Original : 24th Nov 2012
I love Osso Buco, it taste so nice and is a great dish for autumn. A great comfort food dish. The house smells beautiful and gets everybody in a good mood.
Ingredients :
Garlic – Carrots – Celeri – Onions – Shallots
Pepper – Salt – Nutmeg – Flour – Butter
Chicken Stock – Osso Buco Veal pieces
Couscous or Pasta to go with it
It is very easy to prepare. Buy some nice pieces of veal, make sure there is no “loose” pieces of bones and dip in flour on both sides.
Seal the meat in your “Creuset” with a nice piece of butter. [update : I also add a bit of olive oil to make the butter foam-up a bit] Do not hesitate to put butter, it is a comfort dish, not some sprouting beans…Watch the temperature of the butter so that it does not burn too much. you just want to seal the meat, not cook it. Put some pepper to taste. I like it when it has a little bit of a kick. Do not put too much salt at this point, because you will put the chicken stock later which is salty on its own.
Once the meat is browned, put on the side and stir the onions. Again, do not burn the onions, you simply want to melt them and “clean” the dish to get all the nice flavours in the juice rather than sticking to the pan.
When the onions have started to get transparent, throw-in the other vegetables, carrots, celery shallots, garlic. Stir constantly until the dish is nice and clean at the bottom. (see the pictures). At this point, I like to add a little bit of nutmeg. This is the “secret” in my recipe of Osso Buco.
Prepare a chicken stock. (500ml approx)
Put the veal back in the Creuset pot, putting the meat on the bottom and the vegetables all around and over. Then cover with the chicken stock. I usually cover up to the top of the meat. You can put more or less depending on how juicy you want the final product. I prefer juicy and the kids like it that way as well.
Put the Creuset dish in the oven with the cover, at 160 degrees Celsius. For at least 90 minutes, or until the veal comes off the bones. This is almost a slow cooking dish. So do not hesitate to leave longer. The meat will not get dry, because of the juices from the vegetables and the chicken stock. If the stock evaporates too much, simply add a bit of water. But usually this is not necessary.
When ready to serve, I like to serve it with Couscous or Tagliatelle pasta.
Enjoy…
[update : It is ok to cook this in advance of people coming to the house and re-heat on time. It is also great on day 2 after a day in the fridge]
Only 4 days to go…
Saw this in the back of the European Headquarters’ building in Uxbridge , made me laugh…
We have not been “Rank Xerox” since 1997…
I never joined the club…maybe I missed on something special !
Can’t wait to spend some time on “me” and start to “grow” again…
As I organise my leaving party, I am amazed by the number of Xerox people who want to join me for a celebration drink and a bit of fun.
Anything Special about 4 ?
Four is the only number in English that is equal to the number of letters in its name.
Four on a calculator uses 4 LCD segments
The ancient Greeks associated the number four with earthly balance, believing that everything was made of four elements: earth, air, fire and water.
Pythagoras maintained that the soul of man consists of a tetrad, the four powers of the soul being mind, science, opinion, and sense.
I usually calculate the X4 by simply doing X2 twice…
While trying to convert the Irish into Christians, St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the holy trinity with each leaf representing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So when a Shamrock has a fourth leave, it brings “luck” to the party.
Only a few workdays to go before I get released from my duties at the office….
I feel relieved from the inappropriate pressures but still sad for all the people I leave behind.
I need to grow, learn, be inspired and feel loved, all of which I have felt for the last 25 years but not today.
Number of days left :
Did you know you can quickly calculate the 9 table ?
Let’s say you want to find out what is 7 X 9 ?
Simply take the 7 take 1 off it => 6
Then think what would be the complementary number to this 6 that would make it go to 9…that’s 3. Because 6 and 3 make 9.
So the result is 63 !
2 x 9 = 1…..8…..18
3 x 9 = 2….7…..27
4 x9 = 3…..6….36
Easy calculus…
I have actually tried to make Cassoulet a few times but never got it to work. The following recipe is the closest I have ever got to a truly delicious Cassoulet that all the family likes.
Ingredients :
How to Make :
Jules and I are making an Iphone App for my Tesla…we hope to be millionaires soon…
The best part is probably just the fun of playing together.
A short Video :
Long time since last update.
A friend leaving the office (we have plenty of those at the moment), reminded me that I should post more often…
This is a very very very nice way to make Brioche bread. My sister in law gave me the recipe.
Ingredients :
How to Make it :
If you take out of the mould too quickly it might crush on itself but it won’t affect the taste !
All the family love this one.
Simple Recipe :
How to Make it:
Mix all dry parts first, including herbs.
Then add olive oil, 2 to 3 tablespoons
650ml lukewarm water (a bit warmer than blood …about 40degrees)
mix with a fork in the bowl
work the dough manually (for therapy effect), use the machine if you want.
keep dough fairly moist
put on the work surface and work the dough, about 5 minutes.
“tuck-in” the dough into a ball and put into a large bowl with a bit of flour
let rise for 1 hour
put the dough into a large baking tray (clay or ceramic one) with olive oil in the bottom
poke the dough so that the tray is fully filled
put a bit of olive oil on top
let rise a second time for 20/30 minutes
poke with 1 finger in even spaced holes
pre-heat oven to 250 degrees.
Put Rosemary on top of the dough.
poke the dough with 1 finger until holes evenly spread
add a bit of rock salt on top.
put in the oven for 20/30 minutes or until golden brown and dry inside.
Take out and let cool for 30 minutes
These are great gifts, I like to make them, I like to go to somebody’s house who still have them for many years before. In some way, I like the idea that it is a piece of me in other people’s lives.
They are made with 3mm bamboo sheets, which har more and more difficult to source. These ones are caramel colour.
I usually use 3 layers or 3mm bamboo, laser cut, then glued in place.
Then a fair amount of sanding, polishing to get to the nice sheen and touch feeling that the final product gives.
I like the texture and the feeling you get when you touch these when they are finished.
I was inspired by a first design discovered on Pinterest and decided to make a few variations, I still have a few more ideas of variations to make but need to find a reliable source of bamboo sheets.
Now that I have learned to use the software tools such as Fusion360 and Adobe illustrator, I am able to go quickly from design to finished product with minimum waste of time or materials.
This weekend, made a tray for Bathroom to hold toothbrushes etc…with draining holes and stainless steel hardware.
I remember the days of my youth when I was waiting for these tools to be available to use. I knew it would come but it has been very slow coming….
My observation today, is that the software has evolved well but the interface to the production machines such as the laser or the 3d printer are still very buggy or cumbersome. There is still a lot of progress to happen here.
For example in 2006, when I bought my first CNC the software was very DIY and reflected how the machine worked rather than how the human would want to interact with the machine.
An example of that would be: Assume you want to simply carve a circle in a material. The 2006 software would require you to provide “all” the parameters and would require you to calculate the offsets of the tools using a text editor and some G-Code.
Today it is better but still not great. You draw in Fusion to ensure precision in the drawing, export to illustrator to get an SVG or another file format that the CNC/Laser can understand, then provide parameters to the machine for cutting, then start cutting.
Still, I find the laser and amazing tool to go quickly from Design to Finished product…
Simple / Quick / Delicious….
Made one this Saturday morning was all done before I could finish my coffee…
Can be eaten hot or cold with salad and bread,
Nice smell in the house for the kids to wake-up.
Ingredients :
How to make :
A colleague in the office just got 30 years of Company.
He told us of an old story that his dad (an ex-Xerox as well) told him many years ago. without going into the details, the below poem is worth a bit of reflection.
The Indispensable Man
Sometime when you’re feeling important;
Sometime when your ego ‘s in bloom;
Sometime when you take it for granted,
You’re the best qualified in the room:
Sometime when you feel that your going,
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions,
And see how they humble your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining,
Is a measure of how much you’ll be missed.
You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you’ll find that in no time,
It looks quite the same as before.
The moral of this quaint example,
Is to do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There’s no indispensable man.
Just a few things done during the weekend to clear my mind …
Quick pint with the kids, trash talk, laughs, (the best).
Longboarding in the sun (second best, especially with the right Playlist)
Raspberry pi Programming, painful on my old brain but rewarding
(ultimately for the Tesla charging app)
3D Printed Bracket for music speaker on the bike. (Preparing for summer rides)
Digital Embroidery of new “Boule Club” of Jules. (He made it, I am so proud)
Laser cut tracker for fish feeding…Fusion 360 Design to Finished product in 3 hours.
(Action trumps perfection)
I still feel I have done very little of what I could do.
Amused by all the commotion around some cold weather front…feels like a lot of emotion and not much process…I am in Aberdeen….not playing tennis tonight…
Update : Was probably to “flippant” about the weather, my “karma” got adjusted this morning with the boiler not working and freezing conditions….12 degrees celsius inside at the moment and dropping.
Still cannot believe I have spent 25 years, or half of my life, working for Xerox…
Started on a 6-month non-renewable contract, thanks to a very clever manager that saw some potential in a young and
in-experienced lad.
Some days I think I was lucky, others I think I worked hard…
When I look back, I am always proud of the legacy I am still building and grateful to the “giants” that coached me and thought that I could be trusted with the keys of the business .
In the office, I use regularly the expression “Mind Like Water”
from the book: Getting Things done.
I have used the concepts many times and feel it is worth sharing.
For me, my “restful” picture in my mind is a large powder field which I have either just been down or about to rip. It requires complete attention to only one thing and clearing everything else out of your mind.
Because I had a severe accident skiing in the past, clearing my mind before a steep slope and enjoying the moment is very powerful.
Last week, the return to the office from a week’s holiday was not great and these images were very helpful to keep me going. They do not make me happy in themselves, just remind me of the state of my mind that I should be in.
What is your mind image?
Been trying to consider how to replace my 2D Maglite battery powered to a modern Lithium 28650 – 5000mah.
2D Cells was 2X1.5V=3V total
2X 28650 Batteries give 2X4.2V=8.4V at full charge, dropping to around 7.6V when flat.
Had to replace the led bulb with a new one, made a couple of battery holders to keep the Lithium cells in the middle of the torchlight, used a 3 X 8mm disk magnets to connect everything together and then had to make a new end cap spring to accomodate for the new length of the batteries.
It all works and it is substantially brighter than the previous setup.
