Zinfandel Braised Short Ribs

Recently, my sister in law and her husband butchered a cow and gave us a large selection of various cuts of poor ol' Bessie.  For those of you who don't live in Oklahoma, or someplace like it, this is actually fairly common.  And I love the idea of eating locally raised food that I know was treated humanely and healthily Anyway, one of the cuts we were gifted with was short ribs, something I have heard a lot about but never actually cooked.  So I busted out the cookbooks, scrolled around on Google and ended up with a recipe that seemed to work best with my tastes and pantry contents.  Here is the original recipe from SimplyRecipes.com

Now, I don't know about you but I do not have veal stock in the pantry!  However, I have heard that a combination of chicken and beef stock create a similar flavor so that was my plan.  What I ended up doing (because I forgot) was just using beef stock.  I mean, I'm cooking beef right?  So, here is my adaptation of the recipe, 'cuz it's impossible for me to actually follow the recipe line by line!

4 Large or 6 medium beef short ribs
2-3 T flour
Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste
2T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pre-heat a large dutch oven or stockpot on medium heat with extra virgin olive oil.  Pat ribs dry and season with salt, pepper,and paprika.  Dredge in flour and shake off the excess.  Brown in olive oil until a nice crust has developed all over the ribs.  Remove ribs and get started on the veggies.

1 Large onion, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
4 Large carrots, washed and large chopped
4-6oz white mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
1/2 bottle of red wine, preferably zinfandel (or maybe that's just my personal favorite)
1 box or three cans beef broth
Salt, pepper, herbs de Provence (or fresh thyme and rosemary)

In the same pot that you browned the meat, add veggies (except garlic) and cook for about 8 minutes or until veggies have a nice color on them.  Remove veggies and de-glaze with the wine.  Hmmm...whatsya gonna do with the rest of the bottle???  Stir the pan with a wooden spoon, scraping up the crusty bits from the bottom and add the garlic. Let the wine cook down for 8-10 minutes or until reduced by half.  Add the meat back to the pan and add the stock until liquid almost covers meat.  Cover pot with a lid and put into a 375 degree oven for 2 hours.  Add veggies to the pot and cook for another 1/3 hour or until meat is very tender and shreds easily with a fork.  Let ribs cool on the stove top, then refrigerate overnight.  This was truly my favorite part of this recipe.
A) you can do it in the evening before a busy day and have a great meal ready to go tomorrow and
B) These ribs are fatty, fatty, fatty.

Yes, I know, fat is flavor but I tend to be a bit grossed out by large volumes of fat.  Not to mention I don't have the time to run the 39 miles it would take to burn all of that off!  When you refrigerate overnight, a lot of the fat hardens on top and you can remove it, but you still have the flavor/tenderness of cooking the meat with all of its fatty bits.

So, the next day, remove the pot from the fridge and remove as much of the hardened fat from the top as possible.  Then re-heat the meat over the stove top for about an hour, cooking uncovered until sauce reaches your desired consistency, like a thick gravy/glaze.  Serve with rosemary and Gorgonzola mashed potatoes (recipe follows) and steamed fresh peas.  This was a great Sunday supper!  There are a lot of steps and planning ahead but it was not at all a difficult meal and it sort of had that "wow" factor.  Definitely going in the regular rotation!

Potatoes:

6-8 medium red-skinned, yellow fleshed potatoes (you can us any potato, I just think they have a better flavor)
4 T low-fat sour cream
2 T butter or margarine
1/2 C crumbled Gorgonzola or blue cheese
Sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste


Wash potatoes and chop into 1 inch chunks.  Place in pot of cold water and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Boil 15-20 minutes or until potato pierces easily with a fork.  Drain water and add potatoes back into the hot pot.  Toss in the remainder ingredients and smash into a chunky consistency with a potato masher or large wooden spoon.  Serve in a large bowl with extra Gorgonzola sprinkled on top.  Mmmm...I could eat just these for dinner!

Stuffed Peppers with Lentil Salad

Late summer/early fall in Oklahoma means a few things:  relief from relentless heat, kids are back in school, and the peppers and tomatoes are amazing!  Around this time of year red bell peppers can be found in the grocery stores for about $.50 each.  Considering there are times of the year when they are about $3 each, this is an amazing deal.  Not to mention they taste soooo much better in season.  I literally buy about 20 of them when they are cheap, then wash, slice or dice, and store in freezer bags.  It makes me happy knowing that little burst of summer is in my freezer, ready to perk up dreary winter days.  It's the little things!  Anyway, I had to eat at least some of these little beauties right away, so here is what I came up with:

Stuffed Bell Peppers

2-3 large to medium red bell peppers, washed, ribs and seeds removed and cut in half.
1 lb. extra lean ground beef, like longhorn or sirloin
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 green onions or 1/4 red onion, sliced or finely chopped
5-6 whole wheat saltine crackers, finely crushed.  Or 1/3 C whole wheat bread crumbs
Handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 egg
Black pepper, cumin, and and paprika to taste
1/2 C grated parmiggiano reggiano

Cut a slit in the pepper halves (to drain) and lay them in a glass baking/casserole dish.  Mix the remaining ingredients except cheese (basically you are making meatloaf).  Divide meat mixture into four or six even balls and form into the pepper cavities.  Sprinkle grated cheese on top.  Bake in 375 oven for 35-45 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

Lentil Salad

1/2 bag of dried lentils, rinsed and picked through
1 C Beef stock (optional)
2 C Water
1/4-1/2 cup light Italian dressing (or make your own vinegrette if you are less lazy than me)
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2-4 T fresh flat leaf parsely (you can just reserve a bit of the onion/parsley from the meat mixture)
8-12 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
4 oz feta cheese (1/4 domestic feta block, 1/2 French feta package)
Pepper to taste

Bring stock/water mixture to boil in medium saucepan.  You can use water only but those poor lentils really do benefit from a little extra flavor!  Drop in lentils and reduce heat to medium.  Cook until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes (or you can use pre-cooked lentils).  Drain lentils and let cool to room temperature.  In a large bowl, assemble dressing, parsley, and onion.  Let "steep" while lentils are cooling.  Toss cooled lentils in bowl with dressing mixture.  Add tomatoes, cheese and pepper and gently toss.  Serve with stuffed peppers for a protein-packed and tasty dinner.  Mmmm....red peppers!!!

Provencal Style Meatloaf..dressin' up a classic!

1-1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef 1 egg beaten 1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs or oatmeal (gives you some more fiber and whole grains) 8 oz fresh button or crimini mushrooms, chopped 1 or 2 shallots, minced 1 T Herbs de Provence (use this stuff in nearly everything!) 1 t grill seasoning, or coarse salt and pepper Pinch of cumin A couple of dashes Worcestershire sauce 1/2 T olive oil Mix all ingredients together and form into 4 large oval-shaped mini loaves (learned this tip from my hero Rachael Ray) Lightly rub with olive oil and roast and roast in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through. You can make into a whole loaf if you prefer, just add 20-30 minutes to cooking time.