Osso Buco Night

I tend to shop the sales when it comes to meats and today I was lucky enough to come across veal shanks on special. It's delicious and super easy -- really hard to go wrong with it. On the Sunday menu tonight is osso buco, risotto milanese and sauteed zucchini.

My osso buco recipe is a compilation of different recipes I've used over the years -- adjusted to serve two.

Ingredients for Osso Buco

• 2 pieces veal shank (approx ¾ lb each)
• ½ medium onion, diced
• ½ carrot, diced
• ½ stalk celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic diced
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced – if not in season, use canned, preferably San Marzano
• 1/3 cup white wine or fortified wine
• 1 cup stock
• 1 bay leaf
• Flour for dusting veal shank
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Salt and pepper veal shanks, lightly dust with flour and sear over medium high heat until browned, about 3 minutes each side.
3. Remove shanks and add onion, carrots and celery to pan and sautee 5 to 7 minutes until softened and beginning to color.
4. Add garlic, stir for a minute then add tomatoes, continue cooking another 2 minutes. Add wine and simmer for another 2 minutes. Add stock and bay leaf.
5. Return veal shanks to pan (if oven safe) or transfer to oven-safe baking dish. Liquid should come up to about ½ way up the side of the meat, add more stock if necessary.
6. Bake covered in 375 oven for 1-1/2 hours.

Here are the veal shanks, salted, peppered and lightly floured.

Veal Shanks Before Cooking

Next the vegetables are sauteed.

Sauteed Vegetables for Osso Buco

Finally everything comes together. Since I didn't have a small oven safe pan, I transferred everything to a Pyrex.

Osso Buco about to go into Oven

And here's the final dish, served with risotto milanese (Anne Burrell's recipe is easy and excellent). The osso buco is topped with a simple gremolata of grated lemon rind, parsley and chopped toasted pine nuts.

Osso Buco, Risotto Milanese and Sauteed Zucchini

Recipes:

• Risotto Milanese from Food Network

Bread and Brisket

I finally broke down and bought a standing mixer. I've never had any luck with bread and everything I've been reading is telling me that my lazy kneading technique is to blame. So I caved (with a 20% Bed Bath & Beyond coupon as the enabler) -- but I'm pretty sure I'll never make enough bread to justify the cost of the KitchenAid, but I can dream.

So ta da - here is the bread! I went simple, Googled "foolproof bread recipe" and came across this recipe for Amish White Bread. It was definitely easier with the mixer and while not perfect, it definitely beats my previous attempts at bread baking.

With the other half of the brisket left over from last weekend's BBQ brisket recipe, I defrosted and searched for a recipe for braised brisket (aka pot roast). This recipe from Cooks Illustrated that I found on a discussion board sounded perfect. After it was cooked through (to 190 degrees), I let it rest for an hour, sliced it, and then put it back in the defatted gravy to heat through in the oven until dinner time.  Perfectly moist, very tender and tremendously yummy.

Finally, it was time to break in the mixer for dessert. I love chocolate mousse and since it had plenty of whipping involved, it gave me another reason to justify the purchase. I looked through a number of recipes and landed on this one from Tyler Florence since I got to whip the cream and egg whites (a few recipes omit egg whites -- don't know about you, but I always hate those recipes that use either the yolk or the white. Do I throw the other part away? Do I put it in a container, forget about it, and throw it away later?

And of course someone else out there has thought this through. Here is a link to ideas for leftover egg yolks (conveniently categorized by number of yolks). The ideas for leftover egg whites tend to revolve around baked goods like meringue, macaroons, angel food cake. Here are a few ideas here.

Recipes:

• Amish White Bread
• Cook's Illustrated Onion Braised Brisket (scroll on the discussion board)
• Tyler Florence's Chocolate Mousse
• Ideas for Leftover Egg Yolks
• Ideas for Leftover Egg Whites

Easy Baking: The Easiest Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

I'm not good at baking. I don't have the patience and I like to improvise with recipes -- personality traits that do not suit creating baked goods.

That said, it's a snowy day and I thought I'd give this baking thing another shot. Let me just say, this one-bowl chocolate cupcakes recipe rocks! It is dead simple, doesn't have a ton of sugar or oil and is absolutely delicious. I used a half recipe which makes 24 mini cupcakes.

And no I didn't make my own frosting - it's from the can, thinned with a little warm water and piped through a makeshift piping bag using a sandwich bag.

Recipes:

• Martha Stewart's One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcake

Smoked Brisket (thanks Myron Mixon!)

A few months back, I was fortunate enough to take a weekend class with Myron Mixon - the "winningest man in BBQ" and a regular on pretty much any show about bbq that you'll come across. The class was life-changing, because for the first time ever, I understood the fuss about brisket. His brisket was juicy, smoky, tender -- honestly, just having a taste of what brisket should be was worth taking the class alone.

The problem with brisket is that it doesn't scale down very well. But it's a long weekend and I was feeling ambitious. On the menu this Sunday was a green salad with pamesan tuiles and garlic bread crumbs, smoked brisket and ribs, Myron's very awesome potato salad, and chocolate meringue cookies (nope, not a Myron recipe).

The salad was simple - oil and vinegar. Made it fancy with parmesan tuiles (top left of bowl) - simply taking a spoonful of parmesan and frying it up. Fancified it even more by draping the cooked and still hot cheese across a spoon handle to make it curly. Here's a straight forward recipe of how to make tuiles here. It was also topped with panko crumbs sauteed with minced garlic.



Here are the smoked meats. In the front are smoked ribs that I cooked alongside the brisket (in the back of the picture). I'm not a competition cook so I definitely don't work as hard at precision as others, but I do what I can to draw within the lines when it comes to the basic techniques. Here is Myron's recipe for brisket - which is very close to what he showed us during the class. The key is in the injection which keeps the meat moist during a fast cook. I made a version of the injection with a couple spoons of "better than boullion" beef base dissolved in water -  it needs to be salty, taste it and if it's just a hair over palatable in terms of saltiness, you're good.

In a future post, I'll do a detailed recipe and pics on ribs and a few tips for making tasty bbq without all the hassle. Note the beautiful smoke ring on the ribs - see, I don't skimp too much.

The verdict on the brisket was that while it was moist, it could have benefitted from more smoke - will try smoking it out of the pan and waiting a bit longer until wrapping in foil (I wrapped at 160 today and kept it on until 195). As evidence, it definitely didn't have the requisite smoke ring (part of the reason I hid the slices behind the ribs). But compared to my past attempts at smoking brisket, this wasn't entirely disappointing but it was nowhere near Myron's masterpiece. The final douse of reheated, degreased juices definitely helped a lot.

To accompany the meat, there was a potato salad. During his class, he served an amazing potato salad. This recipe is close but not exact. The salad he served didn't have eggs and it tasted like it was a little heavier on sour cream. But the recipe is close enough and solidly yummy.

Finally, a very un-Myron recipe -- meringue cookies! I had some egg white left over from a molten chocolate cake recipe and what better than meringue. This is a great recipe that I slightly augmented based on comments to reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup, also whirled the sugar in the food processor prior to adding to simulate superfine sugar. Since the food processor was out, I also chopped up the chocolate chips a bit so they blended in better. I also winded up baking it to a full hour to get the crispness I wanted.

And another Sunday done and eaten.

Southern BBQ and Texas Grilling Meets Brooklyn Deli

We had a friend over and her request was for steak and potatoes, but she wanted to keep it healthy (with the new year and all). Tough one, but I had an idea -- soup! Starting dinner with soup helps fill the tummy without adding a lot of calories. I had a chicken stock going today so I decided to do a simple matzo ball soup.

I've tried making matzo ball soup from scratch I don't know how many times, but now I know better. Go with the box mix. They rock! I used Streits tonight but Manichewitz or any other will do. Make sure you get the matzo ball mix package and not the matzo ball soup mix (they look very similar). I llike to cook my matzo balls separately in lightly salted water (warning: the mixes are heavily salted, so go easy on the additional salt). Another tip is to replace the oil in the recipe with rendered chicken fat -- heavenly. In the finished stock I simmer diced carrots and fine egg noodles for about 10 minutes then add a pinch of dill and the cooked matzo balls to heat through. This is how my favorite deli serves it and the combination is perfection.

BBQ chicken was one of the main meats. I use an America's Test Kitchen recipe for the dry rub. Then I cook over an indirect heat for about 45 minutes then finish off on direct heat for a minute or two on each side to crisp up the skin. It doesn't even need sauce and very good the day after, even cold.

 As a side, simple offset cut zuchinni sauteed in butter and minced garlic and finished with a splash of soy sauce mixed with a small amount of sugar and sesame oil.

 Finally, there was more meat. NY strip tonight, sprinkled with a simple spice mix of salt, pepper, chili powder, onion powder and coriander. It's the copycat Monterey Steak Seasoning recipe from food.com. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then slice and serve - by this time, no one will be able to down a whole steak.

Fancy Dinner: Beef Wellington

In the spirit of the holidays, I wanted to do something out of the norm. And nothing says fancy like tedious, time-consuming French cooking. I was watching a Gordon Ramsey Christmas special a few weeks back where he prepared a Beef Wellington and it didn't look too hard so I gave it a shot.

Apparently, Beef Wellington itself is not technically French but given the work involved it may as well be. The menu tonight was:

• Hearts of palm salad
• Beef Wellington
• Madeira sauce
• Roasted tomatoes
• Whipped potatoes

Here is the hearts of palm salad. It's butter lettuce, sliced hearts of palm, tomatoes, mozarella, and boiled eggs. The dressing is a variation of my standard dressing:

• Half a clove of garlic, minced and microved for 15 seconds along with a tblspn of oil
• 1 teaspoon dijoin mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (or any vinegar of your choice)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise for creaminess
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

Hearts of Palm Salad

Here is the Beef Wellington. Since there was only a few of us, I reduced the recipe significantly to serve 4. Here is the Gordon Ramsay recipe from BBC. There's also a similar (non-metric) recipe from The Food Network. A helpful hint is to use an instant read thermometer to get the meat to your desired doneness - remove from oven at 120 degrees for rare, 125 for medium and 130 for well.

The sauce is a reduction of:

• 1/2 cup Madeira
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/4 cup minced onions or shallots
• 2 sprigs of thyme

Then add:

• 3 tablespoon prepared demi-glace thinned with 3/4 cup water (or use 3/4 cup beef stock)
• Salt and pepper to taste

After simmering for 10 minutes, add 1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 2 teaspoons water to thicken.

Beef Wellington with Madeira Sauce

Roasted tomatoes were an easy side. Placed in the oven with about 15 minutes to go on the tenderloin. The toping is a mixture of equal parts bread crumbs and parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and olive oil to moisten.

Roasted Tomatoes

The final dish - piped whipped potatoes is in the back drop. The piping was pretty simple - toss the finished potatoes into a pastry bag and have fun. Maybe it's me, but rounded piped shaped potatoes never look terribly appetizing so I tend to go with a "braid" shape down the center of the plate.

Recipe for the potatoes is from Cooks Country. I halved the original recipe:

• 2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2 inch cubes, rinsed under water. Place into steamer basket and steam for 20 minutes
• Drain the potatoes, return to pot and put over low heat for 3 minutes to remove any moisture.
• Heat 3/4 cup milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 3 tablespoon butter separately
• Use standing or hand-held mixer on low to break up potatoes. Add milk and butter mixture and continue mixing on low until incorporated.
• Turn speed up to high and whip potatoes for another 3 to 5 minutes.
• Taste and adjust for salt and pepper as needed.

For dessert, I attempted pots de creme -- let's just say they weren't quite picture worthy but very tasty in that melted ice cream sort of way (note to self: don't improvise on baked goods recipe in the future... ummm, right)

Happy New Year!