A magic pot of osso buco

THIS weekend I had the good pleasure to share a meal with few friends and a couple glasses of wine left over from the New Year’s parties.

My good mate Phil happened to purchase a number of roasting pots and I was able to give him a few pointers in using them to their full potential.

Nothing beats taking the earthen wear pot from the oven and having the aromas fill the house and getting stuck into a tasty slow cooked meal. There are a number of brands available on the market and Phil told me he picked up a few ranges for under £12 at discount retail shops. Not only do they look good in the kitchen but many of the reputable brands offering a lifetime guarantee.

Pot roasting has been around for centuries and has allowed us to slow cook the cheaper cuts of meats to taste perfection. Not only did we slow cook my tasty osso buco but we did a number of vegetable dishes to compliment the meal.

The key to a great pot roast is to have the correct balance of flavors so the ingredients can harmonize together during the cooking process. Maintaining the level of moisture is also important as we don’t want to end up with a dry stew or vegetables.

So let’s get cracking with the recipes below that we knocked up over weekend.

Chris’s spell for some osso buco pot roast magic

Osso buco means in Italian bone with a whole. Ask you butcher for osso buco and they will know exactly what you want.

We will also make some gremolata to garnish:

Main ingredients

• 5 pieces of veal shin — osso buco
• ¼ cup of olive oil
• ½ cup of plain flour for dusting
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 onion finely chopped
• ½ a stick of celery chopped finely
• 200ml of dry white wine
• 350 ml of warm beef stock- available from supermarkets

For the garnish

• Zest of 1 lemon
• ½ of a fresh garlic clove
• ½ bunch of fresh parsley finely chopped
• Dash of olive oil

1. Set you oven to 190 deg.
2. Take a large sauté pan to brown off the meat
3. Take a clean plastic bag and add the flour, salt and pepper and the veal shin and toss the ingredients together. Remove any excess flour from the shin and place on a plate
4. Heat the oil and brown the Shin on both sides. Remove them from the pan and reserve.
5. Add to the pan the chopped vegetables with a pinch of salt to cook them gently without burning for a few minutes. When the vegetables are soft return the meat to the pan and add the wine. Cook gently until the moisture is almost completely dried out.
6. Add the hot stock, turn the heat down. Take your roasting pot and add the osso buco to the pot and pour over the ingredients, adding more stock to make sure the shin is completely covered. Cover with the lid and place into the oven for 1½ hours. Check them every twenty minutes and when the meat is falling from the bone you are ready then to remove the pot from the oven. Allow the osso buco to cool slightly.
7. Once cooked, place the osso buco on to the serving dish and keep them warm. Mix all the gremolata ingredients together and sprinkle on to the osso buco before serving.

 

For more of Chris Ark’s tasty treats, exclusive to Australian Times, go to AustralianTimes.co.uk/chris-kitchen