Short Ribs Braised in Porter Ale

 A couple of months ago our friends asked if we wanted a share of a side of locally-raised beef. I usually don't buy beef or steak at the local mega-mart because it never tastes that great, has a slight pink fluorescent twinge, and sometimes smells, well, "off."

Imagine my delight when I first opened the vacuum package on a piece of chuck to make this stew. The meat was a beautiful deep red, hardly any fat, and had no funky smell.

ANYWAYS, now that I have lots of different cuts of beef taking up space in the freezer, I'm getting a chance to try  new recipes. Last week I decided to make Short Ribs Braised in Porter Ale with Maple-Rosemary Glaze from All About Braising. A lot of the short rib recipes I found called for braising the ribs in red wine, but I'm more of a beer fan, so I went with this one. Plus, there is a large stock of maple syrup in the cupboard that came from trees from our neighbors' farm and was boiled down by the local Amish, and I used the rosemary from my garden.

So without further ado, I give you my take on Molly Stevens' wonderful recipe. This dish takes some time to make, but it's not complicated. You can even make most of it ahead of time and finish it off right before you serve it.

Short Ribs Braised in Porter Ale with Maple-Rosemary Glaze (serves 6) from All About Braising

3 1/2-4 lbs. bone-in short ribs

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp of EVOO

2 large yellow onions

1 carrot, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

1 1/2 cups of porter ale (Founders)

3/4 cup beef stock

1 leafy fresh rosemary sprig

1 large (or 2 small) bay leaves

For the glaze:

3 Tbsp pure maple syrup

1-2 leafy fresh rosemary sprigs

1 Tbsp whole grain Dijon mustard (the original recipe calls for horseradish)

The day before you plan to make the dish, trim any excess fat from the ribs. Next, salt the short ribs, arrange them in one layer on a baking dish, cover them in plastic wrap, and put them back in the fridge.

One  the day you plan to cook your ribs, preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Gently pat the ribs try with a paper towel to remove the excess moisture (you still want the salt to stay on). Then, season the meat with pepper.

Heat the EVOO in a Dutch oven over medium heat and brown the ribs on all sides (you may have to do this in batches. It took about 3-4 minutes per side to get a good sear on the beef. Transfer the ribs to a plate/pan.

Once all the ribs are browned, pour off all the fat except for one tablespoon. Return the pot to the heat and add the onions and carrot. Season with S&P and cook until softened, at least five minutes. 

Next, add the porter to the Dutch oven, bringing it to a boil. Boil it for two minutes, and deglaze the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the stock, bring the liquid to a boil again, and then reduce the head to a simmer. Place the ribs in the Dutch oven, along with any of their juices, and tuck the rosemary spring and bay leaves into the pot.

Cover the ingredients with parchment paper-- gently press it down so it barely touches the ribs, then put  the lid on the pot. Place the pot in the oven, and turn the ribs every 45 minutes, until fork tender. The total cooking time should be about 2 1/2 hours. 

Go ahead and prepare the glaze (even if you're not planning to eat for another couple of hours-- it needs  time for the flavors to meld). Put the maple syrup and rosemary sprig in a small pot. Heat the mixture gently until it's just boiling. Then, turn off the heat, cover the pot, and set it aside for the flavors to infuse for one hour. (If you're making it ahead of time, put it in the fridge after the hour is up.)

Once the ribs are fork tender, remove them from the Dutch oven and place them in a shallow baking dish (just make sure they are in one layer). Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables from the pot and distribute them around the ribs in the baking dish. If you are planning to serve the ribs right away, cover them with foil to keep them warm. If you're serving the dish later, you can allow the ribs to cool slightly, and store them in the fridge until dinner.

Next, separate the fat from the rest of the braising liquid*. Then, return the braising liquid to the Dutch oven, bring to a steady simmer, and reduce it until only 1/2 cup remains. It should resemble a syrup. Season with S&P if necessary.

When you're ready to serve the short ribs (and you made them ahead of time like me), place them in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes to reheat them. Once they're reheated, take them out of the oven and pre-heat the broiler. Now, get your glaze out, remove the rosemary sprig, and add the mustard to the glaze, and then brush it over the ribs (you may need to reheat the glaze to get it to a brush-able consistency). 

Then, pour the reduced syrupy braising liquid around the ribs (don't pour it over the glaze). Place the pan under the broiler and cook until the surface turns glossy and they start to sizzle. This took about four minutes in my oven.

Now you're (finally) ready to serve! I put a rib in a shallow bowl, along with the vegetables and liquid. I served these with bread to sop up all the juices. 

*Note-I made this recipe in the morning, and then finished off the braising liquid right before dinner. I found that letting the braising liquid sit in the fridge for a couple of hours made the fat much easier to remove.*

Easy Beef Stroganoff

Hello dear readers! I have returned from my travels in the great state of Michigan and couldn't be happier to be back in the kitchen. For the last 3+ weeks I have survived on a diet consisting of Subway, Panera, Wendy's, Lean Cuisine, and free hotel breakfasts. Since arriving home on Friday, I have cooked Tuscan Baked Chicken and Beans (very yummy recipe from Cooking Light), veggie stir-fry and two loaves of bread.

Bison Cincinnati Chili

I never had heard of Cincinnati Chili until I rented the first season of Cook's Country from Netflix. Honestly, I probably never would have tried it unless my mother had begged me to make it for dinner. Of course I made some modifications to the recipe, but it was very spicy (not hot spicy, just lots of spices) and really filling.

The ingredient list is long, but the recipe is really easy to put together. The recipe makes 6 generous servings. What distinguishes this chili from others is that

• the meat isn't browned, it's cooked in liquid
• you serve it over spaghetti (awe-some!)

Ingredients
1 lb. ground bison (original recipe calls for 1 1/2 lbs. of 80% lean ground chuck*)
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 medium onions, minced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (I went a little shy on this)
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar (original recipe calls for cider vinegar, but I couldn't find any in the house)
2 tsp. dark brown sugar
1-15 oz. can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Hot sauce-optional (I didn't put any in)

Accompaniments
Spaghetti (you can add butter to it)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Chopped white onion

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the canola oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and cook until they are soft and brown on the edges (this takes about 10 minutes). Add the garlic to the onions and cook for about one minute, or until the garlic is fragrant.

Then, add the chili powder, oregano, cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne, allspice, black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir stir stir :-) until the spices are fragrant, only about 30 seconds. Add the tomato sauce, broth, water, vinegar and sugar to the pot and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the bison meat (*see the note at the bottom of this page if using beef. This is where I deviated from the recipe-- I thought bison meat would be lean enough not to make the chili greasy. It was pretty lean, but I still had to skim some fat off the top. Next time I'll blanch it). Increase the heat to high, and once the mixture starts to boil, kick the heat back down to a simmer. Stir the mixture occasionally until the chili has thickened (it took about 1 1/2 hours).

Here is another deviation from the Cook's Country instructions: the kidney beans are traditionally a topping, but I just added them into the chili for about 30 minutes before serving. (Everybody at our house wanted beans, so why not throw them in the mix?)

Season with the salt (and hot sauce) to suit your taste.

Serve over spaghetti and top with the cheese and onion (and beans if you don't want them in the chili).

*If using ground beef, you need to get rid of some of the fat so the chili isn't greasy. Boil 2 quarts of water and 1 teaspoon of salt in a pot. Then add the meat, and stir stir stir until the meat separates into strands. When the foam from the meat rises to the top of the water, drain the meat in a strainer and set it aside*

Double Duty: Flank Steak

Last Saturday we had a classic steak and baked potato supper. Since we made the trip to the "big city" 30 minutes down the road, we made sure to pick up a flank steak. (We can't find this in any grocery stores in our town-my husband went to the butcher shop and the butcher said it's not a very popular cut of meat.)

At any rate, armed with our steak and a beautiful day to grill outside, I used a marinade from Rachael Ray. The meat only needs to hang out for about 20-30 minutes before it's ready to grill. I usually grill a flank steak for 6 minutes on each side over medium heat-- comes out perfectly medium every time.

Flank Steak Marinade (from Rachael Ray)
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of grill seasoning
1 teaspoon of cumin
2 teaspoons of hot sauce
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons of red win vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• Combine the ingredients in a plastic bag and add your steak.
  
• Seal the bag and make sure the steak gets coated in the marinade.

Since the two of us only finished half of the meat, I had leftovers to contemplate. Since we hadn't eaten Asian food in a while, I decided to use the beef in a steak and broccoli stir-fry. This was super simple and tasty, but in no way authentic Asian cuisine.

Steak & Broccoli Stir-Fry (this made about 3 servings)
1/2 lb. cooked flanked steak, sliced thin
1 onion
1 head of broccoli with the florets cut up
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon of minced or grated ginger

Stir-fry Sauce
1/4 cup of low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup of hoisin sauce
Couple of teaspoons of hot sauce OR garlic chili paste OR spicy sweet Thai chili sauce

I sauteed a sliced onion in canola oil over medium-high heat until the onions became tender. Then added a couple of teaspoons of minced garlic, a tablespoon of grated ginger, and the broccoli. Seas on with a little bit of salt and pepper. After the broccoli is tender but still has a bite to it, add in the slices of steak.

In the meantime, make the sauce. For the sauce, combine the hoisin, soy sauce, and hot sauce in a separate bowl. When the meat has heated through, pour the sauce over the stir-fry and toss to combine.

This dish was another Rachael Ray adaptation (see the recipe for the Hoisin noodle bowls).

I usually serve stir-fry with brown rice or noodles. Usually I use whole wheat spaghetti, but this time I had some linguine in the pantry. If you choose to use noodles, put the cooked noodles into the stir-fry pan, then add the sauce to the veggies/meat/pasta and toss to combine so the noodles soak up the sauce.

This stir-fry sauce works with any combination of meats and veggies. One of my favorite variations of this stir-fry is onions, mushrooms, broccoli, and scrambled egg. Yummy!