Another first for me, the open-minded eater, tonight. How is it that I have
gotten through life eating ostrich and camel and octopus, but not osso buco?
Oh, right, the price. This dish was always in that scary part of the menu that
my parents told me not to even look at. Because every dish was over $20. I think
I just got out of the habit of looking at that part of the menu. Meh. But you
know what? I'm an osso buco convert. A super-tender, almost sweet, rich-marrow
convert. I think I need a better paying job.
Once again the fish mentioned does not swim in US waters. Or any waters that
the US apparently trades with. So I used stripped sea bass again. Hey, it was a
recommended substitute. And having fish shipped is basically impossible. This
is where I draw the ridiculous-ingredient line, in case you were wondering. The
veal was also a bit of a trip, as the butcher at Central Market didn't want to
cut me the pieces I needed because I was asking too late and he had
"already cleaned the machines", whatever that means. So, a separate
trip the next day was required. I happily used up the remaining pineapple from
the other night's dinner (remember the pineapple with molasses and lime?), so I
was happy that wouldn't be something I would find a month from now growing a
science experiment in the back of my fridge.
I'm a big fan of raw fish. I will eat sashimi and sushi like it's going out
of style. And I'm not talking about California rolls. I'm talking eel and fluke
and some buttery white tuna. So I'm pretty cool with ceviche. It seems to be
the compromise between completely raw and completely ruined. Yes, I said it.
Cooked fish, for the most part, now seems so wrong to me. So I was good with
this first course. Until I realized I was buying fish on Sunday night. Fish
that had probably arrived on Friday at the latest. Hey, we all need something
to challenge our immune systems every now and then, right? Plus, the fish guy
seemed pretty sure it should be fine. Possibly. Well, it was pretty delicious.
The fish just barely turned from semi-transparent to this white opalescence. The
sauce just made the fish even silkier than it already was alone. And the lime
added that little ceviche bite. Really good.
So after a plate of meat, I moved on to...another plate of meat. I think I'm
seeing a trend here. Hey, I'm not complaining! The veal basically gets browned
and then braised in this wine/tomato sauce/mirepoix/beef stock mixture and
comes out the other end super tender and falling off the bone. The recipe says
two hours, but I got tender action after one. So tender I had trouble getting
it out of the pan in less than five pieces. And I just want to say that I love
the gremolata. Terrific. I'm really starting to like having citrus on all my
food.
This pina colada was really strange to me. 1) I didn't see the need in
straining everything the least bit textural out of the drink. 2) There wasn't
enough coconut flavor to balance against the pineapple. 3) It needed about 2-3
times the rum, but that may just be me. Plenty refreshing though. And since I
couldn't find meringue cookies (why is every ingredient I look for suddenly absent
from every grocery store in the city???), I sprinkled the top with some
sweetened flaked coconut.
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