Osso Buco without Tomatoes

I love a cooking challenge. Whether it’s because a meal needs to be kosher or because someone is allergic to walnuts or doesn’t eat meat or hates potatoes, I am up for the task.

So, it was interesting for me to come up with this year’s new year’s menu when my cousins come. They will be houseguests for several days.

Our New Year’s eve day (which also includes my brother and sister-in-law) starts early and is all about hors d’oeuvres - groups of nibbles several hours apart. No actual “dinner.”

First up: almond crusted chicken nuggets, hot dog en croute, rumaki — maybe more.

Later: smoked salmon and avocado toasts, cheese gougeres, Romanian cheese turnovers, hummus.

and then dessert in the late evening. Probably Roasted Pears with Orange-Maple Sauce or Chocolate Pudding (in a pie crust). Or both.

There’s enough variety to assure everyone will be happy.

But in between days I need to consider food restrictions including: no tomatoes.

We all love Osso Buco, but classic recipes, including mine, are loaded with tomatoes. So I spent the last month making recipe after recipe — no tomatoes. All were absolutely delicious. I made versions with red wine or white, beef stock or chicken; some with a strip of lemon peel, some without, some with mushrooms.

This is the one I will be serving — note that I usually serve Osso Buco on top of mamaliga, but corn meal is also verboten, hence, the egg noodles.

Happy new year everyone.

Osso Buco (Sans tomatoes)

• 4 pieces veal shank

• 3-4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 6 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil, approximately

• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped

• 1-2 stalks celery, chopped

• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or rosemary

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 strip lemon peel, about 2-inches long

• 1 cup red wine

• 1 cup beef stock

Coat each piece of veal with some flour. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in an ovenproof saute pan or casserole over medium heat. Cook the coated veal shanks for 6-7 minutes, or until lightly browned on each side. Add 1-2 tablespoons more oil as needed to prevent sticking. Remove the shanks to a dish and set aside. Add 2 more tablespoons olive oil to the pan. Add the carrots, celery and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes, or until lightly softened. Add the garlic and mix it in. Return the shanks to the pan and spoon the vegetables on top. Sprinkle with the parsley, thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Add the lemon peel. Pour in the wine and stock. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Cover the pan. Remove the casserole to the oven. Set the temperature to 325 degrees. Cook for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until the meat is soft. Serve the shanks with the pan fluids and vegetables.

Makes 4 servings

Braised Chicken with Dates

When I think about comfort foods I’m no different than most people. I’ll go for Macaroni and Cheese, Mashed Potatoes and Chocolate Pudding just like the next guy.

But my list also includes Chicken Fricassee. My mother made Chicken Fricassee with chicken wings, gizzards and necks. She included potatoes and little meatballs, lots of onions and sometimes mushrooms. She loaded it up with paprika, covered it and cooked it slowly for hours until there was a rich, russet gravy and chicken soft-as-you-know-what. 

That was good.

When my mother was much older and not well, I would make some for her and bring it to her house in a kind of comforting culinary role reversal. She loved Chicken Fricassee too.

This dish was such a regular when I was a child that when I became a Mom and my kids were young, I made it too. 

They hated it. Made fun of it. Wouldn’t eat it.

I still don’t get it.

But, it wasn’t something I made because what’s the point? If your family doesn’t like something you don’t cook it for dinner.

I did however, continue to make braised chicken. Which is actually, for most purposes except the strictest definition, the same as fricassee. My daughters did eat many of the newer versions. And one day Gillian actually called me out on it and said she knew it was fricassee only with different spices and no meatballs.

This is one of the recipes that proved to be a big winner. Call it Braised Chicken with Dates if the word fricassee is not a word you want to use in your house.

Braised Chicken with Dates

• 1 cut up broiler-fryer chicken

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 large onion, sliced

• 1 large clove garlic, chopped

• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 12 whole dates, preferably medjool

Rinse and dry the chicken and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Cook the chicken a few pieces at a time until they are lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Remove the chicken to a dish and set aside. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger an cook briefly. Return the chicken to the pan and spoon the onions on top. Sprinkle with the cumin, cayenne and nutmeg. Pour in the chicken broth. Stir the liquid, cover the pan and turn the heat to low-medium. Cook for 15 minutes. Add the dates and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Makes 4 servings

Classic Osso Buco

Osso Buco

I’m teaching Osso Buco this afternoon which means my house smells really really good right now! This dish needs lots of time, so I cooked a batch beforehand for my students to eat and the stuff they make will be dinner for …. me and my husband, next week (this dish freezes very well!)!

Osso Buco

• 4 large or 8 small veal shanks, about 2-inches thick

• 1/4 cup flour

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped

• 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

• 1 strip lemon peel, about 1-1/2 inches long

• 1/2 cup dry white wine

• 1/2 cup veal or beef stock

• 2 large tomatoes, chopped OR 28-ounce can Italian tomatoes, drained and chopped

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

• freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh marjoram or oregano

• Gremolata, optional

Dredge the veal shanks in the flour. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the shanks and cook, turning them occasionally, for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the meat to a plate and set aside. Add the carrot, onion, celery and garlic to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the lemon peel, wine, stock, tomatoes and tomato paste to the pan. Bring the ingredients to a simmer. Return the meat to the pan and spoon the other ingredients on top. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the marjoram or oregano. Cover the pan, turn the heat to low and cook for about 2-1/2 hours or until the meat is very tender. Serve topped with Gremolata if desired. Makes 4 servings

Gremolata:

• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

• grated peel of one medium lemon

• 3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

Mix the parsley, lemon peel and garlic in a bowl.

Makes about 1/2 cup