Osso Buco take two

It’s been some time since Chris and I tried osso buco , and that was with lamb shank. This time we were able to get some nice meaty beef shank to use. The recipe was the same, but this time we were able to liberate some marrow to use in the risotto, which was a lovely addition. The meat was reasonably tender after a prolonged braising period, and we were easily able to split one shank and feel very full. Although the sauce for the osso buco is amazingly rich, it’s also amazingly flavorful, and this is definitely something to make again.

Roast Goose

For New Years, Chris and I decided to try our hand at roasting a goose. We opted for something simple, and the results were quite good.

Ingredients
1 10 lb goose
1 medium onion
1 large bunch of sage
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove any giblet pack from inside the cavity and rub the inside with some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roughly chop or quarter onion, and put them in the cavity, along with the lightly crushed sage leaves. Rub the outside with salt and pepper, and puncture the skin liberally all over the bird. Place on a rack on a tray, or a roasting pan (put some water in the bottom of the tray so the lovely goose fat doesn’t burn. Roast for 1 hour, then repuncture the skin. After about another half hour, or when the goose is golden brown, flip the goose over and continue baking until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees. Remove and let rest 5 minutes. Carve carefully-the breasts are much shallower than you may be used to on chickens or turkeys. The resulting bird was wonderfully flavorful-similar to the dark meat of turkey, but better. We also were able to liberate about 3 cups worth of goose fat, which is now sitting in our freezer to use at a later date.

With the goose, we had a wild mushroom and wild rice pilaf, and some asparagus sauteed with shallots, both of which complemented the flavor of the goose magnificently.