Veal Osso Bucco with Cannellini Beans Recipe

Yesterday was the day that I tried cooking a dish I never thought I would ever cook in my life! The Osso Bucco. hubs and I watched an episode of Masterchef Australia and Gary Mehigan was cooking his version of osso bucco. Now for those of you who don't know what osso bucco means, it means 'bone with a hole'. Osso = bone, Bucco = hole. So as we watched Gary cook the dish, we knew this was one dish we had to try or actually, more like a dish I had to try cook. We were salivating by the time Gary took it out from the oven.

We already did our shopping last week so all I had to do was just prep and cook and shove the pot in the oven. One problem. I did not understand the recipe. There were cooking methods missing and ingredients stated but was not stated in the methods. It has been a long day today for us and there is nothing more I would love to do than to link you to the recipe but since the recipe is not complete, I feel it is my duty to state the right methods to cooking this beautiful dish. So here it is :



Ingredients :

• 1.5kg bobby veal shin, cut 2.5cm thick (about 12 pieces)
• 1 cup plain flour
• 100ml olive oil
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• ¼ bunch parsley stalks, leaves picked and roughly chopped, stalks reserved
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 3 cups white wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 sprigs thyme, leaves picked out
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 400g tin crushed tomato
• 3 cups veal stock ( alternatively you can use chicken stock, which is neutral to bring out the taste of the veal )
• 100g dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight ( if you choose to use beans from a can, make sure you wash the starch away )

To finish :

• Freshly cracked white pepper and sea salt
• ½ bunch parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 loaf crusty bread, thickly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 180⁰C.
2. Season meat with salt and white/black pepper, coat with flour then shake off excess.Heat oil in a frying pan, add meat, keep adding olive oil so not to burn the veal and panfry until caramelized. Put aside on plate.
3. In the same pot, add celery, onion, carrot, reserved parsley stalks, garlic. Add more pepper (optional), thyme and bay leaf. Cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add tomato paste and cook for 1-2 minutes and deglaze with wine. Scrape the bottom and cook for 1-2 minutes or till alcohol is evaporated.
5. Add crushed tomatoes, thyme, parsley, lemon zest, stir then add the stock.
6. Stir to mix then add in the veal and cannellini beans.
7. Cover with lid, put in oven and cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
8. Remove lid, check if sauce is to your liking. ( I like mine a little watery than thick ) If you prefer it thick and its watery, cook with lid removed for another 45 minutes in oven or until sauce has thickened.
9. Remove from oven. Spoon the veal and you know its perfectly cooked when the meat falls from the bone.
10. Sprinkle with cracked pepper, sea salt, chopped parsley and lemon zest.
11. Serve with crusty bread.

The ingredients isn't exactly like Gary's but the method is. I cooked it according to the recipe and although it turned out very nice, the sauce was a little thick. So I added another cup to the white wine and stock to make it a little more saucier. So there it is. A traditional, delicious osso bucco fit for a warm night in winter. I hope to hear from you if you decide to cook this dish.

Oh, I forgot to mention that with this dish, it is a must that you be VERY VERY VERY careful when handling the VERY hot pot. I can't stress enough how dangerous cooking this dish can get. I would know since I burnt myself twice, on the same hand, while making this dish! Hubs called me the clumsy chef because I just to happen to either cut or burn myself while cooking...somehow. It is also advisable to have your children attended to when handling this dish.

I would love to hear your comments on this dish and if there are any other way you have cooked this dish or added an extra ingredient, let me know. Would love to try it!

xoxo

Shepherds Pie Recipe

When I was younger, my aunt use to cook this massive dish of shepherds pie for me and it was the highlight of my week every time she came over to drop it off. I would just sit in front of the TV with a big plate of steaming shepherds pie, big grin on my face and scoff it all down. Usually I would try to span out the massive dish in a week but I always end up finishing it off within days! It was THAT good!

This week, one of our dishes was shepherds pie which I cooked for dinner tonight. Hubs knew which recipe he wanted me to cook which was Gordon Ramsay's (my fav chef!) shepherds pie served with pan roasted carrot. Gulp! Gordon Ramsay's recipe?! This man is famous for screaming "Get back in there and cook it, you useless donkey!" to those who would cook his famous dishes wrong! I know he's not here to scream that at me but I cant help but feel that if I do cook it wrong, he's going to appear from nowhere and just start screaming at me! LOL!!! So hubs found his recipe and forwarded it to me. As I was reading it, it was actually quite easy! All this time, I thought just cooking a normal shepherds pie was hard let alone cook a world famous chef's recipe but it was straightforward and lots of flavor! YUUUMMM!

|| not a picture of my cooking ||

As promised to my dearest friend Naomi from liebe.love I would post pictures of what I cook and recipes along with it buuuuut feeding 2 very hungry men in the house proves that sometimes its just a little hard to take a picture once you've taken out the dish from the oven. Yes that's right! They made a beeline for the dish the second I took it out before I had the chance to say "Let is rest." So anyways, here is the link to the recipe. Let me know how it goes if you decide to cook this dish. Would love to hear from you! I know I enjoyed it and I know the boys DEFINITELY enjoyed it!

xoxo

3 things every wife MUST have!

When I was single or to be honest, dating someone but not really thinking about marriage, I always said to myself that I probably won't be one of those wives who would cook, clean or do the laundry. I lived quite a pampered life where my maid (bless her heart!) did everything in the house. I don't remember much of how I actually survived NOT doing most of this stuff when I was living away from home. Well I did send the laundry to the cleaners and just got them to do it! Teehee.....so it was given that I thought that by the time I get married, I would just hire a maid! How wrong I was.....

When I started dating my husband, it all changed. I became this clean freak who loves to cook and just wanted to be the perfect, sometimes neurotic, wife. Realization dawned and "Wow, I've grown up! About freaking time!" And so began the journey of cooking, housekeeping and experimenting with various cleaning products. This journey would conclude that I love garlic, vacuuming and watching grease and dirt disappear! And now the piece de resistance.....

3 THINGS EVERY WIFE MUST HAVE!

• Vinegar
• Baking soda/bicarbonate soda
• Lemons

These 3 things are my lifesavers! I would sit and wonder how did I ever went through life not knowing what these wonderful ingredients can make life so simple especially for cleaning! My pantry is literally stocked with them. For cleaning tips, click here. Please drop a message if you have any other tips on using these 3 ingredients for cleaning or anything! Would love to hear from you!

xoxo

oopppsss....

It has been a while since I last blogged about anything and I do apologize! I HAVE been lazy due to the weather...(not use to the cold blistering autumn/winter)....Hey, what do you expect from a girl who lived in a tropical country her whole life?! Oh, and not forgetting the crappy laptop I have right now! I always have to wait till hubby gets home to blog and by that time, I would have been too tired from cooking, cleaning and entertaining to blog. Oh well, still not an excuse to NOT blog! Maybe I should make my life more interesting to actually blog about something besides cooking, cleaning and making faces at my husband and cat.

O.O

xoxo