Lamb Osso Buco

Technically, it's not Osso Buco since it is not made with veal shanks, plus it is cooked in the slow cooker since my oven is still on the fritz. However, this is part of my learning curve on how to cook tasty entrées with less expensive cuts of meat. In this case, I used lamb neck bones. I don't remember exactly what I paid the local sheep farmer for them, but somewhere around $2 for this package, which made 3-4 meals for me..

First I diced a large onion (along with a couple of shallots and scallions that needed to get used up). I also diced a large carrot, a rib of celery and 2 small garlic cloves. I set those aside so I could brown the meaty bones first.

After I rinsed the neck bones and slightly dried them, I dusted them with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. (Usually I just add salt and pepper to the flour.) Then I coated them well in all-purpose flour, and browned them in 2-3 tablespoons of home-rendered lard.

As I browned the meaty bones, I added them to the slow-cooker, and while the sauté pan was still hot, I poured in a cup of white wine, stirred up the browned bits, and set the pan aside to soften the bits that didn't scrape up easily.

In another sauté pan, I heated 2 tablespoons of butter and cooked the onion and carrots over medium heat until the onions were about half translucent.

I added the celery and garlic and cooked the mix until everything was medium-soft. The pan to the right has the wine stirred into the browned bits from the neck bones.

The veggies were put in the slow cooker on top of the browned neck bones, and then I added the wine with the browned bits. Next I added a small can (14.5 oz.) of diced tomatoes, drained, and one cup of chicken broth. Threw in about half a teaspoon each dried rosemary and thyme from my garden... Turned the slow cooker to high heat, cover, and waited for the delicious smalls to waft through the room!

Somehow I didn't get a photo as it all went into the slow cooker. Sorry.

To make it easier to serve and eat, I removed the meaty bone pieces so I could take the meat off and be sure I got all the marrow out of the centers. The meat was falling off the bone, very tender, but not falling away from the bones in the pot due to the intricacies of the bones.

As you can see, there was a lot of meat (right side of plate) from that small amount of neck bones (left side of plate), and it's very flavorful. Unfortunately, the photo above isn't focused even though taken soon after the photo above it. (I didn't download my photos until the meat was placed back in the sauce, and it was too late by then!)

Osso Buco is traditionally garnished with gremolata, which is a dozen or so chopped Italian (flat) parsley sprigs, a clove or two finely minced garlic, and the zest of a lemon. Gremolata also is good on seafood as a garnish.

Traditionally, Osso Buco served with Risotto alla milanese (a risotto made with beef stock, marrow from the veal bones, and cheese... and flavored and colored with saffron), I served mine over buttered wide noodles.

Another successful meal on a small budget!