flame, heat the oil and butter. Sear the shanks on all sides, turn bones on sides to hold in marrow. Add more oil and butter if needed. Remove the browned veal shanks and set aside.
• Add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves and parsley to the pan and cook until softened. Season with salt and pepper. Raise the heat to high, add the wine and deglaze the pan. Return the shanks to the pan, add the stock and tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for about 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender. Baste the meat a few times during cooking. Remove the cover, continue to simmer for 10 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit.
• For gremolata: combine all ingredients together in a small bowl. Strew the gremolata over the osso buco before serving. Serve osso buco with Saffron Risotto.
• In a saucepan, bring chicken broth to a simmer. Keep warm over low heat.
• In a large saute pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add oil and rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat each grain. When rice begins to make a crackling sound, add saffron threads. Add 1 cup of the warm chicken broth and cook, stirring, until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Add the remaining broth, 1 cup at a time. Continue to stir, allowing the rice to absorb each addition of broth before adding more. Test the rice for doneness, it should be al dente but creamy. Remove risotto from heat, add grated cheese, salt and pepper. Serve at once with Osso Buco Milanese.
• Yield: 4 servings

OSSO BUCO

Steps:

• Place the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and cloves into cheesecloth and secure with twine. This will be your bouquet garni.
• For the veal shanks, pat dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Veal shanks will brown better when they are dry. Secure the meat to the bone with the kitchen twine. Season each shank with salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge the shanks in flour, shaking off excess.
• In a large Dutch oven pot, heat vegetable oil until smoking. Add tied veal shanks to the hot pan and brown all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove browned shanks and reserve.
• In the same pot, add the onion, carrot and celery. Season with salt at this point to help draw out the moisture from the vegetables. Saute until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Return browned shanks to the pan and add the white wine and reduce liquid by half, about 5 minutes. Add the bouquet garni and 2 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Check every 15 minutes, turning shanks and adding more chicken stock as necessary. The level of cooking liquid should always be about 3/4 the way up the shank.
• Carefully remove the cooked shanks from the pot and place in decorative serving platter. Cut off the kitchen twine and discard.
• Remove and discard bouquet garni from the pot.
• Pour all the juices and sauce from the pot over the shanks. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon zest.

OSSO BUCO WITH RISOTTO MILANESE

Steps:

• For the osso buco: Sprinkle the veal with salt and pepper and heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Spread some flour on a plate, then dredge the veal in the flour on all sides and add to the oil. Brown well on both sides, 2 minutes a side. Remove to a plate.
• Add the onion, carrot and celery to the pot and cook, stirring, until the onion wilts, about 4 minutes. Stir in the rosemary and thyme. Add the white wine, increase the heat and boil until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, broth and bay leaves. Reduce the heat so that the liquid is simmering gently, and nestle in the veal. Add water, if necessary, to come three-quarters of the way up the sides of the meat. Cover and cook until the veal is tender and a paring knife inserted in the meat slides out easily (insert the knife in several pieces to make sure all are done), 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove the veal to a plate.
• Strain the sauce into a fat separator, pressing on the solids. Wipe out the Dutch oven. Pour the defatted sauce back into the Dutch oven and reduce over high heat until thickened and the sauce just coats the back of a spoon. Cut the strings on the osso buco and return the meat to the sauce. Remove from the heat, cover and keep warm while you make the risotto.
• For the risotto Milanese: Combine the broth and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer and add the saffron, then turn the heat very low to just keep warm. Heat a medium Dutch oven over medium heat, then add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt and several grinds of black pepper; cook until softened but not browned, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add the rice and cook, stirring, to coat the grains in the oil, about 2 minutes. Add the white wine, bring to a simmer and cook until absorbed, about 2 minutes. Add enough of the hot broth to just cover the rice. Simmer, stirring occasionally until almost totally absorbed. Continue to add broth and stir until the rice is creamy and al dente, about 18 minutes from the first addition. (The risotto will be a bit soupy at this point.)
• Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and Parmesan until melted and creamy. Season with salt and pepper.
• For the gremolata: Combine the parsley, garlic and lemon zest in a small bowl.
• Spoon the risotto into 4 shallow wide bowls. Top each serving with a piece of osso buco and spoon the sauce over the top. Sprinkle with the gremolata.

TRADITIONAL OSSO BUCO

Steps:

• Dust the veal shanks lightly with flour. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the veal, and cook until browned on the outside. Remove to a bowl, and keep warm. Add two cloves of crushed garlic and onion to the skillet; cook and stir until onion is tender. Return the veal to the pan and mix in the carrot and wine. Simmer for 10 minutes.
• Pour in the tomatoes and beef stock, and season with salt and pepper. Cover, and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 hours, basting the veal every 15 minutes or so. The meat should be tender, but not falling off the bone.
• In a small bowl, mix together the parsley, 1 clove of garlic and lemon zest. Sprinkle the gremolata over the veal just before serving.

OSSOBUCCO

Steps:

• Soak the porcini for at least 15 minutes in 200ml/7fl oz boiling water. Don't remove the membrane that holds the veal together, but trim off any obviously fatty or lumpy bits. Dust both sides of the meat with the seasoned flour.
• Heat the butter and oil in a very large flameproof sauté pan or casserole over a medium-high heat. When the sizzling stops, put in the veal and fry the slices for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Transfer the meat to a plate.
• Replace the pan over a low to medium heat and tip in the carrot and celery. Gently fry for 5 minutes until the vegetables have slightly softened, then raise the heat and pour in the wine. Bubble the wine furiously for 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.
• Fish the softened porcini out of the soaking liquid, squeeze out the excess moisture and reserve it. Chop the porcini roughly and add to the sauté pan, together with the soaking liquid. Add the sugocasa or passata and stock, then stir.
• Put the veal back into the pan in a single layer, cover and bring to the boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer very gently for 2 hours, turning the veal slices halfway, until the meat is very soft. The liquid should reduce to a thickish sauce, but if it's still thin after 1¼ -1½ hours, half remove the lid to allow evaporation. Serve with the grain 'risotto' (see link, right).

CROCK POT OSSO BUCO

Steps:

• Add first 10 ingredients to your crock pot and set on low for 6- 8 hours.
• In a large skillet add oil and put over a medium high heat. In the mean time season the ox tail well with salt and pepper then dust well in seasoned flour. Add the veal shanks to the skillet and brown on all sides (about 3-4 minutes per side). Remove the shanks from the skillet and place directly into your crock pot. Lid it up and let it do its thing.
• When finished serve over white rice and enjoy.

RICARDO'S OSSO BUCO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
• Dust the veal slices with flour. In a large pot, brown the meat on both sides in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate. In the same pot, soften the onions. Add more oil as needed. Deglaze with the white wine. Add the meat and remaining ingredients. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
• Bring to a boil, cover and transfer to the oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Reduce the oven to 325°F (165 °C) and bake for 1 hour. Adjust the seasoning.
• Gremolata.
• In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Spread over the meat. Serve with orzo and zucchini ribbons, if desired.