Thursday, October 22, 2009

Braised Short Ribs

An easy tasty meal. Usually served over egg noodles buttered and sprinkled with parsley but we'll spoon it over cheese grits too!

We don't use a slow cooker and, becxasue it;s kind of messy to prepare, I do everything outside on my grill side burner, put it all in a caserole pot and stick in the oven at 300. Bev appreciates me keeping the mess outside!

Ingredients:
4 lb. bone-in beef short ribs (boneless works just fine)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbs. olive oil, plus more as needed
2 large sweet onions, chopped
1 bag baby carrots or cut up 3 large carrots into 1-inch chunks
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bottle red wine, any kind, more for drinking while you cook
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
fresh thyme (dried works fine)
fresh rosemary finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 to 2 cups beef stock (we use Kitchen Basics)

Directions:
Season the short ribs with salt and pepper. Spread the flour out on a rimmed baking sheet. Dredge the ribs in the flour, shaking off the excess.

In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm the 3 Tbs. olive oil until nearly smoking. Working in batches, brown the ribs on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Transfer to a slow cooker.

Add more oil to the Dutch oven if needed. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions, carrots and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker.

Add the wine to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring to scrape up the browned bits. Add the tomato paste, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf, mashing any large chunks of tomato paste with a spoon. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until thickened and reduced by half, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the wine mixture to the slow cooker along with enough stock to come halfway up the sides of the ribs. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours stirring occasionally.

Skim the fat off the sauce. Discard the herb bay leaf.

Spoon over egg noodles or cheese grits

Smoked Paprika Shrimp with Grits

Shrimp is real cheap right now here on the Gulf Coast. This is another quick meal that tasstes great!

Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp olive oil
smoked parika (smoked is better than sweet hungarian paprika but it works too, smoked just gives it a better flavor)
fresh ground black pepper
coarse sea salt
4 green onions, diced
box of quick grits
any shredded cheese, we'll use sharp or jack

Directions:

Shrimp;
Toss the shrimp with 1/2 of the olive oil.
Coat with parika, pepper, & salt.
Heat the remaining oilve oil in a non-stick skillet on medium high heat.
Add shrimp, cook 1-2 minutes on ea side or just until they turn pink.

Grits;
Cook the grits accoring to directions, fold in the cheese, simple as that

Spoon a pile of grits on your plate, top with shrimp, a couple of shakes of Tabasco doesn't hurt, sprinkle on the green onions, you got yourself a great meal!

Chicken Piccata

A great little chicken dish that's quick and easy, we really like this one!

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut in half horizontally
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 Tbs. minced shallot (we just use sweet onion)
1/4 - 1/2 cup dry white wine
3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chicken broth (we use Kitchen Basics)
2 Tbs. capers, drained
2 Tbs. minced fresh or dried flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the flour in a shallow bowl and dredge the chicken in it. Shake off the excess.

In the nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat, warm 2 Tbs. of the olive oil. Place 2 pieces of chicken in the pan and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter or individual plates. Warm the remaining 1 Tbs. oil in the pan and repeat to brown the remaining chicken.

Reduce the heat to medium and melt 1 Tbs. of the butter in the pan. Add the shallot and cook until softened and golden brown, about 30 seconds. Add the wine, lemon juice and broth, increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the liquid is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 Tbs. butter, the capers and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and pass any remaining sauce alongside.

Serve with a side of any type cooked pasta (we like very thin spaghetti) tossed with olive oil and a little butter, red pepper flakes, course ground black pepper, and Reggiano Parmigiano cheese. Top it off with some fresh cut Basil if you have it.

Serves 4.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Honey and Cherry Chutney

I made this last week and served it with a pork roast.....excellent! It will be served with the Thanksgiving turkey also

1 can (14 1/2 oz) pitted tart cherries, undrained
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/8 t ground cloves
1/2 chopped walnuts
1 T cornstarch
1 T water

In a small saucepan, bring the first 7 ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in walnuts.
Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.