Chef John Besh's Braised Beef Short Ribs... aka good food from Esquire magazine

Thank you Chef John Besh, for being from New Orleans ... and for learning how to cook... and for sharing it with us. (Or should I thank Esquire magazine? That's where I found this recipe online. Honestly, I didn't know they were in the food business. Hmm...)

It was time for some braised beef short ribs. And I wanted to try someone else's recipe this time. (And it dawns on me... my recipe isn't on here. Oh darn. We'll have to do short ribs again soon.)

Here's where I started...



Then I salted and peppered, and browned...









Oh, I forgot these two ingredients. You'll need to add this to the fluid portion of this dish.





In this large bowl is a bottle of red wine, some beef broth, sugar, diced tomatoes, kosher salt and bay leaves... and you see me adding some garlic and thyme. (Yes - the recipe below calls for zinfandel. But I used merlot. Just being different, again...)





Then it's time to prep the aromatics...







Once the rest of the ribs are browned... remove them and set aside.

But let's take a quick look at what's happening at the other side of the stove. I'm reconstituting some dried porcini mushrooms.





Bring some water to a boil, stir in the mushrooms and turn off heat. Let the mushrooms sit for about 5 minutes, and then strain out of hot water. Just set aside. You'll use these later...



Add those aromatics to the hot pot so they can cook down and then bring the meat back to the pot.





Now it's time to add the wine/broth mixture and let it all settle in for the long winter...



OK - really it only takes about 2 hours.... and it's worth every minute.



Don't forget to add those mushrooms and give it a little stir.

Bring it to a boil... let it roll for a while and then place the lid on and walk away. Do NOT be tempted to take the lid off and smell it. Do NOT be tempted to peek inside to see how it's going.

Walk away...



Wait at least 2 hours and then test for doneness...



Before serving allow the fluids to reduce down by about half... it will make a nice sauce to drizzle over the ribs.





Enjoy! We did... we served them up with creamy mashed cauliflower... that recipe will follow tomorrow... oh yum!!!

Halfway through dinner, my hero-of-a-hubby happily announced: "You can definitely make this again!" (Gee, thanks babe!)



Chef John Besh’s Braised Beef Short Ribs

Ingredients
4 lbs beef short ribs, cut flanken style
Coarse salt and black pepper
3 cups zinfandel
½ cup sugar
6 oz canned chopped tomatoes
2 cups beef broth
1 tbsp minced garlic
3 sprigs fresh thyme, picked off stem
2 bay leaves
3 oz canola oil
1 large onion, diced (2 cups)
2 medium carrots, diced (1/2 cup)
2 stalks celery, diced (1/2 cup)
2 oz dried mushrooms, preferably porcini

Instructions
1. Season short ribs with salt and pepper; be rather generous. In a mixing bowl, whisk together zinfandel, sugar, tomatoes, beef broth, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and a pinch of salt.
2. Pour canola oil into a heavy pot or Dutch oven (at least 5 quarts) and place over high heat. When oil is hot, working in small batches, brown the meat. Turn each piece to brown on all sides before removing from the pot. (Tip: A sturdy pot that conducts heat well has a lot to do with the success of this dish. Get yourself a cast-iron pot. It'll outlast you.)
3. When all beef is browned and removed from pot, add onion, carrots, and celery, allowing onion to cook until browned, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Return beef to the pot along with wine mixture. Allow wine to come to a boil before reducing heat, skimming fat from surface.
5. After simmering for several minutes, add mushrooms. Cover and simmer over very low heat until meat is fork tender and nearly falling off the bone, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
6. Once the beef has cooked, remove from pot and keep warm. Turn up heat and reduce the pot liquids until thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Transfer ribs to four shallow bowls, spooning liquid over top.

John Besh is the chef and owner of August in New Orleans.

Source:
http://www.esquire.com/features/guy-food/short-ribs-recipe-ll-1107




enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Made-To-Order Roast Beef Sandwiches (and Josie's Potato salad)

Around here we love our roast beef! In fact, my hero-of-a-hubby demands it quite often. He's not much of a white meat guy (unless it's lobster of course). But how do I get his veggies in him? With this sandwich (ok, so it's only onion and green peppers - who cares?!)...

The onion is sliced... like this...



The pepper is sliced... like this...



And then I set aside hubby's ingredients while I work on mine (I don't like peppers in my sandwich). This is how we do made-to-order in our house. Yes, it's that simple. DON'T add what you don't like. DO add what you do like!



The crimini mushrooms (baby portobellos) are sliced... like this...



And then I get my own bowl of yummy ingredients...



Then? Get out the saute pans... add a little olive oil and butter and turn on the heat! (The butter adds great flavor while the olive oil has a higher burn temperature and mixed with the butter allows us to saute confidently.)



Add the veggies and toss every minute or so...





Add a little salt... to pull out the natural juices of the veggies so they can saute.





Saute and toss for several minutes until the veggies have softened... tossing every minute or so...



And add your sliced roast beef. (Our deli actually had onion-flavored london broil on sale - so that's what we have this time around!)



It's already cooked, so you only toss the meat with the hot veggies for about 30 seconds.



Turn on your broiler, lay out your bread... and toast your buns!





Once toasted, top your buns with the appropriate mix of ingredients and a few slices of provolone. (Yes, this means the hubby is having two sandwiches tonight! He played golf today and worked up an appetitte while walking about 5 miles on the course... can you blame the guy?!)



Slide your cookie sheet under the broiler and watch closely. You don't want to waste these goods! About 2-3 minutes later you have this...



If you like mayo, slather some on your sandwich lid. And you know where to go from here... really, I've been typing descriptions to all of these pictures just for fun. They are rather self-explanatory. Right?!



Cut your sandwich in half...



And my hero-of-a-hubby recommends you serve it up with some of Josie's Potato Salad. It's our favorite!



Josie's Potato Salad
Recipe courtesy my friend Josie

4 large baking potatoes (Russets work everytime)
3 – 4 boiled eggs, diced
½ cup light mayonnaise
Dab mustard, just a touch
1-3 tablespoons relish (optional)
Salt/pepper to taste

Wash and dice potatoes (keep skin on) – after boiling, allow to cool. (Some people like the potatoes a bit crunchy; Jossie and I like them soft.) Place diced potatoes and eggs in large bowl.
In small bowl - combine mayo, mustard and relish and mix together well. Add small amount of milk for thinning, if desired. Pour over potato mixture, stir until well-mixed.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.



enjoy your time in the kitchen...

the way to my man's heart...

I learned many years ago that the way to my man's heart was through his stomach... and it's still the case today. For Valentine's Day 2010 I served up his new fav dinner (spicy beef enchiladas) and his forever favorite dessert (brownies).

This is where I started...

For the recipe on the meat, see my earlier blog: Spicy Shredded Beef

Then I take the BEST EVER enchilada sauce (from Trader Joe's) and warm it up in a large sauce pan. (But reserve some of the sauce ... you'll see ... )



This is where you want a few large spoonfuls of enchilada sauce. Thinly coat the bottom of a casserole pan. You don't need much...

Once the sauce is warmed, reduce heat and coat each tortilla (both sides) with enchilada sauce.



Like I said, both sides...



Now transfer your tortilla to the casserole pan and place some cheese down the middle of it...



And then place the shredded beef down the middle as well... try not to eat any of the beef while you're stuffing the enchiladas.



Flip one edge of the tortilla over the meat and then roll it towards the end of the pan...



Try to have the seam side down in the casserole pan...



Then you're on to your next enchilada...



Repeat and roll, repeat and roll...



Then rescue every last drop of this enchilada sauce by transferring it to the top of the rolled enchiladas ... every last drop...



Top with cheese... and transfer to hot oven.



Approximately 30 minutes later...



... you have this!




And tonight I surprised hubby with some brownies (thank you, Girardelli, for making me look good!) Well, if I had only been patient they wouldn't have fallen apart when I dished them onto the plate.



But I'll tell ya, they still tasted the same... and they were darn yummy!






enjoy your time in the kitchen...