Short ribs redux

Rory and I decided to have some people over for dinner on Friday. Thad, Erika, Loraine and Alex were two couples we were long overdue in having over, especially since Erika is a frequent reader of the blog. I pretty much stuck to thing I knew here, other than with dessert.

I actually made the very first recipe I ever posted here. And while it was good the first time around, this time it was much, much better. Three major difference: better browning, dried mushrooms, more reduction.

I wasn't able to buy the flanken style short ribs that I like, so I had to go with something smaller, but I really got a good sear on them. The last few months have really taught me the importance of getting a good crust on the meat.

The first time around I didn't think the dried mushrooms were that important, I was wrong. They added an earthiness that really gave the flavor some extra depth. I won't skip this again.

Reduction: I didn't do this right last time. Basically a half hour before we sat down I took the meat out of the pot and cranked up the heat and let it cook down for a little more than a half hour. The results was this thick, rich sauce that was awesome.

I roasted the asparagus and made the usual mashed potatoes. The only thing I may do differently is not cook it for as long as I did in the future. The meat cooked for about six and a half hours and was pretty much falling apart. I could probably get just as goof flavor with the meat holding together if I cooked it for three hours.

But overall, the entree was great, the dessert, well, it tasted good.

I attempted to make my first ever souffle, a dark chocolate and lime souffle in individual ramekins. The recipe isn't very complex, but I wanted to do as much as possible beforehand so I wasn't in the kitchen after dinner. I decided to make the chocolate portion of the dessert before any one arrived and then after dinner whip the egg whites and finish the job.

It didn't work. By the time I got to the chocolate mixture it was all crumbly. I tried adding some of the whipped egg whites but it wasn't taking. I added a little water mixed it and then added the egg whites and it still seemed too heavy. I put the batter in the ramekins and baked for about 15 minutes. The result: individual brownies. They were good, but they weren't souffle. At least I know what I did wrong.

Braised chicken thighs and lemon risotto

Chicken thighs are tasty. They are quickly becoming my favorite part of the chicken to cook and eat, they have a great flavor, even though they aren't that good for you.

I hadn't gotten to the store in about a week and didn't feel like going so I was left to scrounge. I had some chicken thighs in the freezer but was looking for a new way to prepare them (I have been cooking them a number of different ways this summer but haven't posted about that yet).

So as I am apt to do when looking for a new recipe I went to Bittman and found a killer recipe in The Best Recipes in the World. I had just about everything I needed except for the bacon (yes, I know you are all shocked).

The original recipe calls for chopping up a few slices of bacon, cooking them until they're crisp along with some rosemary, thyme and a couple of cloves of fresh garlic. I used a little olive oil instead and cooked the garlic until it was brown and then removed it. You want the heat kind at least medium high at this point.

Then you add the chicken and brown on both sides for a total of 15 minutes. At this point you'll have quite a bit of liquid in the pan, mostly fat. Drain a good portion of it off, but leave a little. Now add half a cup of balsamic vinegar and half a cup of water. Let cook for a few minutes at high heat and then turn the heat down and cover. Cook for another 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

After chicken is cooked remove from pan. If the sauce is a little thin crank up the heat and cook down. The end result to a pan sauce that just tasted fantastic, a little sweet but chickeny, really good. Drizzle a little over the chicken and serve.

As a side I made a lemon risotto. It was pretty simple. I diced up a couple of shallots and a celery stalk and softened in a couple of tablespoons of butter. I then added the aboria rice and let cook for another couple of minutes before adding a cup of white wine. I just used water the rest of the way, adding a little as it cooked up. After the rice was done I added the zest of one lemon and its juice along with about a cut of Parmesan cheese. It had a nice subtle lemon flavor and paired nicely with the sweet balsamic sauce for the chicken.

Short Ribs

While the weather is getting better and it's pretty much time to move away from braising and to grilling I had to do short ribs one last time.

The recipe I used was similar to my first post and this recipe. I did a few things different though. Here's what you need.

4 slices of bacon
3 pounds of beef short ribs
Flour for dredging
Salt and pepper
1 large carrot diced
1 rib of celery diced
1 large onion diced
3 cloves of garlic diced
1 bottle of zinfandel
2 cups of beef stock
1 TBLSP dried thyme
1 TBLSP dried oregano
1 bay leave
1 TSP red pepper flake
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 pound of crimini mushrooms

Chop up the bacon into 1.2 inch pieces and place in dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook until crispy and fat is rendered. Set aside.

Dredge short ribs in flour and season with salt and pepper. Sear each of the short ribs, working in batches if necessary, until they are seared on all sides, set aside. After all the ribs are done deglaze the pan with a little of the wine getting all the brown bits up. Cook until all the wine is cooked off.

Turn the pan down to medium and add the onions, celery and carrots and cook for five to seven minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for another minutes or so making sure you don't burn the garlic. Add the ribs and bacon to the pot and add the wine, beef stock and spices.

Bring to a boil, cover and turn the heat to low. Cook for three to four hours. After about two hours add the sliced mushrooms.

I feel like I'm on a roll between this and the meal I cooked last Sunday. These turned out exceptionally well. The zinfandel added a nice flavor and there was a sweetness and a tartness to the tender meat. I'm glad they worked out because I won't likely be making them again until it gets cold out again. Though now I do get to look forward to grilling season.

pork and red wine pasta sauce

This was one of the best things I've cooked in awhile. I've made this before, but it didn't turn out as well. My buddy Jay made it for a dinner party and then sent me the recipe. I believe he got it out of a Bittman cookbook, but I can't be sure.

Last Friday I was in Dominick's pacing the meat case once again trying to figure out what to cook. No beef short ribs, which was my original plan, so I was seeing what they had when I saw these small packages of pork spareribs. They packages were about a pound each and only a couple of bucks. I thought of this pasta sauce recipe and went to work. Here's what you need.

3 slices of thick cut bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 pounds pork spareribs
Flour for dredging
2 large shallots
1 stalk of celery diced
1 carrot diced
3 cloves of garlic diced
1 large can of tomato puree
1 bottle of Cabernet
1 TBLSP oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut up the bacon and cook over medium-high heat in large cast iron dutch oven. Cook until bacon is crispy and fat is rendered and remove to plate.

While the bacon is cooking place some flour in a plate and begin to dredge the cut up pork ribs. season with salt and pepper. In batches brown the rubs in the bacon fat and set aside.

After all the ribs are browned deglaze the pan with about 1/2 a cup of the red wine and let it cook off. Add the diced shallots, celery and carrots to the pan and cook for three to five minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Place the ribs and bacon back in the pan and add tomato puree and wine.

Cook for about an hour and then taste, season accordingly. Allow to cook for another two to thrwe hours until the rib meat is falling off the bone. Remove bones from the sauce and serve with pasta. I used a fettucini.

The sauce was rich and had a great depth to it. The meat was tender almost melting in your mouth. I was very happy with how this turned out.

Spicy pork and chili pepper goulash

My sister is a big fan of Jamie Oliver, I've bought her at least one or two if his cookbooks.
I never gave him much thought one way or another. When the new Iron Chef season kicked off on the Food Network I watched Oliver challenge Mario Battali. That show was basically a way for the Food Network to promote Oliver's new show, "Jamie at Home."

It's on a bit early for me so the only one I have caught was his chili and pepper show that I had set to record. The show is entertaining but the thing that bothers me about Oliver is that he doesn't work very clean. He doesn't wash his hands often and never seems to wipe anything down. It just bugs me.

But that was the episode where me made the Spicy Pork and Chili-Pepper Goulash. This was one where I watched it and said, "I'm going to make that."

This is the perfect one-pot meal. You'll want to sharpen up your knives because there's a lot of chopping involved but it's worth it. This this turned out excellent. I let it cook in the oven for four hours because I wasn't in a hurry. Also, the sour scream and lemon zest was a perfcet topping opening up another dimension of flavors.

It had a full flavor, but wasn't spicy at all, maybe a two on a ten scale. The one area I skimped on the recipe was the paprika. I didn't seek out a good smoked paprika beforehand, though I did look for one at the store. I ended up using what I had in my cabinet. A good paprika probably would have made this recipe even better.

I also enjoyed Oliver's method of preparing rice. Rice has long been a problem for me, I either overcook it or under cook it and never get it right and it pisses me off to no end. But his idea of boiling it and then steaming it was quick and easy and it turned out very well.

Lamb stew

The recipe called this a casserole, but it' a stew. Casserole are typically made in casserole pans and baked for at least a short time. I don't know why Emeril calls it a casserole.

I ended up buying some lamb shoulder chops from Dominick's. I cut them up as best I could but left a bit of meat on the bone. This was the first time I've ever made lamb. I enjoy ordering it when I'm out, but never have tried to prepare it myself. I figured this was a good first try since it's hard to screw something up when braising it.

I let it simmer for a couple of hours. After a little more than an hour I tried the stew and it had no flavor. I added a bit more of the Cajun essence and salt and pepper and it turned out well. Most of the thing I have been cooking latley through are underseasoned at first and need some adjustment. Is this common?

It's also funny what a difference 30 minutes makes. I tried a small piece of the lamb after about an hour and it was chewy and tough. But after two hour it was tender and juicy. Right before serving I took the bones that had meat on them out of the stew, let them cool for a few minutes and picked the meat off. This also required a bit of fat skimming.

As for the bacon that we used to initially cook I used it as a garnish. It was nice, added a nice texture.

Pot roast smothered in onions and bacon

Since it had been a week and a half since I had done anything with bacon I figure I was alright to go back to it. I found this recipe a couple of months ago and was holding on to it. It had three of may favorite things: bacon, garlic and onions.

It also took advantage of my favorite way to cook: braising. Other than grilling I can't think of a better way to prepare something. Braising enables you to take some of the toughest cuts of meet and make them tender and delicious.

That said, this recipe turned out just ok. I used a chuck roast, but didn't tie it I just sliced it into one-inch pieces. I cooked the bacon, letting the fat render, but not until crispy. This was my first mistake. I should have cooked it until crispy. Then I started browning the roast, but I forgot to season it with salt and pepper, my second mistake.All said the meat was tender, but it was lacking in flavor. Even when I added salt it was just ok. I might make it again, but since there are so many other pot roast recipes out there I'll probably try something different next time.One thing I will definitely make again is the potato side: Lori's skillet smashed potatoes. These turned out really well and I made just one slight change. I threw five or six large garlic cloves into the water while boiling the potatoes and then fried them up with the potatoes. They had a great flavor and texture.

South Side Meat and Pepper Chili

I hosted a poker game Friday and made a pot of chili for the guys. I've made this version a handful of times always playing with it slightly. Once you get the basics down chili is one of the easiest things to make. I tinkered this time by adding some beef short ribs. When I went to my store they had a slab sitting there so I decided to throw them in too. Here's what you need and what I did.

2 large onions
1 large green pepper
1 large red pepper
4 jalapenos
2 poblano peppers
2 banana peppers
2 pounds beef stew meat
1 pound cubed pork shoulder
2 pounds beef short ribs
1 large can of tomato sauce
1 tallboy of cheap beer
2 TBLSP ground cumin
1 TBLSP salt
1 TBLSP ground black pepper
2 TBLSP red pepper flakes
1 small can of tomato paste
Shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream

Dice up all you onions and peppers being careful to remove most of the seeds, that's where the peppers get their heat from. Also wash your hands before rubbing your eyes, nose of other sensitive body part because the pepper juice will set whatever you touch on fire.

Toss all the diced veggies into a stock pot with a little bit of olive oil and sautee over medium heat until tender, about 10 or 12 minutes. While that's working salt and pepper the meat and brown over high heat in a sautee pan. Do it in batches if needed and set aside. Once the veggies are ready toss the meat in. Add the tomato sauce and beer and stir together.

Reduce heat and cover for an hour. After time has passed stir and add spice. What I said to use is a basic guide, you can do more or less depending on what you like. Keep heat on low and let cook for at least another two hours. During this time you'll have to skim some of the grease off the chili as well.

After that time has elapsed and depending on the consistency of the chili you may want to add some tomato paste to thicken it up a little bit. Also at this point you'll want to remove the short ribs and let cool for a few minutes. Remove the bones and chop the meat into smaller pieces and then throw it back in with the chili.

I suggest topping with cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Braised short ribs: the results

This was a pretty simple dish to cook, there are a couple of things that made it a bit more complicated but overall not too bad. I browned the meat and made the sauce and threw it in the dutch oven. The one thing that made it complicated was the fat. Short ribs are extremely fatty and as you braise the meat that fat comes off so you need to skim it off the sauce or it'll taste like crap. I don't know if there's a better way to do it but I look for where the fat is on the sauce and took a large metal spoon and skimmed it off. All told, I probably ended up skimming a cup and a quarter of fat off the sauce and two different points. Again, it's a pain in the ass to do but you have to do it.

I ended up braising the short ribs for a little more than three hours. They were falling off the bone at that point. You could probably go a little bit less, but I wouldn't recommend it. And you could let it cook longer if you wanted to. I cranked up the heat on the sauce to let it cook down but it wasn't doing much so I added a little flour to thicken it. When I tired the sauce on its own it was pretty sweet, but with the meat and potatoes it worked well.
The photo above is my attempt at a nice presentation, yeah, I know not very nice but I figured I would try. Also, I substituted portabello for porcini and I think it worked.

The meal overall was fantastic. I was very happy with the flavor and texture of the meat. Rory says the meat melted off the bone, you could taste the zinfandel (the wine didn't suck) but it wasn't overpowering.

I will make this recipe again, but will most likely try another short rib recipe before going back to this one.

Mmmmmm Meat

Tonight I make braised short ribs. I am using John Besh's recipe from Esquire. Finding a zinfandel at the local Dominick's was tough, only one bottle available and I'm hoping it doesn't suck. They also didn't have the porcini mushroom so I'm using portabello (and how can anything with portabello mushrooms suck?).

This is my first time making braised short ribs. I don't remember my influence to make them, I read something somewhere and thought they sounded good. And it's Friday, I'm off from work and have time to cook something that's a bit more elaborate. I'll post picture tomorrow of the process and how it all went.

I'll be serving a side of mashed potatoes and sauted asparagus. I just remove the ends of the asparagus, put a little olive oil in a pan with garlic and toss them in there with salt and pepper. Easy and tasty.

As for yesterday, I didn't make the risotto carbonara. A buddy called and offered me a free ticket to the Bulls game and I opted for that instead. Though I will still be making that soon.