Braised Short Ribs - 2 Ways

This past weekend I spent an hour or so at the Dallas Farmer's Market getting all sorts of fresh vegetables and fruits. Everytime I go to the DFM I can't help but think of this and chuckle.

I wondered into Koster Cattle Company's shop to pick up some various meats. I noticed they had short ribs which I've wanted to cook for awhile so I grabbed four standard size ribs for braising. I also got a strip steak and bone-in pork chops for later.

After doing research this week on various braised short rib recipes, I settled on attempting two versions. One is Tom Colicchio's (of Top Chef and Craft fame) and another from Epicurious. They vary based on two things - braising liquid with or without red wine and the use of an oven versus stove top. There's also debate about weather beef stock or chicken stock is better for braising. Suprisingly, chicken stock seemingly won in terms of taste. I'm using chicken stock for both recipes I found.

Another interesting note is whether to use bone-on or not. Both of mine have bone which increases the flavor but also the fat since there is more attached with the bone on. I trimmed some fat off before cooking though.

I've read that braised short ribs are better the NEXT day. So I'm cooking them today and reheating them tomorrow for dinner. This also allows additional fat from the ribs to accumulate at the top which can then easily be removed.

The great thing about braised short ribs is that there's about 30-45 minutes prep time then you just let them cook for 3 hours while you do something else. Short ribs are generally a tough cut of meat due to the tissue so they need this time to tender up. They're also a cheaper meat compared to your steaks and tenderloins; four meaty short ribs were $12.

The set-up:


Tom Colicchio's Braised Short Ribs:



I'm going to store both in the frig overnight for dinner tomorrow. I'll make the final touches and have more photo's and directions then.


The verdict was definately in favor of Tom Colicchio's short ribs. The SR cooked in red wine and on a skillet over low heat seemed to cook the meat more then in the oven. This resulted in a "steak" versus a "brisket" in terms of texture. The TC short ribs just fell apart at the sight of a fork. The final verdict hinged only on the texture of the meat. Both short ribs had great flavor and I personally preferred the flavor of the wine braised ribs.

I was also rather disappointed in Koster's short ribs as those are the ones that turned into a "steak". Right now, I'm nor sure if it was the quality of the meat or how they were cooked. I'll have to try this again to determine if I did something wrong with the skillet short ribs. Anyone want to taste test with me!?

Either way these were a hit and enjoyed by all!

Chicken Provencal

Chicken Provencal is pretty much a standard italian dish. It's named for the use Herbes de Provence which are herbs located in Provence. Duh. For sides we used roasted new potatoes and fresh green beans.

Ingredients (Serves 2):
2 Thinly Sliced Chicken Breasts
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
1/2 Tspn Dried Herbes de Provence
1/2 Cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 Tspn Fresh Lemon Juice
1 Tspn Unsalted Butter
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Thyme Sprigs (Optional)

6-8 New Potatos, Quartered
3-4 Thyme Sprigs, Leaves Only
2 Tblespns Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

2 Handfuls Green Beans, Trimmed

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

In bowl, mix together potatos, thyme leaves, olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread out on a lined baking sheet. Cook for for 30 minutes.

In a small pot, place grean beans and cover with water. Bring this to a boil and let cook for 10 or so minutes.

Heat olive oil to medium-high heat in a large skillet. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Cook 4-5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside; keep warm. Add garlic to pan and cook for 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth and Herbes de Provence. Bring to a boil and loosen any browned bits with a spatula. You want to capture as much chicken flavor as possible. Let this continue to boil until it's reduced to 1/4 cup - about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir lemon juice and butter, until butter melts.

Spoon sauce over plated chicken and serve with the roasted potatos and grean beans.

A Simple Omelette

It was a lazy sunday morning, well, for Erin at least. Her goal was to sleep in but I'm terrible at that. So I arose at 7:30 am as normal for a Sunday. I browsed the internet a bit, watched some SportsCenter, feed the cat, etc. I was getting hungry but I didn't really want to eat cereal or oatmeal again so I raided the fridge. What do we have. Eggs. Ok. Eggs. What else? Herbs? Not bad. Canadian bacon. Getting better. Is that a shallot? I see something coming together. An omelette! But do we have cheese? Found shredded cheddar! Omelette City here I come!

They say eggs are the measurement of a true chef. If that's the case I have a long way to go. I ended up making two omelette's. The first was a charred mess and the second was a decent attempt (Photo). It still tasted pretty good even though it didn't look so hot.

The beauty about omelette's is that you can pretty much put anything in them. A few fresh herbs, cubbed ham, caramelized onions, shredded cheese, sauted veggies, etc. Anything your heart desires.

Ingredients:
3 Eggs
1 Shallot, diced and caramelized
3 Slices of Canadian Bacon
1 Tspn Finley Chopped Fresh Herbs (Basil, Thyme, chives, flat-leaf parsely, etc)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Tblspn Clarified Butter (See directions below)
Salt and Pepper

For clarified butter, melt 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter in a small saucepan over low heat until foamy and milk solids haven fallen to the bottom - about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Carefully skim foam from top and discard. Slowly pour metlted butter through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a bowl, leaving solids behind. It should yield 2/3 cups clarified butter.

Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once ready saute shallots until clear - 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and let shallots caramelize, stirring occasionally - 25 minutes. To save time, I cooked the canadian bacon in this pan as well. The canadian bacon should only take 3-4 minutes depending on it's thickness so cook them towards the end. While the onions were cooking down, I chopped the herbs, cracked the eggs, and got the cheese ready.

Once these ingredients are ready, remove and let rest on a plate. Place 1 tablespoon of the clarified butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat and heat to just before it begins to smoke. While the butter is heating, whisk the eggs. Make sure to whisk them vigorously, capturing as much air in them as possible. This is what makes an omelette fluffy. Lift skillet from heat in one hand and pour the eggs in with the other. Begin shaking the skillet back and forth. Continual movement is key. Do this for about 1 minute. Return to heat. Using a plastic spatula, stir eggs around letting the runny parts cook. Be sure not to break the omelette at this point as I did on the first one. You can lift the cooked edges to let the uncooked eggs run underneath. Just when the eggs are about to set and there are no more runy parts, sprinkle the ingredients of your choice down the middle. The eggs continue to cook through at this point. You'll need to do this quickly otherwise the eggs might begin to burn. Reduce heat if they begin to burn or pull from heat. With the spatula, work under the cooked eggs to loosen from the skillet.

In the pan, fold over 1/3 of the omelette on the opposite side of your serving splate. Slowly work omelette down and flip over on plate to encase your ingredients. Sprinkle with a bit of herbs and shredded cheese and voila!

A simple omelette!

Chile Chili Chili

Tonight was Erin's night and she wanted to cook chili. Not sure what provoked that but why the hell not. I left it up to Erin to shop, prep and cook while I read ('United States of Arugula', for those that are interested.). It was nice! Here's Erin's shopping list:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced,
1 28oz can diced tomatos
1 15 oz can kidney beans
1 15oz can pinto beans
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 pack chili seasoning mix
2 ears of corn, cut in half
Shredded cheddar

1. Bring medium pot to a boil and cook the ears of corn. Once cooked through (10-12 min or so), remove from pot and cut off the corn kernels.

2. Bring a medium skillet to medium-high heat. Cook ground beef. Once cooked, place on paper towel to pat dry of grease.

3.In a large stock pot, combine all canned ingredients, seasoning, onion, beef and corn. Bring to a medium heat for several minutes then reduce and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

That's it! We served this with a simple cornbread. There's plenty for 6-8 guests or left overs for a week.

Photo Insight:
A you can see I'm still learning this whole food photography thing. This chili photo is technically bad. Here's why:

1. It's back lit. This causes the subject to be way too dark with no appealing detail in the food. Side lighting the subject typically works best. Natural light is also more appealing to the eye. I'm going to start using a flash and maybe light bouncers.

2. The heat melted the cheese which now has a glossy look. It other words: unappetizing

3. The props are distracting. Checkered blue, black and red flower pattern, white and blacks stripes, etc. You get the idea.

4. The leading lines of the place mat take you out of the picture and not to the subject.