The best ossobuco I've had was cooked by the good Dr's Grandmother in France. Somehow she managed to produce meltingly tender meat but retain the gelatinous glory of the marrow. I tried yesterday and while the result was good, I found most of the marrow had melted into the sauce.
I stewed inch thick slices of beef shin in equal quantities of beef stock, white wine and passata with stock veg, garlic and bay. I had a quiet day and the delightful opprtunity to leave it in the oven for a serious amount of time. About 5hrs at GM2 (Probably not much of a surprise the marrow left home!) actually. The higher marrow to bone ratio of veal might have been better for a purist's ossobuco but the flavour of mature shin is quite sublime.
Easy prep, great result, and perfect with a slurp of Carta Roja Gran Reserva 2001. 100% Monastrell grapes, a variety I don't know much about but which proved to be plummy, spicy and very drinkable. The result being that I'd dried up before QT came on, which was shit.
Cheers!
Friday, 22 January 2010
Meals On Wheels!
I took delivery of my first fruit and veg box from East Coast Organics on Wednesday. I've ordered a selection of seasonal organic veg and not-so-seasonal, organic fruit. Plus milk, cheese, eggs, bread, salad and herbs. I suppose if I were to buy the spearate products from the supermarket I could probably get them cheaper but then they wouldn't be organic and they wouldn't be covered in dirt. Something which gives me no little satisfaction in this age of sterilisation!
The jewel in the dirt was without a doubt the salad bag, containing as it did, land cress, mustard greens and something like baby choi-sum. Anyway, they held up admirably in a chicken stock and noodle broth with some chilli, ginger and coriander. Elsewhere there were parsnips, carrots, spuds, a January King cabbage, broccoli, onions, chestnut mushrooms and tomatoes. The fruit section comprised bananas, kiwis, apples and oranges.
I've paid for a month and in that time hope to see a decent variety of veg come and go. A real pitfall of the box scheme could be a lack of variety leading to a lack of inspiration and a nagging obligation to use all the produce. Watch this space...
The jewel in the dirt was without a doubt the salad bag, containing as it did, land cress, mustard greens and something like baby choi-sum. Anyway, they held up admirably in a chicken stock and noodle broth with some chilli, ginger and coriander. Elsewhere there were parsnips, carrots, spuds, a January King cabbage, broccoli, onions, chestnut mushrooms and tomatoes. The fruit section comprised bananas, kiwis, apples and oranges.
I've paid for a month and in that time hope to see a decent variety of veg come and go. A real pitfall of the box scheme could be a lack of variety leading to a lack of inspiration and a nagging obligation to use all the produce. Watch this space...
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