of meat baby! I was feeling saucy earlier in the week, coming down from a very special time of the month, and all I could think about was beef. So I did something about it. I spent all of yesterday in my kitchen, and I'm not complaining. It was awesome. My man was bottling beer, and I was cooking, all the while drinking brews and glasses of the cab used to braise the above short ribs. Around 8:30 we finally got to dig in. I am so glad I have leftovers.
Braised Short Ribs
Adapted from Neelys Short Ribs Recipe
Serves 4 (2 if you want the leftovers for sandwiches the next day)
1 1/2 lb. boneless short ribs
1/4 c. olive oil divided
kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, dried rosemary or italian spice blend
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
6 garlic cloves, copped
1/2 c. dry red wine (I used cabernet sauvignon)
3/4 c. beef or chicken stock
1 can whole blanched tomatoes in a thick puree (I used a little more b/c I bought a 28 oz can, so I used about half)
Bunch of thyme
2 bay leaves
About an hour before you want to start cooking, liberally rub the ribs with salt, pepper, rosemary, or other italian spice blends. James' mom had just mailed us a package, and luckily there was a variety spice thing in it. It is actually for mixing with olive oil to use as a bread dip, but I thought the rosa maria blend would be perfect for seasoning the meat. The rosa maria blend contains a mixture of garlic, salt, rosemary, parsley, thyme, oregano, and black pepper. A perfect seasoning blend for the taste I was trying to achieve with the short ribs. After you season your ribs, leave them sitting out to rest and come to room temperature.
When you are ready to start cooking, preheat your oven to 350F. Heat 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. (I don't own a dutch oven so I did these next steps in a large saucepan.) Put a couple of ribs in the oil, browning on all sides, which is about 6 minutes per side. Place on a plate, and repeat until all of your ribs are nice and browned.
Add the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots into the dutch oven (or the same saucepan) with the rest of the oil, and saute until soft. Next add the wine, and allow to simmer for 1 minute. Add the stock, tomatoes, thyme, and bay leaves to the dutch oven or saucepan. If you are using a dutch oven, after 5 minutes place the short ribs back in the dutch oven along with any juices that have accumulated, cover, and place in the oven.
If you do not own a dutch oven, you can use an aluminum poultry pan (found at any grocery store), or a pyrex baking dish lined with aluminum foil. Place the ribs from the plate along with any juices that have accumulated into your poultry pan or pyrex dish. Cover with all ingredients from the saucepan. Cover dish with aluminum foil to create dutch oven.
Make sure there is not A LOT of juice. To braise means to cook for a long time in a little juice. Bake in oven at 350F for about 3 hours, or until the meat is ultra tender.
When you remove the ribs from the oven, drain some of the juice into a small saucepan. Let it sit over medium heat until it is reduced. You can use this as a gravy. If you want it to be a thicker gravy, add a little flour.
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Serves approximately 4
15 baby dutch yellow potatoes
1 head roasted garlic***
1/4-1/2 c. stock (whatever you used for short ribs)
4 tbsp. butter (I used 1/2 of a quartered stick)
Halve potatoes. Boil potatoes in enough water to cover them and a few shakes of salt until soft (easily poked with fork). Drain water and add roasted garlic, stock, and butter. Mash with potato masher until desired consistency. I like mine lumpy!
*** To roast garlic, take one head garlic and cut the top off, about 1/4 inch of the top of the cloves. Peel off outer layer of skin, but make sure the individual cloves are still intact. Brush with olive oil, making sure that the garlic is soaked through. Wrap in aluminum foil and place in 400F oven for about 30 minutes. Since I was making these potatoes to go with the short ribs, I just threw the head in the 350F oven and forgot about it for a while...
Roasted Asparagus
Serves 4
1 lb. asparagus spears (thick ones!)
2 tbsp. olive oil
coarse salt and ground pepper (or favorite italian herb mix)
lemon wedges
Preheat oven to 400F. Wash asparagus and cut bottom ends off. Place the asparagus on a baking sheet or aluminum foil lined roasting pan. Brush spears with olive oil and season with salt and pepper or italian herb mix. Roast in oven for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, drizzle with lemon juice, and serve!
To plate the ribs over potatoes with asparagus:
On a plate, place a heaping spoonful of potatoes. Place one cut of short ribs on top of the potatoes. Spoon some of the carrots, onions, and celery from the dutch oven over the ribs. Drizzle reduced juice aka gravy over the ribs and potatoes. Lean two spears of roasted asparagus against the meat and potato tower. Ta da!
My oh my! Today has been a long one. I finished planting my spring veggie garden, signed up for a CSA delivery, drank chai, went for a walk, made banana bread, cleaned the house, did tons of laundry etc etc. I just absolutely love Sundays. 
