Short Ribs - In Short

I had a couple friends over for short ribs the other night. It wasn't raining, but I was in the mood to braise. We needed comfort food and there's nothing more comforting than meat falling off the bone with mashed potatoes.

So here's how you make comfort on a plate:

1. Salt and pepper the short ribs.

2. Pour flour in a shallow dish. Add lots of salt and pepper to it.

3. Toss the short ribs in the flour until they're covered. Tap off extra flour. You're looking for a light coat.

4. Heat olive oil on medium high in a pan on the stove top.

5. When oil is hot, brown the short ribs on all sides.

6. Remove them from your pan and set aside.

7. Lower heat.

8. Chop onions, celery and smash two or three garlic cloves. Add onions and celery to the pan.

9. When onions begin to soften, add garlic to the pan.

10. Saute for a few minutes. Then add one 28 oz. can diced tomatoes.

11. Add some red wine. About half a bottle of anything you'd enjoy drinking will do.

12. Stir it all together.

13. Put the short ribs in the liquid. Cover. Let them cook on low heat for 2 1/2 hours.

14. After 2 1/2 hours, add carrots and brussel sprouts to pan. Let them cook for about 30 minutes. (To make sure they're done, fork them. If the carrots and brussel sprouts fall off the fork, you're good to go.)

15. Enjoy!

Naturally, the ultimate comfort requires mashed potatoes. Here's how to make simple smashies:

1. Peel potatoes and cut them into chunks that are all about the same size.

2. Submerge them in a pot of salted cold water.

NOTE:

Potatoes cook evenly in cold water. If you put them in hot water, the outside cooks faster than the inside.

3. Boil for about 15 minutes. (Use the fork test. If your tater slides off the fork, it's done!)

4. Meanwhile, heat some milk and butter in a separate pot. Don't boil it, just heat it.

NOTE: Cold milk makes "pastatoes."

5. When the potatoes are done, add the milk and butter and mash them up.

6. Salt and pepper to taste.

In the end, you should have a fabulous meal of comfort food that looks like this:

The meat will fall apart in your mouth. And the flour you coated the ribs in helps to thicken the wine and tomato mixture into a heavenly gravy.

I recommend drinking the remainder of the wine with your meal. Red wine and beef are a beautiful couple.

Let me know how it turns out!

Suzie

Granny's Stew

When it comes to my cooking, my friend Rob says, "If it's got 'Granny' in the name I'm eating it!"

My Granny was an amazing cook. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with her, watching, washing and cutting. She'd tell me stories as she casually tossed foods together and created amazing dishes.

She never measured and I don't either. So be prepared for that when you see a header with "Granny" in it. But try her recipes. They're easy and they're sooo good.

It's been raining here. So I've been braising meat. When it rains I make pot roasts, soups, stews. Anything I can cook low and slow until the meat falls apart. Braising warms the house and transforms an ugly storm outside into a cozy day inside. And yesterday, I made Granny's Stew.

1. Buy a tough cut of beef. Chuck roast or a seven blade roast. Or purchase stew meat. Sometimes markets will cube it up and sell it in packs. These cuts are inexpensive and the longer you let them cook, the more they fall apart.

2. Cube up your meat. If it's already cubed, liberally apply kosher salt and pepper.

3. Pour olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Heat it medium high on the stove.

4. Drop in the meat.

5. Brown it on all sides.

6. Meanwhile dice an onion. They can be big chunks, like the size of the meat.

7. Take the meat out and set it aside.

8. Add a little more olive oil if necessary. Drop the onions in the pot. Scrape the meaty bits off the bottom.

9. When onions start to get soft, add two chopped garlic cloves, salt, pepper and oregano.

10. Make sure garlic does not brown. Just let it soften.

11. Put the meat back in the pot.

12. Add enough diced canned tomatoes to cover the meat.

13. Drop in a bay leaf and some red pepper flakes.

14. Cover and cook on low heat for two hours. Stir once in a while.

15. After two hours, dice up potatoes and carrots. Drop them in the pot. Cover the pot. Let it cook on low for another 45 minutes or until potatoes and carrots slide off a fork when pricked.

16. Turn off heat. Add a can of peas with liquid. Stir and let stew sit for 10 minutes.

17. Serve with crusty bread.

Mmm. Just like Granny's. Next time it rains, give it a try.

NOTE: One pot meals are an excellent way to make a lot of food without spending much money. For example, I made enough stew to feed four people. Roughly, I used $6 worth of stew meat, 3 carrots - maybe $1, one potato - add another buck, one can organic peas - $1.19 and one can organic diced tomatoes - $1.49. So, for $10.68 you could not only warm up your house with the delicious aroma of stew, but feed your family dinner too.

What do you like to cook when it rains?

Suzie