Osso Blueco

On Thursday I woke up so so down. Just one of those UGH days. A blue day. It happens. A lot. All the flotsam and jetsam of my life and in my head and on my PC threatens to drag me under. Most days I can paddle my way through the junk but man, sometimes the waves get too big and the junk gets too much. 

So on days like this, what's a coocoocook to do? Hey, here's an idea, maybe I'll cook! I know, shocker right?

Anyway, I hit on a doozy this time - Osso Buco con Risotto alla Milanese. What a glorious thing. Osso Buco is a veal shank stew and how I adore stews! I love to coddle it and pamper it and faff over it, knowing my efforts will be awarded when it succumbs to my charm and falls off the bone. Outside of culinary life my charm has no power - but put me in the kitchen - and I am Aphrodite.

As for Risotto Milanese, it's made with saffron and bone marrow. I LOVE that - the snotty saffron slumming it by getting into bed with the lowlife marrow. It's like Molly Ringwald kissing Judd Nelson in the Breakfast Club. (I was going to go with Divine Brown...uhm...kissing Hugh Grant in a Back Alley, but I'm assuming you want to eat after this.) It's Lady and the Tramp. It's Henry Higgins falling in love with Eliza Doolittle. It's the hope that love can be created between the basest of bone marrow and the splendour of saffron. And if Risotto alla Milanese says it can be... then there's hope for me yet.... 

You ask why I cook? This is why. I woke up blue. I woke up sad. I cooked. And I became Aphrodite. And I dreamt of a prince who will wear glasses thick enough that he will think I'm a princess. And I was happy. Because reality bites. Give me hope and fantasy any day. And my stove. Always my stove.

xx
J

OSSO BUCO MILANESE 

8 Thick pieces veal shank/shin (you can use beef if you have baby issues)
1 Onion chopped
2 Celery stalks chopped
1 Carrot chopped
3 Garlic cloves crushed
250ml Dry white wine
250ml Chicken stock
1 Tin chopped tomatoes
2T Parsley chopped
Zest of half a lemon
Bay leaf
Pinch allspice
Pinch cinnamon

Tie string around the pieces of veal to keep the meat together. (My nautical experience is limited so I tapped into my S&M skills.)

Melt 100ml butter with 60ml olive oil and 1 clove garlic. Coat the veal in flour and brown. Remove. Cook the onion, celery and carrot until soft. Add the veal and the wine and allow to reduce a bit. Add the tomatoes and stock, cover and simmer for 1.5 hours. Mix together 2 cloves garlic, the parsley and the lemon and sprinkle over the Osso Buco for the last 5 minutes of cooking.

RISOTTO ALLA MILANESE

3/4c Vermouth (or white wine if you don't have any)
Large pinch saffron
1.5l Chicken stock
100g Butter
75g Beef marrow
1 Onion chopped
1 Clove garlic crushed
360g Risotto
50g Parmesan

Put the saffron in the vermouth to soak. Bring the stock to a slow simmer and leave there for the duration. Melt the butter and the marrow, then add the onion and garlic until softened. Add the rice and stir to coat thoroughly. Add the vermouth and saffron and cook, stirring constantly, until all the liquid has evaporated. Add a ladle of stock and cook, stirring constantly, until all the liquid has evaporated. Repeat until the rice is al dente (you might not need all the stock). Do NOT speed up the process, risotto is a pain but it's worse if you screw it up. Stir in the parmesan and serve with the Osso Buco.