The water’s cooling down, the sky is a little grey-ish. It feels colder than it is and really, there are still a few degrees to go before water creeping down the spine of your wetsuit as you wade into the water is truly breathtaking. Or, all those good intentions to keep up the wet exit practice in the kayak, start to fade. But, wait. There is a solution. Two words…
Osso Buco
two more…
Mashed potato
Mmmm Mmmm. Made a couple of days before and ready to go when you get home, here is how you do it. Courtesy of Susan Tomnay, in The Age, at least 25 years ago. Get veal if you can, Preston Market is the go for dwellers in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
Here we go….
4 tbspns butter (no that’s not a typo)
2 large onions, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
6-8 pieces of meaty veal shanks cut into 5 cm slices
Salt and black pepper
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 1/4 cups dry white wine
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 tspn dried marjoram
750 g canned tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped parsley
3 bay leaves
Pre-heat oven to 180C
Saute onions, carrots, celery and garlic in the melted butter, until they are lightly browned.
Season the meat, dust with the flour and fry in the oil (in another fry pan), until browned all over.
Place meat side by side in a casserole dish, cover with the vegetables.
In the meat fry pan, add wine stock, herbs and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, reduce slightly then pour over the meat etc. It should come up about halfway up the side of the meat. Add more stock if necessary.
Bring to the boil on stove top, then put in the oven and cook for an hour and a half.
Serve meat with sauce over it, topped with gremolata (1 clove garlic, 3 tspns grated lemon peel, 3 tbspns chopped parsley mixed together).
This is supposed to be eaten with risotto. Go right ahead, but creamy mashed potato (e.g. Dutch creams mashed with full cream milk and butter) is pretty hard to beat.
Any sauce left over is also great with fettucine, for instant happiness.
Thank you Susan, wherever you are. I have had decades of deliciousness from this recipe.
