Gastronomous

Osso bucco (or ossobucco) is Italian for veal shanks. These are delicious braised and served alla milanese which is  over saffron risotto . The blend of flavors will take you on a sensory  excursion straight to Milan! If you are weary of shanks, or can’t find them, try the recipe with short ribs, just make sure they are Make sure that the ribs are at least 4 inches long and 1 inch thick. Trim excess hard fat and silver skin from both sides of meat. 

Ingredients

3 whole veal shanks (about 1 pound per shank), trimmed 
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 
1 dry bay leaf 
2 whole cloves
1 cup frozen onions 
1 tablespoon tomato paste 
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup Red wine 
3 cups chicken stock 

2 springs fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped for garnish,
lemon zest ( optional) 

Pat dry veal hanks with paper towels to remove any excess moisture, salt an pepper.

Heat canola oil until in a Dutch oven or large pot till almost smoking, Add veal shanks and brown all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove browned shanks and set to the side .

In the same pot, add the frozen onions. Season with salt and saute until slightly brown and translucent. Add the tomato paste and return browned shanks to the pan . Add the white wine, and red wine  and reduce liquid by half, about 5 minutes. Then add 2 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone.

Every 15 minutes or so , turn shanks and add more chicken stock if necessary. The level of cooking liquid should always be about 3/4 the way up the shank.

Carefully remove the cooked shanks from the pot and place in serving dish over our “easy orzo risotto”

Pour all the juices and sauce from the pot over the shanks. Garnish with chopped parsley and enjoy!

Who knew? leftovers can taste  so great!

This wonderful salad was created out of necessity: hungry patrons but not many supplies or time in the kitchen. It has a little bit of chopped lettuce, chopped tomatoes, chopped leftover chicken,  some blue cheese and hard boiled eggs. We omitted the bacon to cut some fat and sodium, the croutons to make it low-carb  and the Worcestershire sauce to make it fish and shellfish free

If you don’t have blue cheese , try gorgonzola or feta if you are allergic to penicillin.

Enjoy as a side dish or as lunch or a light summer diner.

Ingredients: (4 servings)

4 cups lettuce or mixed greens, chopped
2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled Blue Cheese
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 small avocado, cubed
1/4 cup ranch salad dressing

salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Arrange a bed of lettuce on each individual serving dish, place on top arranged in strips, the tomatoes, the avocado, the Blue cheese, the chicken and the sliced hard boiled egg. Present the dish with the dressing on the side with enough salt and pepper to taste. Mix well the ingredients and enjoy at once

Ahh… fall is nearly here and is more telling that the aroma of one the most beloved  sweets of America’s Traditional Cuisine that  Pumpkin Pie? Maybe apple pie…:)

Our extra rich favorite, has the added cream, which makes it scrumptious and foolproof! It is so decadent that a small portion will satisfy the sweetest tooth!  If you are cooking for a big crowd (12+) make two just to be on the safe side.

We used canned pumpkin, but if you have fresh or frozen, make sure you have 2 cups. We also found that baking the pie at the high temperature recommended  in other recipes  would make the top “crack”.  Our solution: start with a 425 degree oven, then reduce to 325, and presto! no more “cracks”!

Just let cool before serving, enjoy with an optional dollop of cream or ice cream , or if just grown -ups pair with a nice spiced wine.

Ingredients: for 1 pie

1 pie crust
1 16 oz can of pumpkin
3/4 cups of sugar
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice
3 eggs beaten
2 cups heavy cream

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place pie crust in pie tin, poke the bottom with a fork and cook in the oven till slightly golden, (20 minutes). Meanwhile, in a large bowl mix the pumpkin with the ground spices and the sugar, add the eggs and the cream, continue to mix till uniform.

Pour mixture into baked pie crust and bake for 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 325, and continue to cook for 40 minutes. We found that the top would not “crack” by reducing the temperature
Let cool before serving, enjoy with spiced wine.