root beer braised short ribs

canon digital rebel xsi

For Easter, my friend, Jaime, got a new Le Crueset pot in Kiwi. I had gotten the same pot for Christmas. She suggested she wanted to make braised short ribs, and passed along some recipes. The plan was to make them together (1500 miles apart), and compare notes, but alas that didn't quite work out. Never fear, there will be more short ribs to make!

Since it just so happened, we had bought some root beer, I honed in on the root beer braised short ribs recipe. They all looked pretty tasty though. I modified the original recipe from the Miami Herald, just a bit. I just didn't think fake beef bouillon cubes (which was all they had at my local Whole Foods) was the way to go. Also, I ended up buying only 3 pounds or ribs, which is a good thing as that is all that would fit in the pot. I still made the same amount of sauce though.

One more note: definitely make this recipe the night before you want to serve it. It will make removing the extra fat much easier. Plus I think they got better the second night.

Here's the recipe:

• ¼ cup flour


• 2 tablespoons cooking oil


• 3 pounds bone-in beef short ribs


• 2 ribs celery, sliced


• 2 medium onions, peeled and sliced


• 2 medium parsnips, peeled and sliced


• 6 garlic cloves, peeled


• 1 (12-ounce) bottle root beer, preferably micro-brewed


• 1 ½ cups beef broth


• 2 tablespoons tomato paste


• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar


• 2 bay leaves

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Place flour in a gallon-size food-storage bag. Season ribs with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the ribs to the bag, shake to coat with flour, shake off the excess and brown well on the meaty side, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the pot. Sauté the celery, onions, parsnips and garlic over medium heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add root beer, bouillon, tomato paste, vinegar and bay leaves. Bring to boil, stirring to loosen browned bits on bottom of pan.

Return short ribs to Dutch oven, partially submerging them in the liquid. Cover tightly. Braise in oven 3 hours. Let cool, then refrigerate the sauce separately and remove the hardened layer from the top. Pour the sauce over the dish and reheat it, covered, in a 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes.

We got just shy of 6 servings with only 3 pounds of ribs. The original suggested a pound of ribs per person. We served it with mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach.

If you want the entire list of recipes I had to chose from, go here. I suspect I will try at least one of the others.

Enjoy!

on the night stand :: A Reliable Wife

a week of giving thanks part 2

Today I am thankful for cranberry sauce, not from a can. This is my favorite. It makes the house smell like Thanksgiving (and Christmas).

Cranberry Walnut Sauce^*
1 pound of fresh cranberries, washed and picked over
1 cup water
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 12 oz jar of red currant preserves (black current is fine, jelly works too)
1 cup chopped walnuts
zest of one orange

Combine cranberries, water, sugar and preserves in a large pot. Cook over medium heat until you hear them 'pop', then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Skim off the foam from the top (although I don't see much of a difference if you don't).

Remove from heat and add walnuts and orange zest. Stir to combine. Let cool and put in airtight container and refrigerate overnight.

It's so tasty (and easy) you will probably want to make two batches. Besides, it is great on sandwiches. Don't be surprised if it just disappears. I always joke that you may need to check your guests bags before they leave.

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^*From Martha Stewart Cookbook, 1995


on the night stand ::The Thing About Life is that One Day You'll Be Dead by David Shields

more than cheesecake

I recently learned that Abby Mandel passed away. It isn't something that I sought out, it just appeared in an RSS feed. Even though I don't live there, I still read Gaper's Block as it is the best insider's guide to Chicago. They had a link to the news as Abby Mandel started the Green City Farmers' Market in Chicago about a decade ago. This was news to me.

I learned of Abby Mandel back in 1984. My Mom bought a condo on the west side of LA, and we pretty much got to go to town in terms of furnishing it. Even though I was in high school, I really wanted a food processor. We were out one day at a department store, and the Cuisinarts were on display. They were offering a promotion where if you bought the food processor you got a cookbook to teach you how to get the most out of it. I sold my Mom on the idea, and we came home with Abby Mandel's book.

My Mom liked to entertain, although she had long given up on cooking (she was a great cook, she just didn't like the work). That was my job now. I don't know how I picked the recipe for the cheesecake - it is in the back of the book and doesn't even have a photo of the finished product - but it is the first recipe I made, and it was an instant success.

We had a couple of friends of my Mom's over to the house. It was a couple, both from New York, and the husband said he hated cheesecake. Of course, no one knew this when I was planning the menu, so it was out of my control.

His wife said that it would hurt my feelings if he didn't at least try a bite of it. I don't think it would have, but he was glad he did. He found the first cheesecake he liked, and had two slices. And no, I don't think he was placating me. He was rather opinionated and would have had no problem telling me he didn't like it.

I don't know how many times I made that cheesecake, but it was always a hit. Maybe it was the sauce? It had kirsch in it, along with strawberries and raspberries. The whole cake usually disappeared before whatever gathering was over. Occasionally people would get to take home the extra, but that was only in cases where it was a small group of people.

When my Mom moved to San Francisco, after losing her home but not quite hitting bottom, she promised to give me the decade old Cuisinart and the cookbook. Alas, in the process of her move it got stolen along with her antique mantel clock, and my yearbooks. I was so disappointed.

I searched everywhere I could for the cookbook. By this point I decided I could buy my own Cuisinart and really wanted to make that cheesecake again.

A few years later, when I was living in Austin, Texas, I mentioned this cheesecake and the cookbook to my friend. It turned out that her Mom was the queen of garage sale hunting, and often brought home rare cookbooks for pennies. She believed she might have a copy in a box in her garage that her Mom gave her, and sure enough a few days later, the book was in my hot little hands.

Of course when I heard the news the first thing I wanted to do was make cheesecake. My cookbook is in Chicago. The good news is a search at the library, found a copy. And a search of the ISBN found a like new copy on Amazon for under $20 with shipping. After the holiday, I will make cheesecake!

Thank you Abby Mandel. You taught me much more than how to make a mean cheesecake. You added to my love of sharing good food with people. Your legacy will live on.



on the night stand :: Abby Mandel's Cuisinart Classroom