Category: Recipes (Page 22 of 26)

I love short ribs. I usually order them when they are available in restaurants, and I’ve tried cooking them at home a few times, with various measures of success. I’m still looking for the perfect short rib recipe, however. All I know is that it will have red wine in it 🙂
This one, from the Food Network, looks pretty good. I just put it in the oven, so you’ll have to wait until it’s ready to find out how good it is ;-).

Well, here I am, with a report on the short ribs. They were good. Good, but not great, and what I’m looking at this point is for something great. So I don’t think I’d bother making them again.

For the time being, here is the recipe, as I made it. Note that I no longer use chicken or beef broth. Instead I add water and the corresponding amount of “Better than Bouillon” chicken or beef base. Also, I couldn’t find good white onions at Safeway. They only had 6, and they were all bruised in some unappealing way. I got organic yellow onions instead, which looked better. As usual, I used “two-buck chuck” (cabernet sauvignon in this case).

Short Ribs Bouriguignonne

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 2/3 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/3 tsp. salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 4 lbs short ribs, trimmed
• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 slices of bacon, chopped
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 5 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cups red wine
• 4 cups beef stock

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix the flour with the spices in a large bowl. Lightly coat the short ribs with the flour mixture.

Melt the butter in a large dutch oven and brown the short ribs on all sides. Remove and add the chopped bacon. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes or until brown and add the vegetables. Cook until soft, stirring occasionally. Return the meat to the pot and add the wine and the beef stock. Bring to a boil, then cover and put the pot in the oven. Cook for 2 to 3 hours.
Adapted from a recipe at the Food Network.

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo and I wanted to make some Mexican food. My sister Kathy doesn’t eat Mexican food, however, so finding something she liked was pretty hard. Also, while I would have liked to make a mole, I didn’t have the time to commit to it. So I decided on carnitas. While searching for the entree, I also found a recipe for polvorones, a.k.a. Mexican wedding cookies, and it seemed easy enough to try. Both were quite good. I didn’t like the carnitas as much as my regular recipe, but they were easier to make (if that’s possible) and, more importantly, they are made in the crock pot, which means that I don’t have to be at home while they cook. They were succulent, moist, tender and not at all greasy. I’ll definitely make them again.
The polvorones were also very good and very easy to make. I know I’ve had them before, but I’d never made them. I made them according to the recipe, but I used raw pecans rather than toasted pecans, as I didn’t have the latter and didn’t feel like toasting what I had. I also had to go to a meeting after making the dough, so I left it in the fridge for about 3 hours. I put it in the counter for about 15 minutes before baking it, though.

Carnitas

• 5 lbs pork shoulder, cut into large pieces
• 5 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 5 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 onions, quartered.

Place the pork pieces in a slow cooker. Add the seasoning and mix well. Top with the onions.
Cook in a slow cooker in low setting for 6 hours.
Adapted from epicurious.com

Polvorones

• 1 cup butter at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/8 tsp. cinnamon

In an electric mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and mix well. Add pecans and mix well. Divide the dough in two. Wrap each part in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour.
Pre-heat oven to 350F
Put about 2 tsp. of dough in your hands and roll into a ball. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat until the rest of the dough is used up. Bake for 18 minutes, or until the bottom is golden and the top slightly golden. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile combine 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar with the cinnamon. Roll the cookies on the sugar mixture until well covered. Place on a rack and cool completely.
Adapted from epicurious.com

I adapted this recipe from one a person posted in a Craigslist forum. It’s amazingly simple and delicious. Even Mika thought the meat (sans the vinegar) was yummy. Mike really dug the vinegar, I thought it was good either way.
-6 lamb chops, trimmed
-salt & pepper
-1Tbsp olive oil
-herbes de provence
-1 large shallot, finely chopped
-1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
Sprinkle lamb chops with salt and pepper. Rub herbes de provence on both sides. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Heat olive oil over medium heat in a sautee pan and sautee lamb chops for about 3-4 minutes per side. You may have to do this in batches. Remove and keep warm.
Add the chopped shallot to the pan and sautee until tender. Add the vinegar, mix well and boil until the vinegar reduces by at least half. Return lamb chops to the pan, flip to make sure both sides are covered with the vinegar, and serve.

After making basque chicken a few nights ago, I had a lot of leftover white wine and I wanted to make something that used it. I looked in epicurious.com for recipes, and I came about this one for Chicken with prosciutto, rosemary, and white wine. It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t find it either in my best recipes list or in this blog. It got pretty good reviews so I decided to try it.
Mike really liked it, but I thought it was merely OK. There was nothing wrong with it, it was quite flavorful, but I think the flavors just didn’t do it for me. I thought it tasted like something I’ve made before, but Mike didn’t think so. In any case, I won’t be rushing to make it again.
I did make one change from the original recipe. I used prosecco instead of white wine, because, lo and behold, I actually ran out of the white wine making bolognese sauce – but I can’t imagine that affected the taste.

Basque chicken, in its different incarnations, is one of my favorite dishes. A basic chicken stew, it’s homey and satisfying. It’s not high cuisine, but comfort food of the best kind.
I’ve made different versions of this dish before. This traditional version, from a cookbook I bought in Spain, has carrots and cognac and was originally meant for rabbit. This more complicated version is French and comes from Gerald Hirigoyen’s The Basque Kitchen, a book I loved and lost (I loaned it to a friend who never returned it :-(. The one I cooked comes from Teresa Barrenchea’s The Basque Table. It’s simple, has few ingredients, but it did take me about 2 hours to cook 🙁 It is, however, very good. The recipe below is not exactly like the original recipe (of course!), but it’s how I made it. I’m serving it with whole wheat couscous (because it’s so easy and quick to make).
I speak in the present tense because, as I write, I wait for Mike and the kids to come home and have dinner. Hurry up! I’m hungry!
Recipe
-3 1/2 lbs. chicken parts
-sea salt
-1/2 cup olive oil
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-1 onion, sliced
-2 red bell peppers, sliced
-2 medium tomatoes, seeded & diced
-1 1/2 tsp. sugar
-1 cup dry white wine
-juice of 1/2 lemon
Sprinkle chicken parts with salt, set aside.
In a large, deep skillet or pot heat 1/4 cup of oil, brown the chicken on both sides ( you may have to do this on batches). Set aside. Pour off the used oil and add 1/4 cup of fresh oil to the pot, heat. Add the chopped garlic and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add the sliced onion and sautee on low heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the red pepper and tomatoes, mix well and season with the sugar and salt to taste. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until the tomatoes give out their juice. Add the wine.
Add the chicken and mix well. Bring mixture to a boil and then simmer on medium heat, partially covered, until the chicken is done, about 40 minutes. The sauce should be somewhat thick, boil off some of the liquid if it’s not. Add the lemon juice and cook for five more minutes. Serve.

I invited my friend Arthur for dinner last night and I wanted to make something fairly quick and easy – but also very good. Of course, I thought about my perennial chicken marsala recipe, which is amazingly yummy and simple – but I didn’t have marsala on hand and our local Safeway doesn’t sell it. Mike suggested that I make Coq au Vin instead, and I loved the idea.
I got my recipe from Coq au Vin from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine years ago, and I make it from time to time, not very often as it’s very fattening. But lord, is it good! It’s also very easy to make, though it does take about 2 hours from beginning to end (the second hour is simmering).
This time I used a $4 Cabernet Sauvignon from Safeway, but I’m sure $2 Chuck would be just as good.
Arthur and Mike (and I) were very pleased with the results.

A few months ago, I started getting together with a group of friends for meals at each other’s houses. We met once at Paz’s, where she gave us a wonderful lesson on Lebanese food. Later it was Victoria’s turn, and Indian was her theme. For our third dining adventure, we focused on fondue and I volunteered to cook the cheese fondues (we also had chocolate – it was sooooo yummy!).
I made a traditional cheese fondue and a cheddar one. We all liked the cheese fondue much better. I used a pretty standard recipe, but I did skip the kirsch – not only is it hard to find, but it made little sense to buy a whole bottle when the fondue only uses a shot.
Traditional Cheese Fondue

-1/2 lb Havarti
-1/2 lb Gruyere
-1/2 lb Emmental
-2 tbsp. cornstarch
-2 cloves garlic, cut in two
-1 glass white wine
-3 tbsp. cognac

Shred the cheeses, put in a bowl, add the cornstarch and mix together. Set aside.

Rub the garlic on the interior of the fondue pot and leave in. Add wine and heat until boiling. Add the cheese, a handful
at the time, stirring until it melts. Add the cognac.

Serve with bread, apple slices, pear slices, broccoli, cauliflower
I used this recipe for the cheddar cheese fondue.

Sunday we went to Ardenwood Farm for their Fall Festival. They had food there (the most pathetic tri-tip sandwich ever, barely any meat and flavorless) and a bunch of demonstrations, including baking demonstrations of food cooked the old fashioned way in an old stover. One of the things they made were these amazing crispy cookies. Their program came with a recipe for “Oatmeal Crispies”, and while these cookies (recipe below) were also very good, they weren’t as good or as sweet as those I tried at the festival. Still, they are worth making.

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups white flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 cups oatmeal
• 1 package chocolate chips

  Cream together the butter and the sugars. Mix in the eggs and then vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking soda, salt, oatmeal and chocolate chips. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.