Comfort Food: Osso Buco with Risotto Milanese
Every year we host around 12 guests for a Christmas Eve-eve (that would be December 23) family dinner. The first couple of years, I did a big ol' stuffed porchetta roast, until one year I couldn't get the crackling right. Wails of "CRACKLE, DAMN YOU" drowned out the happy tinkle of jingle bells, but nothing could get that skin to go crispy. I think there was a technical trussing error (TTE). I took being denied that sweet crunchy treat as a sign: time to move on. In the years that followed, I had fun making a variety of dishes, like braised beef short ribs from my all-time favourite home-cooking-blogger-turned-author Smitten Kitchen, and another year it was duck ragu on homemade pici pasta high-quality, store-bought, fresh pappardelle. I had Christmas errands to run, people.
This year I was determined to serve another original, delicious, prepared-in-advance-so-I-can-have-a-glass-of-bubbly-and-sit-down-for-once-dammit meal. Because I believe in thorough preparation, I decided to test-drive a recipe or two in advance. We can talk about the prime rib and beef Wellington another day. Today let's talk about Osso Buco with Risotto Milanese. I followed the recipe from Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food to the letter (this is weird for me; I usually go rogue). It's a lengthy process but can almost entirely be done the day prior, which is amazing (more bubbly! more sitting!).
Unfortunately the hubs turned up his nose at the sinewy, un-steaky nature of a veal shank. "But hubs!" I cried. "It's classical Italian cooking! With quinto quarto!" He was unmoved.
And bizarrely, it turns out that I, the person who always falls for the most expensive item on the menu (see: lobster, foie gras), do not really care for saffron. AKA the planet's most pricey ingredient by weight. Go figure.
In the end, I made another Comfort Food recipe - Crispy Duck Lasagne - the day prior to the party, and enjoyed a great deal of sipping bubbly and sitting. *fist pump*
This year I was determined to serve another original, delicious, prepared-in-advance-so-I-can-have-a-glass-of-bubbly-and-sit-down-for-once-dammit meal. Because I believe in thorough preparation, I decided to test-drive a recipe or two in advance. We can talk about the prime rib and beef Wellington another day. Today let's talk about Osso Buco with Risotto Milanese. I followed the recipe from Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food to the letter (this is weird for me; I usually go rogue). It's a lengthy process but can almost entirely be done the day prior, which is amazing (more bubbly! more sitting!).
Unfortunately the hubs turned up his nose at the sinewy, un-steaky nature of a veal shank. "But hubs!" I cried. "It's classical Italian cooking! With quinto quarto!" He was unmoved.
And bizarrely, it turns out that I, the person who always falls for the most expensive item on the menu (see: lobster, foie gras), do not really care for saffron. AKA the planet's most pricey ingredient by weight. Go figure.
In the end, I made another Comfort Food recipe - Crispy Duck Lasagne - the day prior to the party, and enjoyed a great deal of sipping bubbly and sitting. *fist pump*
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