I love saying this dish's name over and over. I made it last week for m and his parents. I think the veal could have done with a different sort of cooking. I used a large skillet and then changed my mind midway and shoved everything into a large covered baking dish stovetop. And then I peeked a few times. Probably should have shoved the thing into the oven at a fairly low heat and let it cook covered and undisturbed for the requisite 4 hours.
I wasn't in my own kitchen with all my tools and doodads so I feel like the meal suffered from it. The risotto was a bit off (too many mushrooms, not creamy enough), the zucchini could have stood with a little longer cooking (to let it carmelize) and there was a lack of salt all round (out of respect for my guests' dietary restrictions0. But it's hard to make osso buco taste bad even if it's less than perfect. I've been enjoying the left-overs with polenta that's really corn-mush all week long. M insists I put it in the freezer now before it turns and we end up wasting all that awesome veal.
Other thoughts:
I've made osso buco a few times before. Once I tried it with beef shanks instead of veal shanks. It's not bad, but you lose something by changing up the meat. I had based my osso buco off of a recipe I found in an old cookbook I bought back in the college years. I think it's the only cookbook I own. That version suggests using saffron and includes a recipe for gremolata to stir into the dish after serving. This time I tried making it without saffron (better, I think) and no gremolata. I'd be open to trying gremolata again (also a fun word to say over and over) but you'd have to be okay with the bite of raw minced garlic in your sauce. One day I'd like to get my mitts on some veal demi-glace and try that in the sauce.
It's a nice dish to make for special guests.
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