Osso Buco Milanese

During a cooking class on my recent trip to Italy, Chef Raffaele gave us some sound advice.  "if you don't have access to fresh, vine ripened tomatoes, use canned!". Looking at the insipid, flavourless offerings that are available at the  moment, I heeded his advice when making this meal!

On my recent shopping spree in Haberfield I picked up some lovely looking veal osso  buco, and some lamb shanks (amongst many other wonderful offers!).  After a cold, wet time at the rugby yesterday, where we watched the game from the protection of an overhanging rock cliff, I gave DH the choice, of either Osso Buco with Parmesan Polenta, or Tunisian Style Lamb Shanks for dinner.  Osso Buco won!

In the current edition of Good Taste Magazine, Tobie Puttock shows us his version of this famous Milanese dish.  Everyone tweaks it just a little, and calls it their own version, but the base ingredients pretty much stay the same.  Although Wikipedia does state that Osso Buco comes in two varieties - the  modern version which is based on a tomato sauce, with the obligatory soffritto as it's base, or the old version which is bianco or "white", with no tomatoes and is flavored with cinnamon, bay leaves and gremolata.

Tonight's version is the modern take.

Osso Buco Milanese 
Adapted from recipe found  in Good Taste Magazine, by Tobie Puttock 

Serves 4-6 

3/4 cup plain flour
8 pieces veal osso buco
Extra virgin olive oil
2 small brown onions, finely chopped
2 small carrots, peeled, finely chopped
2 large sticks celery, finely chopped 
6 cloves garlic, finely sliced
2 x 400g cans cherry tomatoes 
100g pancetta, chopped
12 fresh sage leaves
3 springs fresh rosemary
2-3 dried bay leaves (depending on size)
2/3 cup white wine
1 cup vegetable stock

Gremolata  

Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
Handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Sea salt to taste
1 clove garlic, finely grated

Parmesan Polenta 

2 cups chicken stock
1 cup water
1 cup polenta
40g butter
60g grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 220 degrees.  

 Place the flour on a large flat plate, season with salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Add the veal, and turn to coat, shaking off the excess.

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish over high heat. Cook the veal,  in batches, for 2-3 minutes each side, or until browned.  Transfer to a plate.

Heat 1 tbs of olive oil over medium heat.  Cook the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic for 5-10 minutes, or until soft.  Stir in the pancetta, tomatoes, sage, rosemary, and bay leaves.  Stir for 5 minutes, or until aromatic. Add the veal, and the wine. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add the stock and bring to the boil.  Cover, and bake for 1 hour.  After 1 hour, check.  At this stage if there is a lot of liquid, you may want to cook for the next 30 minutes uncovered, make sure it doesn't burn on top though!

To make the gremolata, combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Reserve.

To make the polenta, bring the water and chicken stock to the boil in a medium sized saucepan.  While stirring the liquid, add the polenta to the pan in a thin stream, while continuously stirring.

Stir the mixture for 5-10 minutes, or until thickened and the grains are soft.

Quickly add the butter and Parmesan cheese.  Stir to incorporate well.

To serve place a small amount of polenta on a serving plate.  Top with a piece of osso buco, some sauce, and then a sprinkling of gremolata.

Nothing warms soul more that a beautiful, flavourful casserole!

This meal certainly had us slurping at the bones to get out that rich marrow!

Good choice DH!  Guess that means lamb shanks next week!  That's something to look forward to!

So Dear Readers what is the best piece of cooking advice you have been given? Chef Raffaele also told us that when basil is bountiful, place it, unwashed in a large glass jar, and keep in the fridge.  I have had great success with this one - it lasts for at least 2 weeks!!

Chinese Braised Beef

A pinch and a punch for the first of the month!

Today marks several things!

It's April Fools Day, and it's also the end of daylight savings for us down here in the southern hemisphere. The days will now start to get shorter, and colder. For me though, the most important thing about today is that it's the start of the countdown to my trip! Only 20 days to go!!

After the horrible summer (or should I say lack of summer) that we have had here in Sydney, it's hard to believe looking out the window at the glorious sunny day we have today, that winter is just around the corner. So good bye summer, thanks for nothing!

It's time to turn our thoughts to autumn. Our meals will start to change, the BBQs will become less frequent, and soups and stews will start making appearances at our table. I made this stew just recently, and it was a lovely change from the usual. The flavours were fantastic. In fact it was so good, that "The Darlings" gobbled it all up, and left none for DH (who was late home this particular night - that will teach him!).

So if you are looking for something a little different from your usual beef stew, give this a try - you will not be disappointed.

Chinese Braised Beef
Recipe by Valli Little


Serves 4
2 tbs plain flour
1 tsp five spice
1kg chuck steak, cut into 5cm pieces *
1/4 cup peanut or sunflower oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3cm piece of ginger, peeled, grated
1/2 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
1 long red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
50g Chinese rock sugar, or brown sugar
1/4 cup shaohsing Chinese rice wine
1 cinnamon quill
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
1 liter beef stock
2 tbs peanut butter
2 tbs hoi sin sauce
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Combine the flour and five spice powder with 1 teaspoon of salt. Coat the beef in the flour mixture, shaking off and reserving any excess flour.

Heat 2 tablespoons on the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish over medium high heat. In batches, cook the beef, turning for 3-4 minutes until browned all over. Remove for the pan and set aside.

Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and cook the onion, stirring for 1-2 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, ginger, spring onions and chilli, then cook, stirring for a further minute. Stir in the reserved flour mixture with the sugar, rice wine, cinnamon, soy sauce, beef stock, peanut butter and hoi sin sauce. Return the beef to the pan, then increase the heat to medium high and bring to the boil. Cover and transfer to the oven. Bake for 2 hours, or until the beef is tender.

Serve with steamed asian greens, and rice.

* I actually increased the beef to about 1.5kg and there was plenty of sauce even with extra meat.

The smell of this dish is wonderful. Make sure you get in quick, because I can guarantee you there will be no leftovers!

Slow Cooked Beef in Stout

In between dog duties and kid duties yesterday I managed to set myself up with a lovely warming stew to have once we all got in from our various after school activities.

Of course one of "The Darings" is down for the count with a broken arm - but the other one still needs to get to and from Rugby practice.  It's kind of like a convalescent hospital here at the moment - a child with a broken arm and the dog recuperating from a stroke - I think I might have to go and find myself a Florence Nightingale outfit to wear!!!!

This recipe was featured in the latest edition of Delicious Magazine, and is one of Matt Preston's.  It appealed to me as it took several hours to cook, so that meant I could start it, go to sport and then finish it off before the rest of the hungry hoards arrived home!

Slow Cooked Beef in Stout
Adapted from Delicious Magazine - August edition - Recipe by Matt Preston

Serves 6

1.2kg blade or chick steak, trimmed, cut into 3cm cubes
1/4 cup flour, seasoned
1/4 cup olive oil
2 celery stalks, finely chopped*
4 garlic cloves, fined chopped*
250g bacon rashers, finely chopped*
2 tbs tomato paste
375ml Guinness
2 tbs concentrated TM vegetable stock **
2 cups water **
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup pitted prunes, chopped
1 tbs unsalted butter
400g small eschalots, peeled
4 carrots cut into chunks

* place the vegetables and the bacon in the TM bowl and put in closed lid position, press turbo 2-3 times until chopped to desired consistency.
** can substitute 2 cups beef stock

Garlic Paris Mash and Peas to serve

Preheat oven to 150 degrees.

Lightly dust the meat in the flour, shake off excess (reserving excess).

Heat 2 tbs of oil over medium high heat in a large flameproof casserole dish.  In batches, cook the beef, turning, for 3-4, minutes or until browned.  Remove from the pan and set aside.
Reduce the heat to medium, add remaining tablespoon of oil, add the celery, garlic and bacon.  Cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes or until tender.  Return the beef to the pan and add the tomato paste and reserved flour (don't worry if you don't have any - I didn't).  Stir for 1 minute.  Add the stour, stock, bay leaf and prunes and stir to combine.  Make sure you get all those lovely crispy bits off the bottom of the pan - they add great flavour to the dish!!!  Use a spoon to scrape then gently into the mixture.  Bring to a simmer, cover and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.

Heat the butter in a small frypan over medium heat.  Cook the eschalots, stirring for 3-4 minutes, or until/ the outside layer starts to soften.  Add the eschalots and carrots to the casserole, cover and return to the oven for a further 1 hour, or until the meat is tender.

Garlic Paris Mash
1.2 kg potatoes, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic
250g milk
salt
30g butter

Place the potatoes and garlic in the TM bowl  Season with salt.  Add the milk.  Cook for 20 minutes at 100 degrees on speed 1.

Insert the butterfly.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add the butter and mash for 20 seconds on speed 3.

Place in Thermoserver until ready to serve.

Now it might seem a weird thing to add prunes to a beef casserole, but let me tell you it added a lovely richness to the sauce.  It didn't make it sweet, and I think you would be hard pushed to identify them in there - but it did a lovely depth to the gravy.  Well worth trying next time you make a stew!!

Beef and Guinness Casserole with Parmesan Dumplings

On a blustery, cold, windy, wintery day like today is there anything better than a big warm casserole to end off the day?

There are so many beef casserole recipes out there, all with a few minor tweaks here and there - but the all important part of the dish is the beef that has has been simmered slowly until it is so tender it just falls apart.  You see lots of recipes using red wine, but I had some Guinness lurking in the back of the cupboard that I wanted to use.  I simply adapted a recipe that I found at Taste.com.au to utilise the Guinness.

Beef and Guinness Casserole with Parmesan Dumplings
adapted from Taste.com.au

Serves 6

1.5kg gravy beef, cut into cubes
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 rashers bacon, roughly chopped
500g mushrooms, quartered
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbs plain flour
2 cups beef stock
1 cup Guinness
2 thyme sprigs
3 fresh bay leaves
50g butter
2 cups self raising flour
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup milk

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat.  In batches, brown the beef until it is sealed on all sides.  Remove to a plate, and keep warm.

Add the onion, bacon, mushrooms, and garlic, cook, stirring for 5 minutes, or until soft.  Stir in the flour. Add the beef, beef stock, Guinness, thyme, and bay leaves.  Bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until tender and the meat is starting to fall apart.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.

To make the dumplings, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Stir in the parmesan cheese.  Add the milk and mix well to bring all the ingredients together.  Roll into approximately 20 small balls.

Spoon the meat in to a lightly greased casserole dish.  Top with the dumplings, making sure to push the dumplings at least halfway down into the sauce.

Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, or until lovely and golden, and the dumplings are cooked through.

Serve with a green vegetable, and you have a lovely warm, winter hug!!!!

Stay out of the wind today if you are in Sydney, and try and keep warm!!!!!

So Dear Readers what are you do to keep warm on cold winter's days.  Do you snuggle up next to the fire, or do you go back to bed with a good book?  Perhaps you get cooking, and warm the heart of the house up by baking?