Spring may be around the corner but the weather is still chilly here in Melbourne's inner west - and that means I'm still cooking lots of hearty one pot meals! I can't go past Osso Bucco in winter, it's rich in favour, simple to prepare and easy on the family's shopping budget.

For biodynamic beef we like to shop at Hagen's Organics - although they're located outside the inner west we're happy to travel high quality organic and biodynamic meat. The result is always a better tasting meal with less toxin exposure and better impact on the environment when compared to conventional farming practices.

We like to prioritise our "organic dollar" and this means that we prefer to pay for organic meat and animal products over some fruits and vegetables (think the dirty dozen, clean fifteen). This is because animals, like us humans, store toxins in our body's fat deposits. When you eat some beef, you are also eating a portion of the cow's stored toxins including the pesticides and medications they were exposed to. When you eat biodynamic meat your exposure to these toxins reduces due to the strict farming practices of biodynamic farmers which prohibits the use of artificial chemicals.

This is my mother's recipe and will always remind me of cosy Sunday night dinners, with the fireplace roaring and our family all together.

Ingredients

1kg beef osso bucco (about 4 shanks cut into 3 pieces each)
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, sliced
1 large onion, diced
3 celery stalks, sliced
1 cloves of garlic, peeled
Pinch of salt
Dash of ground pepper
2 x 400g cans of tinned tomatoes or 8 chopped fresh tomatoes
3/4 cup of red wine - I like Shiraz
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp mixed Italian dried herbs
2 bayleaves
1 tbs stock paste/powder

Method

Preheat oven to 175C fan forced.
Heat oil in a large casserole pot. Add the carrots, onions, celery and garlic over medium heat until the onions are tender.
Remove the vegetable mixture from the pot.
Over a high heat sear the osso bucco in batches using the same pot. Add oil sparingly if required. Once the meat is seared place on a plate to the side.
Return the vegetable mixture to the pan and add the tomatoes, wine, stock and herbs. Bring liquid to the boil, stirring occasionally and then remove from heat.
Add the osso bucco to the sauce and season with salt and pepper.
Put casserole pot into the oven with the lid on. Cook for 1 + 1/2 hours.
Serve with brown rice or mashed potato and gremolata (below).

Serves 6

Gremolata

1 bunch of parsely, leaves removed from stems, chopped.
Rind of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 clove of garlic, finely diced

Simply combine the gremolata ingredients and sprinkle over the meat before serving.