Recipes: Veal Stew in the Style of Ossobuco

A couple of weeks back I was asking a bunch of my on-line friends for a recipe for veal stew. I was looking for something new and I knew my blogging buddies would help me out. I was really surprised by the poor response I got back. It seems veal stew is a bit a of a rarity with my food blogging buddies. Nobody had a thing.

So I turned to the internet, and guess what? Veal Stew recipes are pretty rare out there as well. Luckily Good Morning America posted this recipe, which made up a very tasty dinner. Of course I didn't use skim or low fat anything, so that may have contributed to its goodness.

Check out the pictures, I bought a new camera recently and these are my first attempts with it. The camera is an Olympus FE-4010. It has a preset option for taking culinary photos. I know I'll get better as time goes on. Enjoy


Veal Stew in the Style of Ossobuco
From Arthur Sickle, Cheshire, Conn. 2000

Ingredients for the Stew

• 1 cup finely diced yellow onion (about 1 medium-size onion)
• 1/3 cup finely diced celery (about 1 small rib)
• 3/4 cup finely diced carrot (about 1 medium-large carrot)
• 2 small cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tsp. dried leaf thyme, crumbled
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 lbs. boneless lean veal shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry white wine such as soave or pinot grigio
• 1 (28-ounce) can peeled whole Italian plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
• 2 (14.25-ounce) cans reduced-sodium, nonfat chicken broth
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
  

Ingredients for the Mashed Potatoes

• 4 large Yukon gold potatoes (about 2 1/2 lbs.), peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
• 1/3 cup finely chopped chives (about 1 medium-size bunch)
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 2-tbsp. low fat sour cream
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. For Stew: Spray medium-size Dutch oven well with nonstick cooking spray and set over moderately high heat for 1 minute. Add onion, celery and carrot and saute, stirring often, until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook and stir 1 minute more. Scoop vegetables into large bowl and reserve.

3. Place flour, salt, and pepper in large plastic bag and shake to combine. Pat veal chunks dry, then dredge a few chunks at a time by shaking in seasoned flour in bag. Shake excess flour from each batch.

4. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to Dutch oven and heat over moderately high heat until ripples appear on pan bottom, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add half the dredged veal and brown well on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Lift browned veal to bowl with vegetables. Add remaining tablespoon oil to Dutch oven, brown remaining veal the same way, and add to the bowl.

5. Pour wine into Dutch oven and boil, scraping up browned bits, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and chicken broth, return reserved veal and vegetables to pot, and bring to a boil. Mix in 2 tablespoons parsley.

6. Cover, transfer to oven, and braise, stirring every half-hour, until veal if fork-tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

7. Spoon three-fourths of vegetables in Dutch oven and 1/2 cup kettle liquid into food processor or electric blender and cool 15 minutes.

8. For mashed potatoes: Boil potatoes in just enough water to cover in covered medium-size saucepan until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain well, add remaining ingredients and mash until fluffy. Keep warm.

9. To finish stew, pulse cooled vegetable mixture in food processor until smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stir back into Dutch oven and bring stew quickly to serving temperature.

10. To serve, divide mashed potatoes among eight heated dinner plates centering on plates, and with the back of a spoon, make well in each potato mound. Ladle stew over all and sprinkle lightly with remaining 2 tablespoons parsley.

Note: Veal shanks, the traditional cut for this Italian classic are loaded with fat, the marrow inside the bones contributing the lion's share. This recipe uses lean veal shoulder, trimmed of fat, and fat-free chicken broth.

Makes 8 Servings

Recipe from the "Good Morning America Cut the Calories Cookbook" Copyright 2000, Hyperion