Osso Buco

Apart from Indian food, Italian has to be my favourite. I love the fresh, simple ingredients and flavours that you get from many Italian dishes and the smells that take me back to Tuscany are amazing.  I can only dream of living in Italy at the moment but in the meantime I am happy to look forward to holidaying there and cooking great Italian dishes at home. Tomatoes, basil and pasta are always available in my kitchen for when I just need to throw something together quickly but it is always nice for me to try something to further explore my Italian food crush .Wild boar stew, Tuscan bread soup and veal Milanese are all favourites of mine along with this lovely recipe for Osso Buco.

Osso Buco is a rich, braised veal dish made with veal shin. In Italian, Osso is the bone and Buco is the hole, which refers to the bone marrow that is essential to the dish. You don't have to eat the marrow as the the dish will pick up the rich flavour throughout the cooking process but for that extra bit of naughtiness it tastes delicious. Traditionally the dish is simply braised with vegetables and served with gremolata but a more modern version incorporates a tomato sauce, which is the dish I have made. This is a great dish for preparing quickly then leaving it to cook slowly whilst you crack open a bottle of red ( it tastes great with a nice Chianti or Montepulciano D'Abbruzzo ).

Ingredients

( for 2 people)

2 veal shin steaks, with bone marrow
2 celery sticks
2 carrots
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
250ml white wine
500ml chicken stock
1 tin of good quality chopped tomatoes
small handful of fresh oregano
2 bay leaves, preferably fresh but dried is ok
1 tbs flour
1 tbs olive oil

Method

1. Lightly dust the veal shins with flour and sear in a casserole pan with the olive oil, until browned
2. Chop the onion, celery and carrot, add to the pan and stir until softened
3. Crush or chop the garlic and add to pan
4. Add in the wine and simmer for 15 minutes then add in the stock, tomatoes, oregano and bay leaves
5. Place lid on dish and simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours, until veal is tender and marrow is soft enough to be able to scoop out.

Serve with polenta or potatoes.

Caramelised banana and cinnamon muffins

I love to make muffins because they are so quick and easy to make and are a great way of using up fruit that is about to go off or bits and bobs that are lying about in your store cupboard. Whilst they are still heavy on the calories, they can be slightly better than a standard sponge cake, as you can get away with less butter and sugar! They are still a treat of course and I love to have them with a nice pot of coffee for 'elevenses' . White chocolate and cranberry, lemon and poppy seed and the good old blueberry muffin are all favourites of mine but here is a recipe for banana muffins, as I had a couple of bananas that were just a bit too squidgy to eat on their own. You can leave out the caramelising part, if you do want it a little bit healthier but it does make them a lot tastier and you could always go for a brisk walk afterwards.

Ingredients ( makes 12 muffins)

250g self raising flour

50g melted butter

25g butter (for caramel)

50ml water

10ml olive oil

150ml semi-skimmed milk

150g caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

2 large or 3 small bananas

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. First of all make the caramel by adding 50g of the caster sugar and 50ml of water to a small, heavy pan. Heat until the syrup starts to take on a golden brown colour then add in 25g of butter and stir gently, just until the butter is mixed in. Be careful not to stir too much as your sauce will become grainy. Add in your chopped bananas and cook until softened. The mixture will be very hot so please take care. Once softened take off the heat and allow mixture to cool whilst you make your muffin mixture.
2. Heat oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4. Melt your 50g butter and allow to cool
3. In one bowl sift the flour and add the baking powder, cinnamon and sugar then mix.
4. In a second bowl beat the eggs and add in the milk, oil and melted butter and stir
5. Make a well in the dry mixture and add stir in the wet mixture until combined. Now add in your caramelised banana mixture and mix together, until you get a thick lumpy mixture
6. Line a muffin tray with muffin cases and top each case 2/3 the way, to allow room for a high rise. Cook for 20 minutes. Allow muffins to cool in the tray for 5 minutes then move to a wire cooling rack until ready to serve.

Chocolate and peanut butter fudge cake

I absolutely adore chocolate and simply cannot get enough, even though my teeth and thighs will disagree. Chocolate makes me happy, calm, relaxed, excited and it keeps me sane, it is safe to say I am obsessed with it.  I am writing this up two weeks into giving up chocolate for Lent and it is hell, so I am drooling at just the thought of making this cake again. Generally I will eat any type of chocolate but one favourite is fudge cake (served hot with ice-cream is heaven!) and another is nutty chocolate, which brought me to making this lovely, nutty loaf cake.

Ingredients

For the cake

175g self raising flour

175g caster sugar

125g butter, softened

½ tsp baking powder

2 large eggs

3 tbs milk

2 heaped tbs cocoa powder

For the peanut butter frosting

50g unsalted butter

3 tbs peanut butter, I use crunchy but use smooth if you prefer

150g icing sugar

200g dark chocolate

2tbs milk

Method

1. Butter and line your loaf tin with grease proof paper and pre-heat oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4
2. First of all make your sponge by creaming the sugar and butter until pale and smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time and stir then fold in your flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Add in the milk and stir.
3. Poor the cake mixture into the lined tin and bake for 40 minutes until you can stick in a knife and it comes out clean. Leave to cool whilst you make your frosting
4. Whisk the butter and icing sugar with an electric whisk until soft and creamy, add in the peanut butter and whisk until combined.
5. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Once melted add milk and combine with butter and sugar mixture. If the mixture seems too thick then add a little more milk.
6. Spread the frosting over the top and the sides of the cake and put in fridge for half an hour to harden slightly, as it may be a little too soft .
7. Get yourself a nice cuppa, a good book and a big slice of cake then relax.

Here are a couple of my favourite chocolate ports of call;

The chocolate cellar, a great company that sells great chocolate goodies, including some excellent truffles, and holds various chocolate workshops http://www.thechocolatecellar.co.uk/

The chocolate library, a fabulous new find that combines two of my great loves; chocolate and books. Great for gifts or little treats for yourself. http://chocolatelibrary.co.uk/