Awesome Short Rib Ragu

I have been making this every weekend for three weeks running because short ribs have been on sale, and frankly, this is just so delicious that I don't mind that it taking 2 days to make it.

If you like slow-cooking beef, give this a try.

If you don't like slow-cooking beef... give this a try.

Step 1 - brown that meat.

Let your short ribs (about 3 lbs worth) come to room temperature, trim off any of that really thick, hard fat, season with salt, and get a good sear on the outside (use a little evoo in the pan).

Do this in batches so you don't end up steaming your meat.

Yuck.

Add 1 medium/large white onion, 2 celery ribs, and 3 carrots, 4 garlic cloves, all medium diced, into the bottom of the pan with all the tasty brown bits left by the meat. Season with salt.

You may need another drizzle of olive oil to get them all going.

Cook until the onions are almost translucent.

Next add a TBSP or so of tomato paste to the pot and pour in one bottle of dry red wine: tempranillo, cabernet, even a dolcetto would work.

Just make sure you like the taste of it to drink before you cook with it.

Throw in your herb bundle (use cheesecloth if you have it. I use tea bags meant for loose tea.)

Inside it should have: 1-2 bay leaves, half a sprig of fresh rosemary (or 2 tsp dry), 3-4 fresh thyme stems (or 1 -2 tsp dry), 1/4 tsp ground clove, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, 5-6 crushed black peppercorns.

Allow that to simmer for about 10 minutes and then allow to cool.

Pour over browned short ribs, or place short ribs in the pot with the wine mixture, and refrigerate overnight.

The next day allow the chill to come off everything before starting to cook.

Over medium low heat on the stove, add 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes and 3-4 cups of beef stock. Enough to cover all the meat in the pot but not come more than 3/4 of the way up the sides of the pot.

Optional addition: chopped, reconstituted porcini mushrooms.

Once up to a simmer, turn off the burner, add the lid to the pot and place in a 325º oven for 3 hrs.

If you remember, stir once or twice over the 3 hrs to move things around.

No, these are not Fig Newtons or dog treats.

By the time you remove it from the oven,  the meat should have fallen away from the bones (see above).

At this point I like to remove the meat and the bones and reduce the liquids in the pot over medium-high heat for another 40-45 minutes, or until thick.

I also shred apart the meat once it has cooled for easier consumption.

Add the meat back in and allow to set.

I prefer to let it sit overnight again, eating it on Day 3.

This goes brilliantly over most things: polenta, pasta, couscous, hearty bread... whatever you have on hand.

I was really in the mood for pappardelle, so that's what I made this time around.

As always, cook the pasta in salted boiling water, drain, and cook the final minute or two with the sauce so the flavors combine.

I gave this a sprinkle of pecorino, but it doesn't need it.

It's perfect just as it is... somewhere between a stew and a ragu.

Try it out the next time you have a laid-back weekend.

You won't be sorry.

And if you've been reading my blog for a while now, yes, this is essentially what I made for the So-Bro(nx) Dinner Party, but I have perfected it since then, so it deserved a second showing.

I think this will be showing up for Christmas Eve Dinner as well.

Quick Veal Stew

Leftover roast veal, leftover cioppino base, a few veggies and some pantry items came together recently to make an unfairly delicious stew.

Unfair to the Hubs as I made it when he was out of town.

So it was all mine.

It appears that Mother Nature was checking her watch very closely this year, and the instant Labor Day was over she sent a serious bout of rain and chilly Autumn weather to douse NYC.

Frankly I'm FINE with that because I'd rather wear fuzzy sweaters and socks over sweating in spaghetti-strap sundresses any day. (Could a throw a few more S's in there?) 

Even more so, it made a great excuse to make warm and savory food!

For this stew I used 2 peeled and sliced carrots, 1 minced shallot, 2 cloves of garlic, about 1/2 cup of chopped reconstituted porcini mushrooms, 1 tsp dried rosemary, leftover cioppino for the tomato aspect, and some concentrated veal glacé.

Add hot water to your dried porcinis before you start peeling and chopping so they have 20 minutes or so to get plump again.

There was also the glorious roast veal. It was super flavorful and tender, leftover from a huge meal at Betto in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

This baby cow did not die in vain.

Start with the obvious, sautéing the shallot, garlic, and carrot in some olive oil with a pinch of salt.

When that begins to soften add the porcini mushrooms (squeezed dry) and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Next I added the strained water that I rehydrated the porcinis in, as it was now mushroom stock, as well as the glacé and dried rosemary.

I was really happy that the leftover cioppino base worked in this. Not that I'm surprised as it's really just tomato, fennel, white wine and chicken stock, (I use chicken instead of fish stock so the Hubs will eat it.) but I was worried for a moment that the fennel flavor would throw off the final product of the stew.

It did not.

The real element that brought this stew together tho was removing the skin and a section of fat from the roast veal and letting it simmer in the stew for almost an hour. I left it whole so I could remove it before serving, but it imparted a huge amount of flavor. Without it this would have been edible, but nothing special.

For a base I had some polenta squares in my freezer from a while back, and since polenta freezes beautifully, it came back to life with a few minutes on the counter and only a little help from the microwave.

As I do with leftover pork tenderloin in my soups, I added the chopped veal to the bowl first and then ladled the hot stew over top to heat it thru. I wanted the veal to retain its original flavor rather than just absorb the flavors of the stew.

I encourage anyone to get creative with the bits and pieces in their fridge.

You just might end up with something wonderful.

Linguine a la Cioppino

This is an alternate use, or use for any leftover Cioppino base that you may have on hand.

Lately I have been devouring cioppino, a.k.a. Italian fish stew. I just love it as a light dinner of fish poached in a light but flavorful tomato base with a hunk of bread to sop up the remains.

Also, once you have made the base and have it in your fridge, dinner only takes 10 minutes.

And as previously stated, in the summer, having any source of heat at a minimum is best.

This time around I only had enough for one, so I decided that just using it as a base for pasta and clams might be good.

And it was.

Above you see the sand and grit that was expelled from the clams when I put them in a bowl of cold salted water for half an hour. 

Do not skip this step, as you definitely do not want all of that crud in your food!

With the pasta already dropped into boiling salted water, I brought the leftover cioppino stew base up to a simmer and added the cleaned clams.

Put the lid on the pot and let it bubble for 6-7 minutes, or until all the clams have opened.

Give the pot a jiggle every few minutes if the clams are cramped for space to open.

I prefer to remove the shells before serving so there's less mess while eating.

Discard any clams that do not open.

Add the cooked pasta to the cioppino sauce for the last minute of cooking.

This really could have served two people in the end, so I'll remember that for next time.

But it turned out quite nicely, kind of like a cross between red clam sauce and marinara, but with the undertone of fennel.

Nice change-up from the usual fish stew.

Cioppino

Not too shabby for a first attempt.

For those who may not know, Cioppino (chee-oh-pee-noh) is an Italian fish soup or stew. The ingredients can vary depending on what fish is freshest and what the individual making it prefers.

Mine was lacking in the common mix of clams, mussels, and shrimp, as those are all things the hubs protests eating.

He will eat calamari tho, so I combined that with some chunky cod filets and called it good to go.

Unappetizing cauldron of tomato

For this dish I used:

1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes 

1 medium onion (or two large shallots), sliced

half a head of fennel, sliced

5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 TBSP tomato paste 

1 bay leaf

1 TBSP dried oregano
1/4 cup fresh basil (5-6 large leaves)

1 cup fish stock (or clam juice)

3/4 cup white wine

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or more to taste)

Start by sautéing the onions and fennel in 2 TBSP olive oil on medium heat in a large stock pot. Cook until softened and turning translucent, around 10 minutes. When almost done add the garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, and tomato paste and allow to cook out another minute or two.

Squid!

Next add the bay leaf, fish stock, white wine, tomatoes, and basil and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to combine.

Add your chosen combination of shellfish and fish and cook, covered, for another 5-6 minutes, or until the fish is opaque. Make sure all shellfish used open completely.

Discard any that do not, along with the bay leaf.

Ladle into bowls, garnish with fennel fronds, and serve immediately.

An option if you are making this dish for a party would be to go through all the steps leading up to adding the seafood and stopping there. You could make the soup liquids a couple days in advance. Then, right when it's time to eat, bring the soup back up to a simmer, add the seafood, and you'll be sitting down in 10 minutes, largely stress-free.

This dish is light enough for the summer months, but satisfying enough for the winter, especially if served with some crusty garlic bread!