Braised Beef Short Ribs with Prunes

Sean has been recently interested in picking up meat from our local Hispanic market, which I've always avoided (don't know why but it scares me).  Clearly, I've been missing out because he picked up 3 lbs of beef short ribs for less than $10 and made a super delicious meal for me this week!  It was his first time making short ribs, and I have to say they turned out awesome.  Tender, juicy, full of savory flavor that paired well with the sweeter onions and prunes in the dish.  Maybe next time I'll venture into that meat section and surprise him with a dish of my own...

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs beef short ribs
• 2 tablespoons bacon fat (or olive oil)
• 3 onions, sliced in 1/2 thick wedges
• 10 cloves garlic
•  4 dried black chiles cut into bite size chunks (these aren't spicy but you could use a different dried chile if you desire)
• 8 oz prunes
• 1 cherry wheat beer (feel free to experiment with other types)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• 2 bay leaves 

* Special equipment- you will need a very large oven proof pot or Dutch oven.  We use a caldero which is made of aluminum.

 
Directions:
Heat pot over medium-high heat and add the bacon fat.  

Sprinkle short ribs with a generous amount of salt and pepper, on both sides.   

When the pot is hot, place the short ribs in the pot and brown evenly.  Do two batches if necessary so you don't over crowd the pot.

Once they've browned, remove them from the pot and set to the side.  

Meanwhile, preheat the oven 350 degrees F.  Add the onions and garlic to the pot and let them saute until they start to soften.  

Pour in the beer and scrape up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot.  Next, pour in the chicken stock and add the prunes and chiles.  

Stir to combine well, and then place the short ribs into the pot.  They should be almost covered with liquid.  

Cover the pot with foil or an oven-proof lid and place into the preheated oven.  Braise for 2 hours before removing from the oven.  

Carefully pull off the foil or lid, letting some steam escape before checking the meat to ensure it is fork tender.  This beef was so tender and flavorful, and the prunes added some sweetness to balance out the dish.  I was very impressed with how the dish turned out... nice job Sean! We served this over rice and it was perfect for soaking up some of the delicious sauce.

Cherry Chile Salsa with Pork Tenderloin

I love it when cherries are in season- they are one of my favorite fruits!  I load up on them when they are on sale because they are so expensive normally.  I bookmarked this recipe from Serious Eats and I'm glad I remembered to make it this summer before cherries go out of season!  The cherries are combined with hot chile peppers, lime juice, and cilantro to make a delicious sweet and spicy salsa to go along with some roasted pork tenderloin.  The salsa was the perfect complement to the juicy pork, and probably the first time I've used fresh cherries in a savory dish.  The salsa would also be great with sturdy tortilla chips if you cut the cherries into smaller pieces.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs pork tenderloin (preferably two smaller ones, but we ended up with one huge tenderloin cut in half)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 lb fresh cherries, pitted and halved
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 large or two small jalapeno peppers thinly sliced, with option to omit seeds to keep heat level down
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

In a large zip lock bag, combine the pork with the vegetable oil, 4 tablespoons of lime juice and half of the cilantro and shallots.  Marinate at room temp for about 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine cherries with jalapenos, sugar, olive oil, and the remaining cilantro, shallots, and lime juice. (You could omit sugar if your cherries are super sweet). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.  Stir occasionally to mix the flavors.

To cook the pork, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (or preheat a grill to medium-high).  Remove from marinade and season well with salt and pepper. Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat and brown your tenderloin on each side.  Place into a large baking dish and cook for 45 minutes to an hour (depending on the size of your steak and actual oven temp the time will vary).  Check with a thermometer to ensure pork is at least 145 degrees F in the center before removing from the oven.  Let it rest 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Serve with the delicious cherry salsa piled on top.

 

Asian Flank Steak in Lettuce Boats (with Sweet & Spicy Chile Sauce)

This is one of Sean's favorite dishes for his mom to make- I first had it at her house, and I remember several times later when she made it again per Sean's special request.  Not that I was complaining, because this Asian-style steak is sooo good.  It's probably the first time I ever had flank steak too, which I instantly fell in love with (though it's unfortunately a little pricey).  Anyway, I've never tried to make this before because I really can't compare with Joy's cooking, but when Sean recently requested it I couldn't resist.  We came up with our own marinade for the steak and created a sweet & spicy carrot-chile sauce to go on top.  The drippings and bits of garlic left in the pan after cooking the steak were mixed with rice and chopped kimchi for a tasty side dish.  I'm pretty sure our friends that came over for dinner were glad they came :)

Ingredients:
2 lbs flank steak
1/2 small white onion, finely diced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Thai chiles, minced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sherry
1 tablespoon sugar
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
freshly cracked pepper
2 heads of romaine lettuce, largest leaves torn off and washed 
more vegetable oil for cooking steak

For the carrot-chile sauce:
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
5 minced Thai chiles (more or less to taste)
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch, dissolved in 1/4 cup water
2 carrots, shredded

Directions:
Prepare the marinade for the steak.  Do this in the morning so it can marinate for at least 6 hours.  Combine all ingredients in the first list (except the lettuce) in a bowl and stir to mix well.   

In a large zip lock, combine the marinade with the steak.  Press out the air and seal the bag.  Distribute the marinade so it is evenly covering the meat.  Place in the fridge and rotate every hour or so.  Remove from the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking.  When you are ready to cook the steak, heat a large cast iron pan over medium-high heat.  We had to cut our flank steak into two separate pieces because it wouldn't fit in the pan whole.  Pour about 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in the pan once it is hot, and place the steak down.  If it ever starts smelling like burning, turn the heat to medium.  

Cook for about 4-5 minutes and flip.  Cook for 4 minutes longer.  We adjusted our cooking time based on how the steak felt to see if it was done enough.  We prefer the meat medium-rare, and with the thicker steak we had to throw it in the oven for a few more minutes just to take it up from rare.  Check your steak as you cook it because the time will vary depending on how hot your pan is and how thick the steak is etc.  Both sides should be caramelized and browned- but not burnt.  Every once in a while I did have to scrape up the onion or garlic bits that were sticking to the bottom to make sure they didn't burn either.   

If you want to make the kimchi-rice when you are done with the steak, add 1 cup or more of chopped kimchi to the pan when the steak has been removed to set before slicing.  Scrape up all the bits from the pan, and pour the mixture into two cups of cooked rice.  Stir and add salt/pepper as needed.

Let the steak rest for at least 7-10 minutes before slicing.  Tent it with foil so it doesn't lose it's heat.  Slice against the grain in long thin slices.

To make the chile sauce (this can be done in advance) place all ingredients except corn starch into a small sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a rolling boil.  Turn heat down to medium.  Boil for about 10 minutes or until it has reduced by half.  Reduce heat to low and add the corn starch mixture.  Stir and let the sauce thicken.  When it has come to your desired consistency, remove from heat.  Taste to see if you prefer it to be more sweet, spicy, or acidic, and adjust as necessary by adding more sugar, vinegar, or chiles.  Remember you will be adding the carrots which will mellow out the flavor a bit.

Add the carrots to the thickened sauce and leave at room temperature or chill until ready to serve with the steak. 

To serve, place several strips of steak onto a lettuce "boat" (large cupped lettuce leaf).  Spoon some of the chile sauce on top, and enjoy this tasty meal!

We had leftovers the next day (above) and it was still delicious.

Linguine with Crab, Lemon, Chiles, and Mint

This is a lighter pasta dish, but the combination of spicy peppers with the rich crab meat and bright acidity of the lemon makes an extremely flavorful meal.  The fresh mint adds some much needed coolness to round out the dish.  Depending on how spicy you want it you can change up the chile peppers.  I found ours to be on the very spicy end, but for Sean who loves spicy food it was just perfect.  Crab meat is pretty expensive, but I recommend going for quality over quantity.  You can find little containers of crab meat in the fish section of the grocery store, and 8oz is all you need for the dish (though more would never hurt!) It's also a pretty quick meal... we didn't time it or anything but I'd say it could be done in 30 minutes if I had to guess.  Serve with a glass of crisp, refreshing white wine.  Recipe adapted from Epicurious.

Ingredients:

1 lb linguine

Kosher salt

2 T unsalted butter

1 large (or two small) thinly sliced shallots

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 jalapenos thinly sliced (seeded if you want to remove some spice)

1 Anaheim pepper (or other low-heat pepper) sliced

3 minced Thai chiles (optional- these are super spicy!)

1 lemon- zested and juiced (should be at least 2 T of juice from one lemon)

Freshly ground black pepper

8 oz crab meat

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

Directions:

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water - heavily salted.  When it is just shy of al dente, drain the noodles, reserving 1 cup of pasta cooking liquid for later.  Meanwhile, heat a large pan to medium and melt butter.  Add shallots with a couple pinches of salt and cook for 2-3 minutes or until softened and fragrant.

Next, add the peppers and garlic to the pan with a little more kosher salt and continue cooking for about 4-5 minutes until the peppers are soft.

Add the juice from half of the lemon and 3 T of the pasta water to the pan and cook until liquid is evaporated.  Add the linguine to the pot and stir to combine with the shallot and pepper mixture.  Add the remaining pasta water and cook over medium high until water is almost evaporated and has a glossy finish.  Continue stirring with tongs every few seconds.  Finally, add the lemon zest, the other half of lemon juice, mint, and crab. (Reserve some zest and mint for garnish if you would like)  Toss with the tongs to combine. 

Sprinkle a heavy dose of freshly ground black pepper on the pasta.  Taste for additional salt as well.  Serve with extra mint and lemon zest on top.  Yum!

Turkey Tortilla Soup

With all of our turkey leftovers, we had to search for more ideas of ways to use it creatively. The Thanksgiving Pizza we made was delicious, but for this next dish we wanted something a little more spicy that deviated further from tasting like Thanksgiving. So when I came across this Turkey Torilla Soup recipe from Serious Eats, I knew it would hit the spot.  We made a couple minor changes and the end result was warm and savory.  A great option whenever you have leftover shredded turkey or chicken, at any time of the year. 

Ingredients:
- 6 corn tortillas, cut in half, then sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch strips 
- Kosher Salt, Pepper, & Olive Oil

- 3 ancho chilies (I could only find them dried and it was fine) 

- 2 whole chipotle chilies canned in adobo sauce plus 1 tablespoon sauce 

- 2 quarts low sodium chicken or turkey broth (tip: make broth from your leftover turkey carcass and use it for this soup!) 

- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

- 1 large onion, finely diced 

- 2 whole poblano peppers, seeds and stem removed, finely diced 

- 5 fresh tomatillos (about a pound) husks removed, washed, cored and diced

- 2 cloves garlic, minced 

- 2 teaspoons ground cumin 

- about 2 cups leftover turkey meat, shredded into bite-size pieces 

- sliced scallions, crema or sour cream, and lime wedges for serving

Poblano Pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (preheat your baking instrument too- we use a pizza stone for even browning of the chips) In a bowl, mix the tortilla strips with about 2 T olive oil (just drizzle some in there), a teaspoon of salt, and some ground pepper.  Mix it up with your hands and place them on the baking sheet or stone once the oven is heated.  Bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until the chips are golden brown. You may need to mix them up if it looks like they are cooking unevenly. When done, put them in a bowl and place aside until the soup is ready.  You can save any uneaten chips in a zip-lock bag.

Before

After

While the chips are baking, begin the soup.  Place half of the broth in a large pot along with the ancho chiles, and the two chipotles in adobo with their sauce.  Bring to a simmer, and let this cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the anchos are completely soft. 

While you are waiting for the chiles to simmer, begin to saute the onion poblanos, and tomatillos in vegetable oil. Add a teaspoon of salt. When they are soft, add the garlic and cumin.  Stir until fragrant, and then add the remaining broth to the pot.

tomatillos

By this time, the chiles will probably be done simmering.  Put them, with the broth, into a blender and blend until smooth.  Then, add this to the rest of the soup.

Bring the soup to a a boil over high heat and add the turkey.

Turkey posing with Sean's "Rocket Tomatillo"

Continue to simmer the soup for 10-15 more minutes.  Taste it for salt and pepper and add more to taste.
Serve with a dollop of crema or sour cream, chopped green onion, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. And of course, sprinkle your tortilla chips on top to let them soak up the flavor. This soup has the perfect amount of spice to make it warm without your mouth being on fire. If you want to eliminate some spice I'd recommend eliminating one of the chipotles, because it is the hottest chile out of the three in this recipe. Enjoy!