ummmmm LIFE CHANGING. Short Ribs.

These short ribs are STUPID. Just plain STUPID. And they are easy to make and *Almost* impossible to screw up (if you have a difficult time making mac n cheese then I would suggest you keep trying to make THAT and NOT these short ribs). If you are entertaining friends or family, make a bunch and they will worship you. They will kiss your ring. OK seriously, I'm done. Here's the recipe.

for the short ribs:
4 short ribs bone-in (if you don't know what they are, ask your butcher)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon grated ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon brown sugar
juice of 1/2 of a lime
2 and 1/2 cups of apple juice
1 teaspoon siracha (or any hot sauce will do. Add more if you want it spicier)
3 scallions
salt and pepper

for the sides:
1 cup of jasmine rice
1 small can of light coconut milk
juice from 1/2 of a lime
a small handful of cilantro chopped

2 baby bok choy chopped and rinsed really well
1 red pepper (diced)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon ginger
red pepper flakes (how hot? you decide)

Short ribs take time, And the only way you will get them right is if you cook them in the oven for a few hours. They need lots of love so I generally cook them on the weekend when I can give them the attention they deserve (because I know that they will make me a very happy woman if I treat them right). Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

While your oven is heating, get a large pan that has a lid *Important* this pan needs to be able to transfer into the oven! A small dutch oven will do beautifully. I use my wok sized Calphalon with it's tight fitting lid for this recipe.

put a little canola oil in your pan and put on stovetop burner over medium high heat. Salt and pepper all sides of your short ribs and pan sear them on each side to achieve a gorgeous crust. once they are browned you will add your braising liquid. (I assemble my braising liquid while the short ribs are searing)

For the braising liquid, in a bowl stir together your 2 cloves of garlic, applesauce, soy sauce, ginger, 1/2 of a lime juiced, brown sugar, 1.5 cups of apple juice (reserve the rest for later) & siracha sauce. lower the heat of the pan that the short ribs are searing in (you don't want the liquid to jump out at you when it hits a pan that's too hot!) Add your awesome braising liquid to the pan and bring it up to a LOW simmer. (its ok if the short ribs aren't completely covered. you'll be turning them every 30 minutes while they cook in the oven).



Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and transfer to your oven. Cook the ribs at 350 degrees for about 2-2.5 hours.

You need to turn them with tongs in the liquid every 30 minutes. As you cook them, your liquid is going to reduce to basically the best stinking korean style bbq sauce you've ever had. Mine reduced really fast (too fast) and I added the rest of my apple juice to the pan at about an hour so my short ribs wouldn't dry out. just feel it out. If you're ribs aren't fork tender yet and the liquid is looking like it's going down to nothing, add more juice and stir it together. It's important to do this BEFORE your bbq sauce reduces so much that it burns. No good. No good at all. At the 1.5 hour mark, I knew my ribs would be finished soon so I started my sides. Things tend to cook very differently in Denver though so it may take you longer to cook them. *IMPORTANT* You know they are done when they are so tender that they are falling apart! Your liquid needs to be at a thick consistency and your meat needs to be SUPER tender!



For the rice:

The golden rule for rice: 1 part rice. 2 parts liquid. Not Just Water. ANY liquid will do. For this dish, I use coconut milk and water as my liquid to cook my jasmine rice and it is phenomenal. In a saucepan, put a pat of butter on medium high heat along with 1 cup of rice (more if you are cooking for a crowd). And then I added 2 cups of a coconut milk/water combo. Bring rice to a boil. Give a stir. Drop the heat to a LOW simmer. Cover TIGHT and LEAVE IT ALONE. Shake the pan every 5 or 10 minutes to make sure your rice doesn't stick. Follow time instructions on the package of rice that you bought. My rice takes about 20 minutes.

After it's tender, turn off the heat and add some lime juice and chopped cilantro. Fluff with a fork.



For Veggies:

In a pan on medium heat, cook a clove of garlic in a bit of canola oil along with the grated ginger and chili flake. Add your chopped vegetables and salt them to taste. Cook until just tender.



ASSEMBLY!!

about 10 minutes before you pull the short ribs from the oven, give them one last turn and throw in some chopped scallions. Re-cover and wait a few minutes.

I always serve this family style. Heap your rice on a platter and throw the veggies on either side of the rice. And THEN Nestle those perfect little short ribs on the bed of rice and spoon extra bbq sauce from the pan onto each one (Don't drool on the food). Eat them and thank ME for blessing you with such greatness.

Chicken chili

I LOVE chili with a passion. Maybe its because my mother would make it almost once a week and it now reminds me of my childhood. The only problem is that I almost always regret eating red chili. My stomach just can't handle its greatness. So...I make different variations of white chili. Chili is one of those 'whatever you've got in your pantry' recipes. Mix it up. If you've got a bunch of veggies in your house that need to be eaten, throw em in. Here is the most recent version that i made (with great success, btw)! The kid HATES beans (surprising, no?!) so i snuck them in by pureeing them in my food processor (she still asked if they were there because she could taste it BUT she still ate 2 helpings because i may have told her a little lie). So here goes nothing (As usual, serves about 3-4 people. Double the recipe if you are cooking for a crowd):

1 boneless skinless chicken breast (or whatever the heck you like)
2 heaping tablespoons of a good quality chili rub (whole foods market sells awesome variations)
2 cloves of garlic (minced or crushed)
1 poblano pepper
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1 jalapeno pepper (if you want more heat. This is optional)
1 carrot (diced)
1 small yellow onion
1 can of white beans (i used cannelini)
2-3 cups of chicken broth (you can control the thickness of your chili by adding more or less)
1/4 cup heavy cream
Cilantro chopped
Salt & pepper taste

Directions:

Rub 1 tablespoon of the chili powder and some salt and pepper on the chicken and pan sear on both sides on medium high in your soup pot with a little canola oil until cooked through enough to shred (its ok if its slightly undercooked. It will finish cooking when you shred it and put it back in pot). Chop your veggies while your chicken is cooking and when it's done, place the chicken aside on a plate and let cool while you move onto the next step.

Lower the heat of the SAME POT to medium and place your chopped garlic and veggies (including corn) and stir around to get all the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan that the chicken left behind. Add the additional 1 tablespoon of chili powder and a little salt and pepper to the veggies. While your veggies are softening, drain and rinse your can of beans and puree until smooth. Shred your chicken and add both the chicken (and it's juices) and the pureed beans to the pot. Then add your chicken broth, give it all a good stir and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover. It will be ready in about 20 minutes. Just before you serve it, stir in the heavy cream and some chopped cilantro. Bring back to a simmer and then it's ready!

I like to set up a little 'station' for condiments/toppings when I make chili so that everyone can personalize what they like. Some people hate cilantro so you can opt to chop some and let them decide if they want it or not (but I throw it in. They don't have a choice with me). I also put some shredded cheddar Jack, lime wedges, sour cream, chopped red onion, hot sauce, YOU NAME IT. Anything is great! If you're entertaining, it would be good to make some good ol' fashioned Jiffy cornbread (you can add jalapenos and cheese cubes to the batter before you bake it. Holy Crap).

Hope you like this as much as I did!

(Sorry I didn't take any photos of this one...the chili didn't last long enough to photograph but here's a picture of Lou Dog to fill the void!)

Ohh la la!

After a few months of playing with makeup at a department store and NOT HAVING A LIFE, I am back on the map (and not LIVING at said department store any longer) with plenty of time to cook in my beloved kitchen for my beloved family. I apologize that I have not been around. Now lets get to it.

I've said it before and I will say it again. I LOVE french food. Specifically provencal style cooking. Light, fresh and perfect for summer/spring. I made this very easy dish a few days ago for a dear friend who after a hard day of work (she is a Doula) she deserved a huge glass of white wine and a perfect piece of fish.

I will make this dish again very soon and will post photos. The camera was with the hubs in San Fran so I couldn't capture it's beauty for you. Just use your imagination.

If you're cooking for a crowd (and this is a great dish for a crowd) just use your noggin and double up the ingredients!

Turbot with roasted vegetables and sauteed spinach

1 large fliet of Turbot (this is hands down, THE MOST delicious fish I have EVER cooked/consumed. Cod or any other buttery white fish would work also in this dish but I'm telling you, if you can find Turbot, you will NOT be disappointed!)

A tablespoon of homemade pesto (recipe below)
2-3 tablespoons white wine (dry-like a sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio)
1/2 tablespoon of butter
2 russet potatoes (Peeled and sliced into 1/4 in-1/2 rounds)
2 shallots (roughly cut)
1 bulb of fennel (cut into pieces - http://www.bonappetit.com/tipstools/tips/2009/06/how_to_chop_fennel_list )
1/2 cup whole pitted kalamata olives
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
2-3 large handfulls of fresh spinach
1 tablespoon of dried herbs de provence (you can find this amazing mixture of dried herbs at any supermarket. It's DIVINE!)

Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Pesto recipe:

a handful of fresh basil
a handful of fresh parsley
1 clove of garlic
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2-3/4 cup good olive oil

Put everything in a food processor (or chop everything finely and add olive oil in a bowl) and shop until smooth and pretty. Make a day ahead for flavors to marry but its delicious right after you make it too!

Now get cookin:

Preheat oven 400 degrees

prep the vegetables except for the spinach (potatoes, fennel, shallots, olives, onion and 2 cloves of garlic chopped) and put on a non stick baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and generous amount of salt and pepper (about 1/2 tablespoon of each) then rub the herbs de provence in the palm of your hand to release the aromas and sprinkle evenly onto vegetables. Mix with clean fingers so everything is coated evenly and place in Oven. Set timer to 35-40 minutes (You will need to stir the vegetables once at around the 15-20 minute mark so they cook evenly and don't burn).

While veggies are cooking, prepare the fish.

I used a large piece of tin foil (double it up to prevent leaking) to create a pouch to cook my fish in so it would be perfectly moist. place fish on the foil, season with a little salt and pepper, drizzle with a few tablespoons of pesto and make sure it is nicely seasoned with pesto. I also squeezed a bit of fresh lemon juice on top. create a pouch for the fish and lastly pour the wine into the pouch before crimping it sealed.

Put the fish in the oven with the veggies and cook the fish for 20 minutes.

Lastly, to add a little green to the mix, I did a quick saute of garlic and spinach in a pan on the stovetop. Drizzle a little Olive oil on med-high heat, cook garlic in oil for just a few seconds and then add the spinach, season with salt and pepper and cook until it starts to wilt. Remove from heat and place on large platter along with the roasted veggies (they should be slightly crispy on the outside and golden) and put the filet of fish on top of everything and pour the liquid from the pouch over the fish. I love this dish family style because people can just dig in.


**IMPORTANT**
Please remind your guests to be careful eating the fish because it can contain pin bones (very sharp and dangerous if swallowed) and I broke the fish into tiny pieces for my daughter to make sure she wouldn't have any bones.

Serve with crusty bread and pesto and a dry white wine or cotes du rhone! You'll be in heaven!