Matching wine with food

[Thomas]

carsonjane, you might have been referring to my book: Garlic, Wine and Olive Oil. You can find it on Amazon.com; just type in the title--author is Pellechia.

As for your osso recipe, it is slightly different than mine, but not too much so. I omit celery (don't like the petroleum taste of that vegetable--I sometimes replace with anise) and I use veal or vegetable stock instead of chicken. I also use tomato chunks rather than paste. Other than that, you'll get just about the same results as mine.

The only thing I caution against is checking the shanks every 15 minutes while braising. No need to do that, so long as the liquid level begins where it should and the flame is lowered properly. Every time you lift the cover you interrupt the braising process, changing the temperature and steam for that second or two, and that really can add up to "harden" the meat that should end up tender. Lower the flame, cover tightly, and don't check it until about an hour and 45 minutes have passed--then, slip a fork in to see how the tnerderness is.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 11-08-2003).]