Red Wine Braised Veal & Honey Glazed Carrots

Twice cooked osso bucco, honey glazed baby carrots, parsley jelly and Pinot Noir jus, served with sweet carrot and ginger tea

1. Sear osso bucco (marrow removed) and caramelise diced carrot, celery and leek. Braise with beef stock, Pinot Noir (perfect for braising because of its deep and rich flavour), thyme and bay leaves for 3 hours on a medium simmer. The liquid should reduce by half. 

2. Pull veal off the bone, flake with a fork and combine with the raw marrow. Roll into a log with cling wrap and set in the fridge for a few hours (I was impatient so the log didn't hold too well, but it was still delicious). Fry the log in a pan with butter and olive oil until brown. Rest, slice and serve. Reduce braising liquid by half and add butter to make the jus.

3. Blanch a bunch of parsley leaves in salted water. Puree with a blender or whiz stick the parsley with about a quarter cup of the water. Push through a fine sieve and dissolve gelatine in the green liquid. Set in a shallow dish (I used a mini flan dish) lined with cling wrap. Cut into cubes.

4. Blanch baby carrots in water, sugar, star anise and cloves. Add ginger to the water and serve as a tea. Glaze carrots with a mixture of water, butter, honey and sugar. 

Saw a similar recipe on the food channel and loved that it used cheap and humble ingredients, treated with lots of love. I'm so glad it's getting cool enough to enjoy hearty, slow-braised meals. Not only does it warm up the house, it gives me an outlet for my OCD for hours at a time (is there anything more enjoyable than arranging small objects to make them pretty?). We enjoyed this with a great friend, a few glasses of wine (and when we ran out of red, we moved onto white) and a night of trashy movies.