Osso Buco: suggestions, tips, tricks?

I'm making osso buco this weekend for some guests. I've done it before, and it's always pretty good. The recipe or basic structure I use is not unlike what you could google from Mario Batali, Biba Caggiano, Giada, or a few of my Italian language recipes.

I have two questions: first, what do the members of the forum believe to be good recipes, or nice touches to osso buco, and why?; second, does anyone have any experience or advice regarding an idea to make the braising liquid like a classic ragu Bolognese (i.e., with butter and oil to brown, then adding milk, and a bit of nutmeg, all other things being equal)?

All comments or denunciations will be appreciated.

Cheers,

Jack

Just saw someone braise with milk the other night; that was a first for me. Will not give you the 'right' sauce for the osso buco though, so I'm not sure I would use that technique for this particular dish.

Little tweaks include your selection of stock and wine; we usually use beef stock we have made ourselves, but balance that with wine that is too cheap. Boil/ reduce the sauce for a while once the shanks are done and removed from the pot. Gremolata is mandatory.

Jack, the single most important way to improve the flavor of any braise is to cook and chill it before your going to serve it. Will also allow you to remove any rendered fat that will have solidified.

Mucho Bocho said:

Jack, the single most important way to improve the flavor of any braise is to cook and chill it before your going to serve it. Will also allow you to remove any rendered fat that will have solidified.

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this. pull the fat off. i've put all the cooked veggie chunks in a pot with the braising liquid and blended it before. it comes out nice. perfect texture and stuff. then just add a new batch of veggies for the final product. i bake those separately. usually keep it simple with mushrooms and pearl onions..then some peas.

i like to add a small bit of cinnamon to my osso bucco..just a tiny bit to make it something unusual tasting but not obvious.

i love braises..easiest rules to break in the kitchen involve the braise (for me)

I've seen so many variations on ossu buco, you need to follow your instincts and experiment with it. I learned from a old Italian woman and experimented over the years.
I've had variations done with red , white, and marsala wines. Braised in stock with tomato paste, marinara sauce, chicken stock with tomato concasse and a fine diced mirepoix. Of all the versions, the one the old italian lady taught me when i was 13 and working my first restaurant job has stuck with me. Sear shanks, remove, add mirepoix, sweat,add garlic, porcini, shitake and crimini mushrooms, deglaze with red wine add brown stock and half plum tomtaoes crushed by hand.
I learned the Gremolada later on, it's a taste preference.
I like this wersion because of the earthiness of the mushrooms, it just seems right with a nice slow braise like osso buuco...........just my 2 cents:hungry:

boomchakabowwow said:

this. pull the fat off. i've put all the cooked veggie chunks in a pot with the braising liquid and blended it before. it comes out nice. perfect texture and stuff. then just add a new batch of veggies for the final product. i bake those separately. usually keep it simple with mushrooms and pearl onions..then some peas.

i like to add a small bit of cinnamon to my osso bucco..just a tiny bit to make it something unusual tasting but not obvious.

i love braises..easiest rules to break in the kitchen involve the braise (for me)

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Yes, chilling to remove the fat is a must for me too. Love a variety of mushrooms in mine also. Making this for NYE. I will serve mine on grits cooked with 1/2 chicken stock and 1/2 water with a couple TBS of butter. If I don't care about the calories I substitute whole milk for the water.

Bill13 said:

Yes, chilling to remove the fat is a must for me too. Love a variety of mushrooms in mine also. Making this for NYE. I will serve mine on grits cooked with 1/2 chicken stock and 1/2 water with a couple TBS of butter. If I don't care about the calories I substitute whole milk for the water.

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wow!! what time? i'll bring a dessert!

(i'm gonna copy your menu for NYE..grits..love it)

I can't thank you enough about the fat chilling technique. Once done, do you just bring it back to heat slowly? Any wisdom there?

Cheers,

Jack

I heat it back up on the stove set to medium.

jackslimpson said:

I can't thank you enough about the fat chilling technique. Once done, do you just bring it back to heat slowly? Any wisdom there?

Cheers,

Jack

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I'd pop it in a 300 degree oven coveted with a parchment lid. Will reduce slowly and retherm evenly.

After you have re-heated the shanks, sear them very hard to get a nice crust, you can even butter baste with some crushed garlic/herbs if you do it very quickly and your shanks are large enough. I have always done this with boneless short rib, looks like steak falls apart like a braise.

houston, we have a problem.

i just did this last night. chilling for tomorrow. separated the braising liquid from the meat. the "juice" i put into a taller narrow container. the fat didnt separate. it looks like a chilled emulsion. the meat is fine.

i'm gonna roast some mushrooms and pearl onions and mix it all together right before the eatin..

Maybe your meat was leaner than you thought. Fat always rises to the top unless it was emulsified to bind it with other stuff.

Well, here's what I did. I did not have time to chill the lot and pluck out the congealed fat, so I just took the meat out of the pot when it was about done, put the sauce back on the heat and skimmed as much as I could, as I would a stock. This helped me reduce the sauce as well. Put the meat back in to finish and served hot. All in all, it was good. I even got two boys, 11 and 13 to eat it, despite their obvious trepidation. Everyone loved it. I have to say myself that it was really good. I think concentrating on fat removal improved it over the last two times I made it. Something I didn't mention that i do frequently, and did this time, was to throw some saffron in the sauce. It helps with the right hue of the sauce, and gives the faintest perfume. I'm glad I avoided the milk-butter-bolognese approach. It just didn't need it. The success was in large part due to scoring excellent shanks from my butcher. He really nailed it. I felt like I could do no wrong. Still, I appreciate the guidance, and will plan next time to make time to chill and remove the fat.

Cheers,

Jack

Jack, sometimes I'll include saffron too. If you really want to boost the umami, add a small spoon of turmeric it goes amazing with tomato based sauces.