Osso Bucco

Jane Lawson's Snowflakes and Schnapps is the second cookbook Mr J bought for me. The first one being Rick Stein's Mediterranean's Escape which I have mentioned in this post.

After the massive success with the Oliebollen recipe, I naturally asked him to pick another recipe from this cookbook for dinner. Osso Bucco was his choice.

When I took a glance on Jane's Osso Bucco recipe, my first reaction was there is no tomatoes in it. I was instantly hooked to it because I have been looking for a more traditional Osso Bucco recipe which is supposed to be cooked without the use of tomatoes.

Osso Bucco an Italian dish originated from the city of Milan. It's a braised veal shanks dish that is traditionally served with saffron risotto and sprinkled with gremolata, a mix of parsley, garlic and lemon peel.

I love the subtle use of the lemon peel and nutmeg and the slow cooking process that produced a moist, flavourful pot of Osso Bucco. It's slightly more citrusy than I had expected nonetheless it's a faultless dish that enjoyed by all of us.

Osso Bucco Recipe
(Adapted from Jane Lawson's Snowflakes and Schnapps Cookbook)

Ingredients

4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 large celery stalk, finely diced
1 bay leaf
12 x 3 cm (1 1/4 inch) thick pieces of veal shank (veal osso bucco), about 1.8 - 2kg (4 - 4 lb 8 oz)
(I use 4 x thick pieces of beef shank / beef osso bucco)
Seasoned plain (all purpose) flour, for coating
250 ml (9 fl oz / 1 cup) white wine
60 ml (2 fl oz / 1/4 cup) freshly squeeze lemon juice
1 large strip lemon rind, white pith removed
500 ml (17 fl oz / 2 cups) veal or chicken stock
1 large thyme sprig, leaves finely chopped
1/4 tsp finely grated nutmeg

Method

1. Heat half of the oil and half of the butter over medium heat in a deep, flameproof casserole dish with a lid. Add the onion, carrotm celery and bay leaf and cook, for 15-20 minutes, stirring often, until lightly golden. Remove the vegetables from the dish and set aside.
2. Lightly coat the veal pieces in the seasoned flour. Add a little more oil and the remaining butter to the dish. Working in batches, brown the veal places well on each side, adding a little more oil if needed. Remove from the dish and set aside.
3. Add the wine, lemon juice and zest, stock, thyme and nutmeg to the dish, scraping up any cooked-on bits with a wooden spoon, Return the veal pieces to the dish along with the vegetables and stir well to combine. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid and cook for a further 30-45 minutes, or until the veal is very tender but not quite falling off the bone. Discard the lemon zest. Carefully remove the meat from the dish, cover, and keep warm. Increase the heat and cook the sauce for a further 15 minutes, or until thickened. Return the meat to the dish and carefully turn to coat in the sauce. Season to taste.

Note: I didn't make the Saffron Risotto and Gremolata to accompany this Osso Bucco because being a weeknight dinner, I simply paired it with steamed rice and a plate of greens.

I used beef instead of veal because my local butcher ran out of fresh veal shank on the day I decided to cook this dish for dinner and I didn't have enough time to defrost the frozen veal shank.