Beef Short Ribs in Sauce

A couple months ago I went out to Winslow's Wine Cafe here in Fort Worth, TX. If you are local and have not gone, you should seriously make a point of it to go there. It is not just wine, but has an amazing menu of items that I cannot get enough of. That place is also the inspiration for this recipe as I had a Buffalo Short Ribs dish off of their menu. It was delicious!

Ingredients:

For the Sauce:
2 White Onions, diced
2.5 cups Cabernet Sauvignon
0.25 cup Lime Juice
1 cup Vegetable Broth
Ancho Chili Powder
1 small can Tomato Sauce

For the Short Ribs:
1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
0.5 cup Vegetable Broth
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Aleppo Chili Powder
Garlic Salt
Ground Black Pepper
0.5 cup Olive Oil

Alright, we're going to split this recipe up between making the sauce and cooking the short ribs themselves so as to avoid confusion.

The Sauce

I began this by dicing up my 2 White Onions by hand.

I then put a large saucepan on the stovetop and turned the heat to medium. In went the Cabernet Sauvignon and Lime Juice. I stirred that together and added in the Vegetable Broth.

After that, I added in the small can of Tomato Sauce I had.

I stirred that together and once it began to boil, I added in the diced White Onions.

Mix together so all of the Onions get covered in the mixture.

Leave the heat on medium. I chose to cover it, however I don't think you really need to do that. About 10 minutes later, this is what it looks like:

Looks tasty to me. I know you're wondering where the Ancho Chili Powder is...well I added it about 15 minutes into it cooking. I did this so it did not overpower the other flavors and instead complemented them.

Now I let it cook for about 30 minutes. Might have been closer to 45, so just do what feels right. I then turned the heat off and let it cool for 5 minutes. I spooned out the onions with a slotted spoon and put them in a blender to puree the Onions. I then poured the puree back into the pan and let it cook on medium low for 10 minutes. Then it's done. Feel free to taste!

Beef Short Ribs

Alright, the focal point of our meal. I have never cooked Short Ribs before, so I was somewhat hesitant about cooking these. The only real thing I had to go on was my experience with Baby Back Ribs and looking at a recipe online. I sort of followed it but I would say 90% of this recipe is all me.

I began by mixing my spice mix together. I have no perfect amounts listed as I just poured them out of their containers or bags. Everything was about even with a little more emphasis on Garlic Salt and Fennel Powder. I knew the sauce would almost overpower this mix, so I included that Ancho Chili Powder here as well. I used about a 1/2 cup of spice mix all together.

After mixing it together in a mixing bowl, I poured it into a saucepan that already had a 1/2 cup of Olive Oil. I used a spoon I had to mix the oil and spices together.

I then put the Short Ribs in meat side down and bone side up. I did this because I wanted that side to get a good cooking to start off with. I also added in 0.5 cups of Cabernet Sauvignon. Save the rest for later on.

About 10 minutes later I flipped them over to bone side down.

I let them cook this way for about 15 minutes.

More flipping them over! See how the thin layer of meat/fat/connective tissue there started to pull away, that is what I was going for.

Now I let them cook for awhile, noticing that the mixture was drying up...

So I added the rest of the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Alright, every about 5 minutes I turned them onto their sides to get a good even cook all over.

After doing that twice, I turned to the sauce. The sauce should be pureed and back in the pan cooking by now. I put the Short Ribs in there and coated with sauce.

I then flipped them and let them cook for 3 minutes.

Turn off the heat and pluck those delicious Short Ribs out and onto a plate to serve. I added a good serving of the sauce with because I think it is the way to serve them. Also, chopped up a Scallion for garnishing purposes. Enjoy.

Funghi con Pomodoro

The title translates to Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic and Tomatoes and is a great recipe to throw together somewhat quickly. I brought a cookbook to work today to look up some new recipes to roughly try. The cookbook was: My Calabria by Rosetta Costantino w/ Janet Fletcher. This book is very good in my opinion as it relates a personal story to each recipe that generally makes me smile and want to grow more locally.

Ingredients
1 lb White Button Mushrooms (sliced)
1.5 cups worth of diced Tomatoes
5 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
4 Garlic cloves (diced)
1 tablespoon Sea Salt
1 tablespoon Cracked Red Pepper Flakes
2 pinches Fresh Thyme
2 pinches Fresh Oregano
2 tablespoons of Italian Herb Mix
1/4 cup Cabernet Sauvignon Wine

You begin by gathering all of your ingredients at least somewhat ready. I did not cut my grape Tomatoes in half beforehand like I found out I should have. It hurried me up a lot during the actual cooking process, so lesson learned I suppose.

You start by placing a saucepan on the stovetop, turn the heat to medium. Pour in your Extra Virgin Olive Oil and diced up Garlic cloves. Stir them around a little bit in the EVOO to coat them in the oil.

Once they begin to turn color and the oil smokes a bit, pour in your mixing bowl of sliced up Mushrooms. Mix them around a bunch; I used a pair of tongs for this part, a wooden spoon for the rest.

Add in your Thyme, Oregano, Italian Herb Mix, and Cracked Red Pepper Flakes. Mix together to spread them around. Pour in your Cabernet Sauvignon and stir once again! (It is ok to pour yourself a glass now if you have not done so by now!)

During this time, I sliced my small Tomatoes in half, which could have been done beforehand but oh well. I put them in a mixing bowl. Here's a picture of them, they look awesome.

Then after a few minutes, when the Mushrooms turn color I poured in the Tomatoes. I added a half pinch or so of the Italian Herb mix and then the Sea Salt. Then stir them up a bunch so you get the Salt all over.

After a few more minutes, let's say 5 minutes, it should be close to being done. I turned off the stovetop at this point and let the heat cook them a little bit more while I got the plating ready.

I chose to use some of our ever present salad mix in the fridge as a base. To this I used a slotted spoon to scoop out the Mushroom/Tomato mix and place it on top. Garnished with a light coating of Parmesan/Romano grated cheese. Enjoy.