Cut 8 of the mushrooms into ½" cubes, and slice the others about the thickness of a pound coin.
Warm the double cream in a small saucepan, meanwhile in a hot frying pan fry the mushroom cubes in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Keep them moving and keep them hot so they fry and brown rather than just steaming in their own juices.
De-glaze the pan with white wine and stir into the cream.
Simmer the cream to reduce and thicken a little. Season. Re-grease the pan and fry the mushroom slices until browned. Drain on kitchen roll.
Use the slices to garnish the sauce, or stir them through for a more attractive appearance.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Thoroughly butter a small loaf tin or oven dish I used a silicon mould which made turning out really easy. Chop the herbs of your choice I had 2 tablespoons of parsley and leaves from a half dozen thyme sprigs. Bring the milk, water and salt to boil in a large pot. Measure out the cornmeal and set it in a jug to hand, then stream it gradually into the water through your fingers as you whisk continuously. I used a slotted plastic spoon which worked well. Keep whisking for a minute or two until the polenta thickens.
Mix the butter I added 20g and herbs into the polenta and pour out into the buttered loaf tin. Cover with buttered greaseproof paper and bake for an hour.

Leave the polenta to cool it should set like cake, then turn out onto a rack. When you're ready to eat, cut the polenta loaf into fat slices and heat about half an inch of sunflower oil (or other neutral oil) in a deep frying pan until very hot. Fry the slices quickly in a single layer, turning until they take on a golden colour. Scoop out with a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen roll, and serve.

Have the butcher saw the shank into sections suitable for individual servings ideally about 2" thickness - though to be honest mine were a bit on the large side since I had three pieces each about 4" you can reserve the ankle joint for stock.
Chop the vegetables into fairly chunky pieces - around ¾" so they survive the long cooking.
Tie string around each bone section so they will hold together as they cook otherwise the meat will fall completely away from the bones. Coat them lightly with flour by sifting some onto a plate and rolling the pieces in it.

Heat a little rendered beef fat to very hot in a large cast-iron pot if you have one - or a heavy frying pan will do and brown the sections nicely all over turning them with a pair of tongs. Don't overfill the pan, and as each piece is done, set it aside in the slow cooker.
Once all the meat is done, throw in the carrots and start them frying, then the onions until they begin to colour, then the celery just to coat. Add to the slow cooker. De-glaze the pan with red wine, add some stock I used chicken, but I imagine veal would be ideal! and bubble them up until they reduce to about half. You'll need enough reduced liquid to almost cover the meat. Season lightly and add to the slow cooker. Throw in a rosemary sprig and the leaves stripped from a few thyme sprigs.

Turn the slow cooker on low and cook until the meat is tender enough to pull away from the bones and shred with a fork. Mine took about 10 hours - I had to do it in two sessions, about 6 hours the first evening and another 3 or so the next after I got home from work. But then, mine was a monster shin cut into monster pieces. Regular osso buco is reckoned to take only 1-2 hours. It will taste best if you leave it in a cool place for a couple of days for the flavours to meld then reheat it to serve on the day. It's also easier to manage the timing if you know the meat is already properly cooked. My slow cooker took almost 3 hours on high to completely re-heat the meat though - so be sure to start in good time.

To serve, lift the meat pieces into warmed serving dishes, cleaning them of any clumps of vegetables. Strain the liquid into a pan and reduce until it makes a satisfactory sauce, enrich with a little butter if you like pour over the meat, dress with gremolata and hand out to your eager guests.

Crush the garlic with a little salt with the side of chef's knife.
Finely grate the lemon or orange peel, peel into strips and finely chop.
Chop the parsley reasonably finely.
Mix with the olive oil and a grinding of pepper.

Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

Warm the milk, sugar, salt and vanilla pod in the same saucepan and simmer gently to infuse. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over the medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (80°C/17°F on an instant-read thermometer). Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir until cool over an ice bath. Or just chill it giving it the occasional stir!

Chill the mixture thoroughly overnight in the fridge or for 2-3 hour in the freezer. Peel and de-stone your ripe avocado it has to be soft and ripe or this will never work cleaning away any brown or hard spots. Press the flesh through a sieve into the ice cream mixture and mix in thoroughly. I didn't use a stick blender - but I suppose it's an idea. Now freeze the mix in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.)