Braised Short Ribs

These ribs are a little bit complicated, and have to cook for a few hours, so they are perfect for a Sunday dinner. They are delicious when served with polenta (see the next recipe) or with mashed potatoes, and with a vegetable like fresh green beans or broccoli. This recipe, along with the next two, were part of a dinner I served that only (ha! only) took me about 4 hours to make.

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients:
8 whole beef short ribs
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c All-Purpose flour
6 pieces Pancetta, diced (or you can do what I did- go to Trader Joes and pick up a package of already diced pancetta)
2 tbs Olive Oil
1 whole medium onion, diced
3 whole carrots, diced
2 whole shallots, diced
2 cups red or white wine (I went with red)
2 cups beef or chicken broth (I went with beef)
2 sprigs thyme
2 springs rosemary

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Salt and pepper the ribs on all sides, then dredge in flour. Set aside.

2. In a large dutch oven, cook the pancetta over medium heat until completely crispy and all of the fat is rendered. Remove pancetta and set aside; do NOT discard grease.



3. Add olive oil to pan with pancetta grease, raise heat to high. Brown ribs on all sides (this should only take about 45 seconds per side, if your oil has been heated). Remove ribs and set aside, turn heat down to medium.



4. Add onions, carrots, and shallots to pan and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape bottom of pan to deglaze. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.



5. Add broth, 1 tsp kosher salt, and plenty of fresh ground pepper. Add ribs to the liquid- we want them almost completely submerged, so if needed, add more broth/wine. Add the rosemary and thyme sprigs to the liquid.



6. Put on the lid, and cook in the oven for 2 hours. Then reduce heat to 325 degrees, and cook for an additional 30-45 minutes. Ribs should be fork-tender and falling off the bone. Remove pan from oven and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes. Skim the fat off of the top (or, let refrigerate if you have time and remove solid fat from the top).



7. Serve with polenta or mashed potatoes!

Bolognese Pie with Biscuit Topping

Once you get sick of eating leftover spaghetti, here is another (really really delicious) option for you. And, I guarantee you will have a ton of sauce left, but this makes you feel like you've made a whole new meal! And the best part is, it takes hardly any time.

Adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 3/4 inch chunks (or you could just slice that sucker up. Your choice)
Leftover Bolognese sauce

Biscuit Topping:
1 c all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 c milk
1/2 c finely grated Parmesan cheese

Note: this recipe calls for you to heat and bake the sauce in a cast iron skillet, but since I know you don't have one (me either, how sad is that?), you will have to get a couple more dishes dirty.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make the meat base: heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and sprinkle with rosemary (this is my personal addition, if you aren't a fan, feel free to skip); cook, stirring, until golden and just beginning to soften, 4-5 minutes. Stir in leftover bolognese sauce until warmed through.

2. Make the biscuit topping: in a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, thyme and salt. Using a fork or your fingers, work in butter until pea-sized clumps form. Stir in milk and cheese until dough just comes together.

Note: if you want to make the biscuit dough ahead of time, mix the dry ingredients together, work in the butter, and refrigerate (up to several hours ahead of time). When you are ready, stir in the milk and cheese, and proceed.

3. Pour meat mixture into a baking dish. Spoon dough over mixture in 6-8 small mounds, about 1 inch apart. Bake until meat mixture is bubbling and topping is golden brown, about 25 minutes (a toothpick should come out clean). Serve immediately.

Bolognese Sauce

Remember how we were talking about how you never want to cook when you get home late and are just exhausted and feel like eating burritos? And then I said you should make stuff the day before and eat it for a couple of days? Well, this recipe is exactly what I was talking about. And the best part is, you can change it a little bit so you don't feel like you are just eating spaghetti for days at a time.

Adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 lbs ground beef (or, 1 lb ground beef, 1 lb ground pork/turkey, etc)
1 can, 28 oz, of crushed tomatoes in puree
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup milk
Salt and Pepper
Spaghetti and Parmesan Cheese for serving

Note: this is one of those recipes where I highly recommend chopping and preparing everything before you start cooking. I cannot even begin to describe how much this will simplify your life.


1. Make sauce: in a large saucepan, heat oil over high heat. Add onions, carrots, and garlic. Cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add meat; cook breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, cook 1 minute. Season generously with salt and pepper.


2. Add wine and tomatoes. Bring sauce to a simmer, and cook (partially uncovered), stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 1 hour. Add milk; simmer until completely absorbed, about 15 minutes more. Season again with salt and pepper.




3. When sauce is almost done, cook your pasta. Serve with the sauce, and reserve the remaining sauce for leftovers.


You can serve this later reheated with pasta, over polenta, or with a biscuit recipe (to come!). To save your sauce, wait until it is completely cooled, then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Stuffed Peppers

This is a really easy, really delicious recipe. And best of all, depending on how much rice you have, you can have leftovers for days! It is fairly healthy, but a lot of it depends on personal decisions (i.e. how much cheese you use, whether you make them vegetarian, with ground turkey, or ground beef).

Ingredients:
4-6 Bell Peppers (any and all colors!)
Approx. 1 lb ground beef OR ground turkey
Long grained white rice
2 cans tomato sauce
Spices
2 c Mozzarella


1. Chop off the top of your peppers, and clean out the inside. Take a big pot of water, and bring it to a boil. Add your pepper in, 3 at a time, and let them boil for 5 minutes, turning to make sure all sides have cooked (this makes the peppers softer, so they are easier to eat in the end product). Remove, drain, and set in a glass cooking dish to cool.


2. Meanwhile, cook your rice according to package instructions. I like to make approximately 4-6 cups of cooked rice; while this will be too much for the peppers, I take the remainder and put it in a separate baking dish.

4. Preheat oven to 350. Brown the ground beef or turkey in a heavy skillet. Season well, and drain excess fat when browned.

5. Mix cooked rice with ground beef/turkey. Add in UP TO 2 cans of tomato sauce (it is up to you how wet you want it). Season well- I usually put in lots of Johnny's Seasoning Salt, some salt, pepper, and garlic salt.


6. Spoon the mixture into the peppers, piling as high as you'd like. Cover the top of each pepper with mozzarella. If there is excess mixture, place in a separate glass baking dish, and cover with the cheese.


7. Bake in the 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Serve!

A Valentine's Day Lunch

In honor of Maddie's request for a Valentine's day lunch, I'm ignoring her request for buffalo chicken, and instead putting up an easy, but impressive looking Chinese recipe. This is especially appropriate, because my friend Elysa pointed out to me that Valentine's day this year falls on Chinese New Year- so, sorry Mads, but this'll have to do for now! I hope you and Jimmy enjoy your first Valentine's day together :)

Orange Beef
From Quick & Easy Chinese

Serve with sticky rice- I typically look for sushi rice at the grocery store (avoid the typical long grained white rice if possible). To make it especially sticky (which makes it much easier to eat with chopsticks), soak it in cold water for 30 minutes prior to cooking to get rid of the starch. Rinse it in a strainer, and then follow the cooking times on the bag.

Note: it is easy to mess with the proportions on this recipe- I like a lot of sauce to pour on my rice, so I usually quadruple the amounts asked for. Also, you can err on the side of more beef (i.e. 1 lb instead of 3/4 if you want).

Ingredients:
3/4 lb thinly sliced beef
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs thinly shredded fresh orange peel or zest
1 tbs chopped fresh ginger
2 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbs dry sherry or Shaoxing rice wine
2 tbs orange juice
1 tbs sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce (note- dark soy sauce is mainly for the color it gives the dish. There is a slight taste difference, but because this is hard to find, it is fine to substitute regular soy sauce)
1 tsp salt
2 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 c shredded carrots
1/2 tsp Asian sesame oil
3 tbs finely chopped green onion

1. In a small bowl, combine the beef with the soy sauce and toss to season the meat evenly. Set aside to marinate while you prepare the other food.

2. Combine the orange peel, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes in a small bowl, and stir to mix them together lightly. Set aside.

3. (Note: these are the ingredients that I usually quadruple in order to get a substantial amount of sauce) In a medium bowl, combine the sherry, orange juice, sugar, cornstarch, dark soy sauce and salt. Stir well to dissolve the cornstarch and mix everything into a smooth sauce.

4. Heat the vegetable oil over high heat in a wok or large, deep skillet. Scatter in the beef and its marinade and spread the beef out into a single layer. Let it cook undisturbed for about 15 seconds, and then toss well. Add the carrots and cook, tossing now and then, until the beef is no longer pink and the carrots are beginning to wilt, about 1 minute.

5. Add the orange peel mixture and cook, tossing often, until it releases its fragrance, about 30 seconds.

6. Add the orange juice mixture, pouring it in around the sides of the pan and toss well. Cook, tossing now and then, until the beef is tender and evenly seasoned with the sauce. Add the sesame oil and green onion, toss well, and serve.