Braised Short Rib Lasagne

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Short Rib Lasagne

A really delicious lasagna is one of the most comforting meals in my book. It’s tough to beat tender pasta, rich tomato sauce, and multiple kinds of Italian cheese all packed into a single casserole dish. But when two of my friends, both Josie and Katie were raving about this version that’s made with short ribs – I had to give it a try!

It doesn’t use any ricotta, which I was worried about. But, you really don’t miss it. The short ribs are braised in the tomato sauce all day long – creating more of a “Sunday Gravy” than a marinara. Then the dish is also layered with a creamy bechamel sauce, another Italian trick to a great pasta dish that many of us haven’t had the opportunity to try. So, that in itself adds a layer of creaminess and richness that replaces the layer of ricotta.

I did go ahead and add more mozzarella cheese than the recipe called for, just because I happened to have a surplus in the fridge. The recipe also called for the addition of porcini mushrooms – which, I didn’t have as many as I’d like. They’re one thing that I always try to have on hand, just because they add such a ton of flavor and keep well in the pantry. My stock has dwindled down, and I have a hard time finding them out here in the Boonies. So, I used what I had which was only about 1/2 cup – but it still turned out delicious. But you could double the quantity of mushrooms if you like.  I’ve got to order some more from the internet this week!

The short ribs are shredded down and layered with the pasta, tomato sauce, bechamel sauce, and cheese…then baked to a browned and bubbly perfection. I served with classic accompaniments to any Italian meal – a nice green salad and crusty garlic bread. It’s also a great place for a glass of nice red wine, where you have to open some for the sauce anyways!

Braised Short Rib Lasagna

2 pounds boneless beef short ribs
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry red wine
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 cup finely grated Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 box lasagna noodles
kosher salt
black pepper

For the bechamel:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
1 clove garlic, smashed
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Rehydrate the mushrooms by placing in a bowl with boiling water. Let sit 15 minutes until soft. Strain the musrooms and reserve cooking liquid to add to the sauce if you like. Roughly chop the mushrooms and set aside.

Season the short ribs with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the short ribs, in batches if necessary, and brown on all sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook until the vegetables are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook until it darkens 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and add the bay leaf. Simmer, stirring and scraping up any browned bits as you go, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add in the crushed tomatoes, as well as the reserved mushroom liquid if using, and bring to a simmer. Return the short ribs to the pot, along with the mushrooms. Cover and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, turning the ribs every 30 to 40 minutes, until the meat is
fall-off-the-bone tender, about 3 hours total.

Meanwhile cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions, drape on the sides of the colander or the cooking pot, and set aside for assembly.

Use tongs to remove the ribs from the pot and move them to a plate to cool. Pour the sauce into a heatproof bowl and discard the bay leaf. Allow to sit for a few minutes, until the fat rises to the surface. Be sure to get as much fat off as you can, or the tomato sauce will be greasy. Skim it off with a large spoon and discard. When the meat is cool enough to handle, remove any fat or cartilage. Shred the meat and set aside in a medium bowl.

Make the bechamel sauce. Melt the butter in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Stir in the flour with a whisk and cook until golden, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk and add the garlic clove. Cook at a gentle simmer, stirring often, until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Add the 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Remove the garlic clove and season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish and cover the sauce with a slightly overlapping layer of the noodles. Spread 3/4 cup of bechamel over the noodles, and add 3/4 cup of the shredded meat over the sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the shredded Parmesan cheese, and 2/3 cup of the mozzarella.

Add another layer of noodles, then repeat the layers as instructed above, to make a total of 3 layers of meat and 4 layers of noodles. At this point you should have used all the meat, but still have some sauce and cheese left over. Spread the remainder of the the sauce over the top and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the top is browned and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve with additional Parmesan for sprinkling if you like.

Source: adapted from Fine Cooking via Pink Parsley and So Tasty, So Yummy

Cabernet-Braised Short Ribs and Grits

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Short Ribs and Grits

We have been eating a lot of short ribs lately. They’re always a delicious comfort food that can be thrown together in the early afternoon, then braise away in the oven for a few hours while you go about doing other productive things in the house…or maybe, take a nap – then wake up to the smell of a delicious meal bubbling away.

This is another recipe I sent over to my friends at Avalon Winery, along with the red wine cupcakes. It was a spin off my first short rib recipe, but I chose to braise them in a delicious Cabernet and a bit of coffee too – for some added richness. The gravy that came out of the bottom of that pan was pure deliciousness. I served them over a bed of grits, as kind of a nod to our trip to Charleston. Grits are the perfect vessel to soak up delicious flavors from gravy, and it’s a nice change from the standard mashed potato that I usually find myself turning to in these kind of applications.

This would be a perfect meal for Valentine’s Day – especially where so many of you guys are buried under a bunch of snow. Just throw the meal together and let it do it’s thing, then go about your business preparing a beautiful table setting. I served with some roasted Brussels sprouts (I have a recipe for that coming soon!) and it really was a delicious and impressive meal that we all enjoyed. Plus, there’s plenty of wine left in the bottle to enjoy with that someone special. Win-win!

Cabernet-Braised Short Ribs and Grits

8 bone-in short ribs
Kosher salt
ground black pepper
olive oil
1 large onion, cut into quarters
2 ribs celery, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 carrots, peeled, cut into 2 inch pieces
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup tomato paste
2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon (Avalon Winery is my favorite)
2 cups strong-brewed coffee
water, if necessary

For the grits:
1 cup stone-ground grits
2 cups whole milk
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups water
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Season each short rib generously with salt and pepper. Coat a large dutch oven or brasier with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Add the short ribs to the pan and brown well, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.

While the short ribs are browning, puree all the vegetables and garlic in the food processor until it forms a coarse paste. When the short ribs are very brown on all sides, remove them from the pan. Add the pureed vegetables to the hot pan. Season the vegetables generously with salt and brown until they are very dark and a crust has formed on the bottom of the pan, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Scrape the crud and let it reform. Scrape well with a wooden spoon and add the tomato paste. Brown the tomato paste for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan with the wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits. Reduce the mixture by about half.

Return the short ribs to the pan and add the coffee, and enough water to cover the meat if necessary. Cover the pan and place in the preheated oven for 3 hours. Check periodically during the cooking process and add more water, if needed. Turn the ribs over halfway through the cooking time.

Meanwhile, cook the grits. Place the milk,water, and the grits into a 2-quart saucepan. Cover, and turn the heat to medium high. When mixture comes to a simmer add butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and reduce the heat to medium. Stir every couple of minutes until the grits have become fragrant, and are the consistency of thick soup, about 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring often and ever more frequently, for about 20 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and cook for about 10 minutes more, stirring constantly to prevent the thickened grits from scorching. If your grits thicken too quickly, or if they are too gritty for your taste, add water by the half cup, stirring to incorporate, and continue cooking until tender. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Set aside and cover to keep warm.

When done the meat should be very tender but not falling apart. Serve the short ribs with the braising liquid over the grits.

Source: short ribs adapted from Anne Burrell

Brazilian Black Bean & Pork Stew

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Brazilian Black Bean & Pork Stew

We had a considerable amount of snow over the course of the past two weeks, probably the most that the Eastern Shore has seen in quite a few years. Both little ones were home with me, cooped up in the house, for a majority of those days.   Needless to say, comfort food was in order.

I’d had this recipe bookmarked to try since I bought my copy of Slow Cooker Revolution, and would add it to our weekly menu – but it just kept getting pushed back for one reason or another. I finally decided that it would make a great snow day meal, so it finally came together in my crockpot last week – and I’m kicking myself for not getting around to it sooner. I assumed that I wouldn’t really like it…I’m not the biggest kielbasa fan, and it seemed really meaty. Not that I dislike meat, quite the contrary. But, on initial inspection it just didn’t seem like my cup of tea. But, I knew all the little carnivores in this house would adore it. I was right on that count at least, but was wrong in assuming that I wouldn’t love it too!

The flavors were out of this world. Everything blended together perfectly when cooked, creating a symphony of meaty goodness in one pot. The pork and kielbasa were tender, but still retained their shape and texture. And the beans – oh my word, those beans! Absolutely perfectly cooked – nice and creamy, just the way I like them. I served over a bed of cilantro-lime rice, and topped with some sliced avocado and the Brazilian hot sauce they suggest in the book. It kind of reminded me of pico de gallo…but with the addition of green bell pepper, white wine vinegar, and extra-virgin olive oil – it definitely added more layers of complexity.

It made a large batch, so we enjoyed it for dinner one night – and I stuck the other half in the freezer for a quick meal one night when I’m not feeling like cooking. Which, I must admit – is getting more and more often as the due date for baby boy #3 approaches. It’s good to know that such a hearty and comforting meal is just a thaw out and re-heat away!

Brazilian Black Bean & Pork Stew

6 oz bacon (6 slices), chopped
3 onions, minced
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 cup water
4 cups chicken broth
1 pound dried black beans, picked over and rinsed
1 pound kielbasa sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2-inch thick
2 bay leaves
1 (3 pound) boneless pork loin roast, cut into 1-inch chunks
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

For Brazilian Hot Sauce:
2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
2 onions, minced
1 green pepper, minced
2 jalapenos, minced
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp cilantro, minced
1 tsp kosher salt

Toss pork chunks with 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper in large bowl. Set aside.

Cook bacon in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Place pork chunks into skillet with rendered bacon fat, cook for about 4 minutes on each side until nicely browned. Remove and set aside.

Add onions to the pan with the drippings and cook for 4 minutes, until starting to soften. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, and coriander and cook until tomato paste is starting to brown – about 5 more minutes. Stir in water, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to slow cooker.

Stir broth, beans, kielbasa, pork, bacon, and bay leaves into the slow cooker. Cover and cook until pork is tender – 9 to 11 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high.

To make the hot sauce, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Let sauce stand and room temperature until flavors melt, about 30 minuntes. Hot sauce can be refrigerated in air-tight container for up to 3 days. Makes about 3 cups.

Discard bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with Brazilian Hot Sauce.

Source: adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution

Tequila-Braised Short Rib Enchiladas

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Tequila-Braised Short Rib Enchiladas

 A couple of weeks ago my friend Josie shared a recipe for a tequila-braised short rib enchilada. I was immediately sold. I made it for dinner one night last week, and my boys haven’t been able to stop talking about it since then! I know they’ll be on the menu again sooner rather than later, which is always a sure sign of a winning recipe.

Short ribs are braised in a bath of tequila and beef stock, with some onions and a poblano pepper tossed in to bring a little extra flavor to the party. I used boneless short ribs, because that’s what I had in the freezer – but bone in would be fine as well. The flavor of the beef after 3 hours in the oven was unparalleled to anything I’ve had grace my kitchen before, and I’m not just saying that. This will most definitely be my go-to  “barbacoa-style” beef for any Mexican dishes I make from here on out – tacos, burritos, quesadillas…you name it! Perfectly flavored and seasoned, it was just out of this world. Plus it’s a relatively hands-off dish, just browning the beef in a pan followed by softening of the onions and pepper, then a slow cook in the oven. I love those kinds of meals!

Once the beef was done I rolled it up in corn tortillas with a mixture of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, topped with a quick homemade enchilada sauce and some more cheese, and baked to a melty, bubbly goodness. I think we all agree that these took the crown for favorite enchilada in our house, taking the position from my infamous chicken enchiladas. Which, really says something, you guys. Served with a simple Spanish rice, this was a filling and delicious meal that the whole family could get behind. I just you know your family will enjoy it as much as we did!

Tequila-Braised Short Rib Enchiladas

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 – 3 lbs beef short ribs (6-8)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, chopped
1 large poblano pepper, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
3/4 cup tequila (this isn’t the place for Patron, folks!)
3/4 cup beef broth
2 cups enchilada sauce
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, divided
12-15 corn tortillas

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Season both sides of the short ribs liberally with salt and pepper. Cook the short ribs 3-4 minutes on each side, or until they are browned – working in batches if necessary. Remove to a clean plate and repeat with the remaining short ribs.

Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of the oil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and add the onions and poblano with 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the pot. Cover and cook until they are softened but not browned, 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, chili powder and cumin. Cook about 1 minute longer, until the mixture is fragrant.

Pour in the tequila as well as the beef broth, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits. Return the short ribs, along with any juices that have accumulated onto the plate, into the sauce. Remove from heat, cover, and transfer to the oven.

Cook the short ribs 2 1/2 – 3 hours, or until they are very tender and the meat easily separates with a fork. Remove the meat from the sauce, and transfer them to a plate too cool. Once cool enough to handle, shred beef with two forks (discarding bones and visible fat) and place in bowl.

Pour the remaining braising liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a large measuring cup. Press down on any solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Allow to cool slightly, then use a large spoon to skim as much fat off the top as possible. Add this to the prepared enchilada sauce, mix to combine. Add the strained solids to the bowl with the shredded beef and toss to combine.

Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees, and lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.

Stack the tortillas on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave about 1 minute, or until the tortillas are soft and pliable.

Combine 1 cup of cheddar and 1 cup of Jack cheese in a small bowl and toss to combine.

To assemble the enchiladas, add a scant 1/4 cup of the beef and a small handful of the cheese mixture onto each tortilla, and roll tightly. Arrange the enchiladas in a single layer in the prepared baking dish, seam side-down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.

Lightly brush the tops of the enchiladas with vegetable oil, and bake 7 minutes, or until the tortillas begin to brown. Remove from the oven and pour enchilada sauce over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese, cover the dish with foil, and return to the oven.

Bake 20 minutes, remove the foil, and bake for 5 more minutes to melt the cheese. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Source: adapted from Pink Parsley