Short Ribs Braised in Porter with Molasses-Rosemary Glaze

I copied this recipe out of Oregon FOODday a very long time ago but never made it for various reasons, one of which being regular country-style short ribs were never a cut we requested from the butcher for the beef we buy every year. We always get Argentine-style short ribs. This year we went for the country-style, and the change is a welcome one.


The recipe actually calls for a maple-rosemary glaze. There are very few food items I detest as much as maple (milk and eggs are two, but I don't mind cooking with those - I can't even stand the smell of maple syrup), so I made the substitution of molasses. Yum. Since molasses is a bit thicker than maple syrup, I thinned it with just a touch of porter. Yum again.


This recipe takes a LONG time. I read the cooking time of 2.5 hours, and thought, perfect, this will be done at right about 8. Like a total novice, I didn't think about the time needed for prep. Obviously I haven't been cooking regularly enough. I ended up eating at more like 9.30. 


3 1/2 to 4 lbs meaty, bone-in short ribs
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 large yellow onions, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 carrots, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups porter ale, more if needed
3/4 cup beef, veal, or chicken stock
3 3 to 4 inch sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
3 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp prepared horseradish


1. Optional: one or two days before braising, arrange the short ribs in a loose layer on a tray. Sprinkle them all over with 1 1/2 to 2 tsp salt (there is no need to rub the salt into the meat) and cover loosely with wax paper or plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days.


2. Preheat the oven to 300F. Pat the ribs dry with a paper towel, but don't try to rub off the salt. Season with pepper. If you didn't salt the ribs in advance, season them now with salt and pepper.


3. Pour the oil into a Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Add only as many ribs as fit without touching and brown them, turning with tongs, until brown on all sides, about 4 min. per side. Transfer seared ribs to platter without stacking and continue until all ribs are browned.


4. Pour off and discard all but about a Tbsp of fat from the pot. Return the pot to medium high heat and add the onions and carrot. Season with salt and pepper and saute, stirring a few times, until the vegetables start to brown and soften, about 5 min. 


5. Add the porter and bring to a full boil. Boil for 2 min, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to dislodge and dissolve bits. Pour in the stock, bring again to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Return ribs to the pot along with any juices releases as they sat. Tuck one rosemary sprig and the bay leaves in between the ribs. The ribs should be partially submerged in the liquid. If necessary, add a bit more porter or water.


6. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper, pressing down so it nearly touches the ribs and hangs over the edges of the pot by about an inch. Set the lid securely in place. Slide the pot into the oven and braise at a gentle simmer, turning the ribs with tongs so as not to tear up the meat, every 40 to 45 minutes, until fork tender, about 2.5 hours. Check after the first 10 minutes to see that the liquid isn't simmering too aggressively; if it is, lower the oven temp 10 or 15 degrees.


7. While the ribs are braising, combine the molasses with the remaining rosemary sprigs in a small saucepan. Heat to a gentle boil over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 1 hour (can be made ahead of time).


8. When the ribs are tender and the meat is pulling away from the bones, use tongs or a slotted spoon to carefully transfer them to a flameproof gratin dish that is large enough to accommodate them in a single layer. Try to keep the ribs on the bones and intact, but don't worry if some bones slip out. Scoop out the vegetables with a slotted spoon and arrange them around the ribs. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm.


9. Tilt the braising pot to collect the juices in one end and skim off as much surface fat as you can with a large spoon. If the braising liquid exceeds 1 cup, bring it to a vigorous simmer over medium-high heat and cook it down to close to 1 cup, 10 to 15 minutes. It should have a syrupy consistency. Taste and season with salt and pepper.


10. Heat the broiler on high. If the glaze has been refrigerated, warm slightly so it is pourable. Remove the rosemary sprigs, running your fingers down the length of the springs so you save every drop of glaze. Put the horseradish in a small strainer, or the palm of your hand, and press or squeeze over the sink to eliminate as much liquid as possible, then stir the horseradish into the glaze. Brush the glaze on the tops of the short ribs. Pour the reduced braising liquid around the ribs. Slide the ribs under the broiler and broil until the surface of the ribs develops a shiny, almost carmelized glaze and you can hear them sizzle, about 4 minutes.


11. Transfer the ribs to serving plates. Spoon the braising liquid around, not over, the ribs and serve immediately.


I served the ribs with rosemary fingerling potatoes. I am not going to write out that recipe because the recipe above is super long and I am done writing out recipes. Also, I don't have a recipe for the potatoes so I'd have to make it up = a lot of effort. Some other time, readers.


Bon appetit.

Brunch at Screen Door

Happy Monday, loyal readers. I yet again have the problem that I really haven't been cooking enough to blog about cooking. Thank goodness that even when I am not cooking, I am still eating. So here are some pictures of a brunch that Santina and I shared at Screen Door back in January. 


There is a lot of good food and great restaurants in Portland. It's so hard to say that any one restaurant is my favorite, but if I really had to pick, it would be Screen Door. I went for the first time for the first birthday I spent in Portland back in 2006. My little sister was visiting, and for a birthday present she picked out a restaurant for dinner and took me there. That restaurant was Screen Door, and at the time it was the hot new place to go. That dinner, and every meal I have had at Screen Door since, was perfection.


Screen Door was also one of Santina's favorite spots when she lived in Portland, so we decided to brunch there. A handy thing about living two blocks away like I do is that I can put my name in, then head home to drink mimosas until I am called back to my table. That's exactly what Santina and I did.


I was thrilled to see lemon sticky buns as a special at brunch, so I ordered that and the breakfast corndogs. Delish. Santina got something with eggs. Ew. She liked it though, so that's good.


If you're ever in Portland, try Screen Door.


Bon appetit.

Southern-Style Collards and Ham Hocks

Today is Mardi Gras, the last day of unabashed revelry before the 40 long days and nights of Lent begin. To celebrate, here is a good old Southern dish and the perfect Southern drink, a Sazerac. 


And a Mardi Gras manicure...

Yes, those are an attempt at tits on my thumbs. When I showed Santina my Mardi Gras manicure, she was disappointed at the lack of boobs, so I added some to my thumbs. It was her idea to put one on each thumb to form a rack when they are together. They kind of look more like scary eyes, but they make me laugh, so I am happy with them. Longest caption ever.

Eat up, drink up, and get out there, show your titties, and win some beads. 

1 large ham hock
4 lbs collard greens
2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper
Apple cider vinegar
Hot sauce


1.  Place the ham hock in a large pot.  Cover with water plus about an inch. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the meat is falling apart, about 1 hour. Add more water as the water boils away.


2.  Meanwhile, clean the greens and strip them from the stalk. I actually like the stalk, so I leave some of it on, but definitely get rid of any stalk that is large and tough. Roll several leaves together and cut into ~1 inch strips. Do this for all the leaves.


3.  When your ham hocks become tender add the collards, sugar, and a healthy dose of vinegar (I added about a cup) to the pot. Add collards to the pot until the pot is full. Most likely all of the collards will not fit. Allow the collards to cook down and continue adding until all of your greens fit in the pot. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour, until collards are tender. Stir your collards often and keep sufficient water level to all the collards to simmer. About halfway through cooking add salt and pepper to taste.


4.  Serve with a couple dashes of hot sauce, corn bread, and a sazerac (recipe below). I did not make corn bread, and I really wish I had.  Next time.

The Sazerac is one of my all time favorite drinks, but I don't make it all the often. I am terrified that if I make them too often, I will get sick of them. I limit myself to one or two a week, max.


1 cube sugar
1 1/2 ounces Rye Whiskey
1/4 ounce Absinthe
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Lemon peel


1. Pack an Old-Fashioned glass with ice.


2. In a second Old-Fashioned glass place the sugar cube and add the bitters to it, then crush the sugar cube.


3. Add the whiskey to the second glass containing the bitters and sugar.


4. Empty the ice from the first glass and coat the glass with the Absinthe, then discard the remaining Absinthe.


5. Empty the whiskey/bitters/sugar mixture from the second glass into the first glass. Rub the lemon peel around the rim of the glass, and place on the edge of the glass, but do not put lemon peel into the drink. (My lemon peel fell in my glass. It should know better than that.)


As a last word, here is Santina with an example of a way to show your titties that will win you no beads.

Bon appetit.

Roast Beef with Roasted Tomato Chimichurri

This roast beef is sort of a big deal for me because I have never made roast beef. One of the three cuts of meat left from my 2010 cow was a sirloin tip roast. It lingered in my freezer for this long because I don't know off the top of my head what to do with a sirloin tip roast. Apparently you roast it. Which I did. And it was delicious.


The best-sounding recipe I found by googling "sirloin tip roast" was for a Sirloin Tip Roast with Spicy Roasted Tomato Sauce. Looking at the recipe, the sauce was just chimichurri with roasted tomatoes in it. I am calling a spade a spade and changing the name of the recipe to Roast Beef with Roasted Tomato Chimichurri. 


I have made the Brussels sprouts before (see here) so I won't re-post the recipe. But let me tell you, it is the tastiest and easiest Brussels sprouts recipe ever.


Roast Beef:
1 (2 to 2 1/2-pound) sirloin tip roast
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 Roma tomatoes, cut in half
2 teaspoons herbs de Provence
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper


Roasted Tomato Chimichurri Sauce:
1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil


1.  For the roast beef, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.


2.  Season the beef with salt and pepper. Season the tomatoes with salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence.


3.  Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and heat the olive oil. Sear the beef over high heat on all sides. Turn off heat. Place the seasoned tomatoes around the seared beef and place the pan in the oven. Roast until a meat thermometer reads 130 degrees F. for medium rare, 135 for medium, about 30 to 40 minutes. Take the roast out of the oven, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. The internal temperature of the meat should rise 5 degrees F more and the juices will redistribute into the roast.


4.  For the chimichurri, place the parsley and garlic in a food processor and pulse until the parsley is finely chopped. Add the red pepper flakes, salt, red wine vinegar and the roasted tomatoes from the beef pan and process until pureed. Add the olive oil in a steady stream with the machine running.


5.  To serve, slice the roast and place on a serving platter. Drizzle a little sauce over the meat. Serve the remaining sauce in a small bowl alongside.


Because, like a normal human being I do not eat an approximately 3 pound roast in one sitting or pretty much anything I cook in one sitting, I have to be good about using leftovers. Roast beef is a pretty easy thing for leftovers. Who doesn't love roast beef, cheddar, horseradish, and mustard on a crusty roll? Here is the sandwich I ate the day after I made the roast.

Bon appetit.

Meyer Lemon Curd

 

 

I wrote the following (and took the previous pictures) about a month ago, then never posted it. I think it is a perfect post for Valentine's Day because it involves two things I love - lemon desserts and visits from Santina. To make it a bit more current, here is a pic of the Valentine's Day manicure I gave myself.

On to cooking...

You may have noticed that I don't really do desserts. I think the only dishes I have posted that come close to dessert are pumpkin bread and sweet corn tomalito. Three things this evening came together that led me to make a dessert:


1.  I bought a bag of Meyer lemons earlier this week because I love them and they're in season. I did not have any plans for what I would do with them;


2.  I moved my cookbooks to a new place in my kitchen and came across one my parents got me ages ago, Luscious Lemon Desserts. Lemon desserts are my favorite, and the recipes within that book are sorely under-utilized; and


3.  Santina arrives at 10.30pm this evening, and I need something to do so that I don't pace restlessly around my house, checking the time every 30 seconds, not being able to stand the anticipation.


I perused the cookbook, knowing that I couldn't take on anything too complex or anything that required ingredients I do not have in my house. When I saw that I had everything for lemon curd, I was thrilled. And the fact that it looked relatively easy was a bonus.


1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest
Pinch of salt
6 large egg yolks


1.  Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat.


2.  Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the sugar, lemon zest, and salt. Whisk in the yolks until smooth.


3.  Cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it thickens and leaves a path on the back of a wooden spoon when a finger is drawn across it; do not allow the mixture to boil.


4.  Immediately pour the Lemon Curd through a strainer into a bowl. Let cool to room temperature, whisking occasionally. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. (Lemon Curd keeps for a month in the refrigerator and for about 3 months in the freezer.)


I look forward to finding ways to use the lemon curd. It goes well on everything, even just a simple piece of toast. Or can you imagine how good it would be smeared on a sweet cream scone? Or a buttermilk biscuit? Mmm. There are also numerous recipes in the Luscious Lemon Desserts cookbook that call for lemon curd. Maybe I'll try another from there. I don't know. I don't know if we'll have enough time.


Bon appetit.

Snacks - Stuff I Eat for Dinner

So, ya, I haven't posted in a long time. I made a New Year's resolution to be better about it, and like so many other NY resolutions, I haven't stuck to it. The problem is, the cooking I have been doing lately can hardly be called cooking. I am too busy and get home too late for fabulous meals, so I find myself eating strange salads, rice topped with whatever is around, and snack food. Yes, I have many times eaten popcorn for dinner.


The thing about eating popcorn many times for dinner is that you learn to make it perfectly. And who doesn't want to know how to make perfect, non-microwave popcorn? No one.


Here is a selection of delicious snack food I have been eating.


The popcorn, as previously mentioned, is a tried and true method for making great stovetop popcorn.


The pecans are a recipe from my mom. I ate them for the first time sometime last fall, maybe at Thanksgiving time, and I love them. I don't even like pecans, but something about these crunchy sweet and spicy morsels has won me over. You'll love them too.


The olives in the picture aren't actually olives I made, they are Stuffed Queen Sevillano olives from Trader Joe's. But as previously mentioned, I am a busy girl, and I don't actually have three snack foods prepared on one night to photograph. I am giving you a recipe for very good homemade olives, and let's pretend they are pictured instead of olives that I am way more likely to use in a martini than eat for dinner.  


Perfect Popcorn
3 Tbsp oil (I usually use peanut oil, but any high smoke point oil is fine)
1/3 cup popping corn
Salt


1.  In a large sauce or saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat, with one popping corn kernel in the pan. I tend to cover the pan, but if you do, pay attention so that you hear the kernel pop. If you leave the pan uncovered, the kernel will probably pop out of the pan and hide somewhere in your kitchen, never to be found again. 


2.  Once the kernel pops, add the rest of the popping corn to the pan, cover, and take off the heat for 30 seconds. This allows all the kernels to get to approximately the same temperature so they will all pop at approximately the same time. This means less unpopped kernels.


3.  Return to heat, and pop the corn. It is done when there are a few seconds between pops.


4.  Salt and eat. I sometimes salt at the same time that I put the kernels into the oil. It seems to work well that way.


Spicy-Sweet Toasted Pecans
1 cup raw pecans
2 Tbsp sugar
Some shakes of cayenne


1.  Preheat the oven to 375 F.


2.  Blanch the pecans for 5 minutes (blanch = boil them).


3.  Drain the pecans.


4.  Toss pecans with sugar and cayenne. I add multiple shakes of cayenne because I like spice, but you can add as much or as little spice as you like.


5.  Spread on a baking sheet in a single layer and place in the oven.


6.  Toast in the oven for about 10 minutes. It usually takes me a bit longer than 10 minutes to fully toast the pecans, but my oven sucks. Just check them and see how they're looking after 10 minutes, and leave them longer if necessary.


Marinated Olives
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp dried chili flakes
1 cup green olives
1 cup black olives


1.  In a pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat until warm.  Stir in the garlic, rosemary, and chile flakes and simmer for 3 minutes, or until the oil is aromatic and the garlic turns golden.


2.  Add the olives, adjust the heat to low, and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.


3.  Remove from the heat and let the olives cool in the oil.


4.  Remove and discard the rosemary before serving.  Serve immediately, or store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for about 1 month.


Because eating popcorn, nuts, and olives is not a sustainable way to live, another of my New Year's resolutions is to start eating, and cooking, better.  I sort of have to in order to continue with this blog, right?


Bon appetit.

Pumpkin Week: Pumpkin Bread (and slaughter nails manicure)

Before Halloween weekend, I hadn't had a weekend with no plans, visitors, or traveling in... I don't know... months? So I was very excited to stay in and clean, cook, and sleep. And that's pretty much all I did, with the addition of giving myself possibly my favorite manicure ever: slaughter nails. They are really easy to do, and I think I am going to use the same technique in the future with other colors since I don't think I can rock slaughter nails year-round. You can get a tutorial on Refinery29, but it's basically just painting your nails white then using a straw to blow the red on top.


Back to cooking. The next pumpkin recipe I knew I would make is pumpkin bread. I love pumpkin bread, and it's a very easy thing to make. I am terrible at baking, and even I can handle this recipe.


The below recipe is for one 9-inch loaf.  The pumpkin I roasted yielded enough for two loaves, so I made two: one raisin and walnut and one chocolate chip.  For the chocolate chip version, replace the walnuts and raisins with 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips.


Oh, and if you are roasting your own pumpkin, all you need to do is pre-heat the oven to 350F, cut the pumpkin in half and clean out the seeds and strings, place on a foil lined cookie sheet skin side up, and roast for ~45 minutes or until a knife pierces the pumpkin very easily.  I think I ended up roasting mine for ~55 minutes.  Then remove the pumpkin from the skin and mash.  I like to do it while the pumpkin is still hot because it is easier to get out of the skin and mash.  But be careful not to burn your hands.


2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 cups pumpkin, mashed (or 1 15-ounce can pumpkin)
1 cup sugar
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped coarse
1 cup raisins


1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle positions and heat over to 350 degrees.


2. Generously coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.


3. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and ginger together in large bowl. Whisk pumpkin, sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla together in separate bowl until frothy.


4. Gently fold pumpkin mixture into flour mixture with rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in nuts and cranberries or chocolate chips. Batter will be very thick.


5. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth surface. Bake until golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool at least 1 hour before serving. (Bread can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)


I didn't check how much sugar I had before I started the recipe, and I didn't have enough white sugar, so I subbed a cup of brown sugar.  I think it improved the recipe, personally, and in fact, next time I make pumpkin bread, I am going to use half white and half brown sugar.


Also, I like chocolate chips an immeasurable amount more than I like raisins and walnuts. I flat out don't like walnuts, and raisins are only so so. But I prefer the raisin walnut bread to the chocolate chip. Interesting, no?


Lastly, This bread is really good with some cream cheese on it. In fact, I kind of wish I had made cream cheese frosting for it. There's always next time, I suppose.

I just have to note one thing pertaining to one reason I don't like to bake, especially things that are frosted. It is very difficult to frost without getting crumbs into the frosting and ruining the aesthetic of the baked good. It took me an absurd amount of time to put cream cheese on those pieces of bread and not have any crumbs or streaks of chocolate showing. And crumbs are showing. Please don't look too closely.


Bon appetit.