The Return of Sunday Dinner

I can't take much credit for this meal, although I did make one heck of a sous chef if I do say so myself. And the gremolata was all me - as you can see, that's some serious chopping. Early this week Western One took some osso bucco out of the freezer, proclaiming he'd have time to prepare the labor intensive dish mid-week. I didn't actually utter the words "you're full of shit" but I think my face betrayed the sentiment. Needless to say, we prepared the meat Sunday night. I'm not one to gloat when I'm right, but I'm just saying... Still, I'm glad it worked out that way.

Once upon a time we were pretty good about cooking a nice Sunday dinner, just the two of us. We both like to be in the kitchen and it's a really great way to wind down the weekend andease into Monday. I'm not quite sure when the ritual fell by the wayside, but the busy summer, time at camp, etc. has kept it at bay for quite a while.

This dinner fit perfectly into an ideal Sunday afternoon. We did some prep, tossed the dutch oven into the oven and headed to the bar to enjoy some autumn patio time. The meat was lightly coated in flour, browned, then surrounded by carrots, onion, garlic, lemon zest, kalamata olives and fresh tomatoes. A bit of bouquet garni and it's off to the races. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but like I said, this was the boy's project.

The white beans in the stew were an afterthought based on a comment one of our bar buddies made when we mentioned we had osso bucco in the oven. They absolutely made the dish, so I'm extra glad we went out for a beer while dinner cooked. We came back to a house that smelled like home and settled in for a great meal. I even decided to crack open the bottle of wine I'd bought myself for my 30th birthday.

As you can tell, the meal was just awful.