Beef

Osso Bucco

8/05/2008 11:03:00 AM


We were treated to an amazing meal of ossu bucco this week, made by my bro's girlfriend Su. (Hi SU!!!) The recipe is Tobie Puttock's, from the current (Aug 2008) issue of Delicious magazine, and also in his new book Italian Local. I haven't bought Delicious for a few months now; partly because of space issues, partly because I got tired of the same old stuff being published every month. Furthermore, their editor-in-chief sounded pretty pompous and self important at the Out of the Frying Pan food media conference in March this year. (Sticky's round-up of the day says it all, I think). This month's issue, however, was particularly appealing, and I had to pick it up after flicking through it at a newsagent. It's got a great selection of wintry recipes - stews, breads, puddings, and a whole lotta soups. I am totally loving the soups right now.

The day after I bought it, Su asked me, "Sarah, do you have a recipe for Osso Bucco?"

Why yes, yes I do.

So, Thursday night was Osso Bucco night. I had the pleasure of watching Su do all the cooking while I worked hard, you know, checking my emails and stuff.
Top Left: frying off the carrots/onion/celery
Top Right: Seared pieces of osso bucco
Bottom Left: adding meat, stock, tomatoes and cooked vegies to the roasting tray
Bottom Right: Mashed Potatoes (made by me!)


Once you've got all the meat, veggies, wine and stock in the roasting tray, it needs 3 hours in a medium-low oven until amazingly fragrant and tender. It makes the house nice and warm, and smells brilliant.

Heheh, check out this massive pile of mashed potatoes I made to go with Su's osso bucco. I felt like Homer in the episode where he went to clown college!


One bowl.


This was incredible. Absolutely amazing! This was easily the best Osso Bucco I've ever had. Tobie's a genius, Su's a legend, Sarah was happy.

Thank-you Su!

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11 comments

  1. I;m glad yours worked. I made this on the weekend too & it failed to reduce much so the liquid was a bit watery & as a result the flavour was a bit weak too, I even had it in the oven for hours extra with no luck!

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  2. You gotta love great rib-sticking comfort food like that - yours looks delicious. We are regular eaters of Osso Bucco in winter and beef ribs or oxtail work a treat cooked exactly the same way.

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  3. Hi Ange - That's a shame! I remember our one being a bit watery - Su actually said "next time I'll add less stock", but we still thought there was enough flavour.

    Sticky - Mmm... I love oxtail! Haven't had it in a while though.
    Nigella has a fab recipe in How to Eat for Oxtail with Mackeson and Marjoram that I made during my How to Eat project.. I might just pull that one out over the next few weeks. Yummmmy!

    I love that the stew cuts of meat are cheaper! So I can afford to buy lovely organic meat for stews more often than say, roasts or steak. (Which, for me, are an occasional treat).

    xox Sarah

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  4. Yeah, I like cheap cuts of meat too. Gravy Beef for example is really tasty it's the shank meat like Osso Bucco without the bone. Rump's as good as Portherhouse IMO too.

    If you want to eliminate the wateriness in braises, dust your meat with seasoned flour before browing it. That way when braising, the flour will thicken your sauce slightly as it cooks and make it all slightly richer.

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  5. Oooh... gravy beef. Good tip.

    Tobie's recipe actually did have the meat dusted in seasoned flour, but it still ended up more watery than we thought it would be. The leftover stew made a great pasta sauce the next day though!

    xox Sarah

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  6. YUM!!!! I generally dislike slow-cooked saucy meats, but I LOVE Osso Buco. My Mum makes the BEST Osso Buco in town, and it doesn't taste complete without the gremolata sprinkled on top.

    And sorry to be a pedant, but while I note that the Merriam-Webster accepts Osso Bucco as an alternative spelling in English, the correct Italian spelling is Osso Buco (literally, "bone" "hole")... but as you're writing in English I'll let it slide! :p

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  7. Ciao Claire,

    Argh! Mi dispiace. Thanks for pointing that out. I hate having incorrect spelling/grammar on my blog. (Misspelled foreign words and the you're/your confusion being my greatest peeves). I place the blame for my incorrect spelling squarely on Mr. Puttock!

    I'll leave it in Eng-talian for now, but I'll write it correctly la prossima volta.

    Baci

    xox Sarah

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  8. Brava! I'm so glad you didn't take offence at my comment. :)

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  9. That looks gorgeous - a great big vat of food! :)

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  10. Anonymous10:12 AM

    Looks delicious and sounded like it was too.
    Prefer mine with risotto, and like Claire, lots of gremolata.
    Mashed spud with ox tail is good.
    The wife purchased Delicious this month so have to give it a go.

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  11. i gave the osso buco a go last night and had the same problem - i even reduced the stock to 1.5 litres instead of two, and cooked it for 4 hours, not 3. admittedly, the meat was amazing, falling apart soft, so i guess overall it is ok. maybe next time i'll reduce the base a bit first though...

    i premade it, figuring it would be better the next day (similar to a good soup), with a polenta/potato mash...

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