The Great American Slow Cooker Book (55 page)

2
Add the onion to the skillet, still set over the heat. Stir until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Spoon the onion on top of the osso buco.

3
Sprinkle the onion with the chile powder, orange zest, and garlic. Pour the coffee and wine over everything.

4
Cover and cook on low for 10 hours, or until the meat is fork-tender. Transfer the osso buco to serving bowls; snip and discard the twine. Skim the sauce for any surface fat, then ladle the sauce and onion over the osso buco.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Coffee, chiles, and orange zest are a complex, sophisticated combination—sweet, bitter, and spicy.

•
Use freshly brewed coffee; otherwise, this can add stale, burned notes to this elegant meal. There’s no need for espresso. Simply add another scoop of grounds to your usual batch of coffee to make it a bit stouter.

1
Bring a saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Set the dried porcini in a medium bowl; fill the bowl about two-thirds full with boiling water. Soak for 20 minutes.

2
Strain the dried mushrooms in a colander set over a second bowl, thereby catching and saving the mushroom soaking liquid.

3
Melt the butter with the oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Slip as many of the osso buco pieces into the skillet as will comfortably fit. Brown them on both sides, about 8 minutes per batch, turning once. If possible, make one layer of the osso buco in the slow cooker, squeezing to fit (although you can also tilt a couple of the pieces up to help with space).

4
Brown the onion in the same skillet, still set over the heat. Stir until limp and even a little browned in places, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic, stir well for a few seconds, then scrape the contents of the skillet into the slow cooker.

5
Add the mushrooms, wine, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, rosemary, salt, and pepper to the cooker. Pour in the mushroom-soaking liquid until the total sauce in the cooker comes about halfway up the osso buco pieces.

6
Cover and cook on low for 9 hours, or until the meat is quite tender, especially right next to the bone. Use a large, slotted spoon and tongs to transfer the osso buco to serving bowls. Remove the twine. Skim the surface fat off the sauce, then ladle the liquid into the bowls.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Although not the most classic preparation of osso buco, this recipe showcases Mediterranean flavors with some of the richest veal you can eat.

•
Oil-cured olives are particularly rich—and salty. Look for them on the salad or olive bar at larger supermarkets, rather than in a can or jar. If you’re concerned about salt, omit any additional and pass extra flaked sea salt at the table.

Serve It Up!
Osso buco is often served with risotto, mashed potatoes, polenta, or even cooked and drained pasta, particularly fettuccini. We’ve also served this dish over black Venere rice, a sticky-sweet specialty grain from Italy.

1
Fry the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, stirring often, between 4 and 7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to the slow cooker.

2
Brown the rabbit pieces in stages in the bacon fat in the skillet, turning each piece only after 3 or 4 minutes, but taking care never to crowd the skillet. As they’re done, transfer the rabbit pieces to the slow cooker and continue browning more.

3
Toss the shallots into the skillet, still over the heat, and cook until lightly browned and a bit translucent on the outside, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic to the skillet, cook a few seconds, then scrape the contents of the skillet into the slow cooker.

4
Pour the tomatoes over the contents of the slow cooker. Whisk the wine, flour, basil, thyme, and pepper in a bowl until the flour has dissolved, then pour the wine mixture into the slow cooker.

5
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the rabbit is tender but juicy. Use tongs to transfer the pieces to serving bowls. Skim the sauce for fat and slather it over the rabbit pieces.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
This tomato-rich, heavily herbed braise is best on a cold, winter evening.

•
Pour the diced tomatoes into a strainer in the sink to drain them thoroughly. If there’s too much liquid, the sauce can become overpoweringly heavy.

•
There’s a lot of flavor left in that skillet when you’re done browning. If you want to capture it for a side sauce, save ¼ to ½ cup of the juice from the canned tomatoes. Pour it into the skillet when you’re done browning the shallots, crank the heat up to high, and boil the juice down to a thick glaze, stirring often to get up every crusty bit in the skillet.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
With less fat and a firmer texture than chicken, rabbit makes a wonderful meal. However, its anatomy can be tricky. Unless you’re sure of its bone structure, ask the butcher to cut the rabbit into 8 to 10 pieces. Most rabbits weigh between 2 and 3½ pounds, more than you’ll need for a small slow cooker. Although you can sometimes find a small rabbit, also look for packaged rabbit legs and buy a similar amount as the recipe requires.

1
Fry the pancetta in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, between 5 and 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pancetta bits to the slow cooker.

2
Brown the rabbit in the same skillet, still set over the heat. Taking care not to overcrowd the skillet, make sure each has some light golden spots across the surface, 6 to 8 minutes per batch. Transfer the rabbit pieces to the slow cooker.

3
Pour the brandy into the skillet. If the liquor ignites, quickly cover the skillet and take it off the heat for 2 minutes before returning to the heat, uncovered. When the liquid in the skillet is boiling, scrape up any browned bits on the hot surface, then scrape the contents of the skillet into the slow cooker.

4
Add the carrots, onion, prunes, thyme, sage, and pepper to the cooker. Pour in the wine. (The liquid should come about three-quarters of the way up the rabbit and vegetables in the cooker. If not, add water to compensate.)

5
Cover and cook on low for 5 hours, until the meat is tender but not falling off the bone.

6
Use tongs to transfer the rabbit pieces to a large bowl. Cover the cooker and set the temperature on high. Mash the butter into the flour in a small bowl until the mixture forms a paste. Whisk the paste into the sauce in the cooker in dribs and drabs to dissolve it. Return the rabbit pieces to the cooker and cook on high for 30 more minutes, until the sauce has thickened slightly.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
This one’s a
civet
(
see-VAY
)—a rich wine-based stew traditionally thickened with blood, but here with a beurre manié (
burr mahn-YAY
), a paste of butter and flour that gives the sauce a velvety finish.

•
If you don’t want to use brandy, substitute chicken broth for a less-worrisome technique.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
Liquor can ignite in a hot skillet or pan—or at least, the volatilizing gasses can ignite, causing a nasty fire. Follow a few safety precautions:

• Turn off any exhaust vent so that flames don’t get sucked up into it.

• Never pour directly from the bottle. Fumes can ignite even in its neck. Pour the needed amount into a measuring cup first.

• Have a lid nearby to cover the skillet quickly.

• Make sure all children and pets are out of the room, in case of flare-ups.

• Be steady and patient, never quick or harried.

• Keep a charged fire extinguisher in your kitchen.