Osso bucco à la milanaise

This is my osso bucco, and this is probably too many pictures. It's based on two or three recipes that I've looked at — one of them is in Marcella Hasan's The Classic Italian Cookbook (1980). It's made with mixed vegetables, tomato sauce and fresh tomatoes, and slices of veal shank. For extra flavor, it can contain some orange zest and lemon zest. Add some bay leaves, oregano (or thyme), and black pepper to taste.

          The idea is to coat the pieces of veal lightly with seasoned flour and then brown them in a frying pan. Take them out of the pan and slowly "sweat" the vegetables, including onion, carrot, garlic, and celery, in the same pan at low heat until they're tender.

     Place the veal pieces on top of the vegetables, and add enough tomato sauce, enhanced by the addition of a good amount of chopped fresh tomato, along with some white wine and broth (veal, beef, chicken, or vegetable). Put in just enough liquid so that the veal piece are barely covered. They will shrink a little as they cook.

          Veal is a tender meat, and slow braising or stewing it brings out its best qualities. Serve the veal and sauce with rice, risotto, pasta, or polenta. Mine cooked, covered, for two hours in a slow oven and then for another 30 minutes on top of the stove, uncovered, to thicken the tomato sauce slightly.