Short Ribs

Hello everyone - No change in the Ikester - Except that I think he is feeling much better as he is much more active and has rediscovered his hatred for squirrels...Golly - even with only 3 good legs I think he would chase them until he caught 'em.

This weekend the weather was just not very conducive to outside work - We seem to have had our late April weather in early March here so we decided to hunker down and restock our supply of chili and red sauce.  I already have provided the recipe for both of them so I will focus on the Sunday project of Braised Short Ribs.  First a little background...
Sandy and I had gone to a local Italian chain establishment known for the salad and bread sticks and while there I saw on the menu braised short ribs with Risotto.  They sounded very good and were so I asked our waiter if they had the recipe for them.  He said they sometimes post the recipes on their main website and we would have to look to see it this was one of the posted ones.  Well it was so here goes.

3 lbs boneless beef short ribs
2 cups Chianti Wine
1 Medium Onion chopped
4 cloves Garlic minced
1 28-30 oz can of crushed tomatoes *
3 cups beef stock
1 teaspoon chopped Rosemary
3/4 cup slice Porcini or other mushrooms**
1/4 cup Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste

* I personally would not add crushed tomatoes - I would add one additional cup of beef stock and 1/2 cup additional wine and then at the very end add about 6-8 cherry tomatoes
** Mushrooms were not in the original recipe, but I thought the matched up very nicely with the earthy and hearty short ribs - omit if you would like.

First salt and pepper the short ribs.  Heat large skillet (with lid) and add olive oil.  Place short ribs in hot oil and be careful not to crowd - do them in batches if your skillet isn't big enough.  Brown all ribs on all sides and remove to bowl or plate until later.

short ribs

Add onions to oil and saute for a couple minutes, then add garlic - careful not to let it burn, then add wine, and beef stock separately allowing for some of the liquid to cook down before adding the next (wait about 5 minutes between additions of liquids) this de-glazed the pan nicely and really gets the sauce started out right.  Add the chopped rosemary and mushrooms.  (Now if you were to add the tomatoes, they would go in with the rest of the liquids, it is up to you - as that is what the recipe calls for but my sauce was not as smooth and was a little too "tomatoey" for me).
Place the short ribs (as well as all the juice that collected in the bowl back into the skillet and turn to low and cover for 3 hours.  I know, I know I didn't say this was fast food but trust me you will be rewarded.
After 3 hours of braising, remove the ribs to a serving vessel and cover, bringing the remaining liquid to a boil uncovered and reduce about 1/3 (about 10-15 minutes).  (if I used cherry tomatoes instead of crushed - I would add them here)
Serve with Risotto, Polenta or even mashed potatoes and a few freshly steam green beans or asparagus....  You will NOT be disappointed!

Back to Cooking - Lasgna

Hello everyone, and while Ike is recovering nicely I wanted to get back to some cooking on the blog. Last Sunday we were talking about what to have for dinner and the subject of Lasagna came up.  Now, Sandy and I have different ideas about Lasagna - hers very traditional and mine notsomuch..... 
We has always had to either compromise, where neither of us were perfectly happy or dirty two different pans, and try to fit them into the oven.  Well, we found the solution - A three tray lasagna pan. That pan allows for each "tunnel" to be constructed independently of any other.  The ingredients can be completely different as well as the sauces. 

Sandy's was very traditional Lasagna noodles cooked al dente and a combo of ricotta, Parmesan, and Mozzarella combined with and egg and some spices for the cheese filling.  We used a traditional red sauce and topped with shredded moz and grated Parmesan.  It was very good.

For mine, I first made a Bechamel sauce.  3 tablespoons Butter, 3 tablespoons flour and cooked it into a roux.  Then added about 2 cups of warm Milk (I would have like to used a blend of whole milk and half an half but didn't have any) and then 4 oz of Shredded Havarti, and 2 oz of shredded mozzarella and 2 oz  of shredded Asiago.  When that was incorporated and smoothly melted in I added some freshly grated nutmeg (maybe an 1/8 of a teaspoon).  Removed from heat and began to prepare the noodles and sauce. 
The sauce consisted of my traditional red sauce but I added some Hot Italian Sausage to it and then cooked the sauce down to tighten it up a little.  By that time the noodles were ready and assembly began.

I had sliced up some fresh green pepper and baby portabella mushrooms and proceeded to layer 2 of the three tunnels alternating sauce, noodle vegetables and Bachamel until they were full.  I left a layer of bechamel and grated parm on the top and cooked covered for 25 minutes at 375* and then reduced the temp to 325* and finished uncovered for 15 minutes.  I was very happy to see that excess moisture of the vegetables were absorbed by the al dente noodles and I think some of the bechamel sauce as the end product was firm and not watery.  We completed the meal with a salad and garlic bread and a very nice Merlot. 
We finished up with a very good "Ice Wine" from Canada - very sweet and almost syrup-like. It was a very nice way to end the meal.

Ike The Patient Update

Well Ike has had a pretty eventful last few days.  He has graduated from the splint it the last post to his first hard cast and even to his second a little sooner than what we had planned.  Here is my running diary of our events:

Monday 4/23/12

Took Ike to VCA Aurora Animal Hospital this morning to drop him off  to get the splint removed and get a cortisone shot and then get the first of 3 permanent casts applied.  On Friday they didn’t tell me not to feed him any breakfast in case they had to anesthetize him but the good news was I got a call about 11 am that said he was a very good boy needed no anesthesia and the swelling in his hock was done sufficiently so no cortisone was administered.  I was told to keep him from chewing the cast, no outside activity other than on a leash for a bio break and look for any swelling in the toes of the casted leg.  Come back in 5-7 days to get the cast replaced with the second of the three planned steps.   Set up appointment for Monday the 30^th

Thursday 4/26/12

Ike seemed to be doing fine – I had to do some damage control on the top of his cast – I swear he can go from doing nothing to total destruction in 5 minutes.  Wednesday I had to do a quick fix and Thursday he had developed a small little sore at the top of the cast – probably from where he had removed the extra padding so I put some EMT gel on it and added additional padding with some surgical gauze (all this is contained in my First Aid Kit) and then re-wrapped it with some self-adhesive first aid wrap. I called the vet back and inquired if I could come in on Friday instead of Monday to get the cast replaced – since they had said 5-7 days anyway. They said sure so I made the appointment for Friday morning again. I tried our “Blow up pet collar” as the traditional “Cone of Shame” was difficult for us to use with our kennel, and Ike kept running into things and just hated it.  We have the blow up collar from when he was neutered but he really never bothered that incision so we didn’t have to use it.  Let’s just say that I got it on him and thought I had successfully gotten him acclimated to it and asleep.  Boy, was I wrong!  I didn’t leave him 5 minutes to go back to my home office to get on another conference call and I hear him thumping his way on the hardwood floors my way.  He comes around the corner and hanging from his neck is the remnants of his blow up collar – the inch wide nylon strap is chewed completely through and he had successfully gotten a hold of the outside cover and chewed two holes in that.  All in 5 Minutes.!!  So the Big Cone of Shame came back out.

Friday 4/27/12

Got up early and took Ike to the VCA hospital by 7:45.  Ike got taken right in and again needed no anesthesia for anything (they say he is such a well behaved boy) so I took some feed with us and they him for me and kept him under observation until I picked him up later that afternoon.  They suggested some other collars and we were able to find (on clearance) a comfy collar model that seemed to provide the protection with less problems.  They lowered the hard cast area and added extra padding on the top of the cast and said the sore was very small and would be fine.  Just need to keep him from licking and chewing on the cast.  Progress is very good and I hope we can get more time with the vet the next drop off to see where we go next

Ike the patient

My buddy Ike has been favoring his back left leg for quite a while - and I was just hoping it would get better by itself. But I had some time off this week and Sandy and I decided it was not getting any better and make an appointment to see the Vet. Well it turned out that it appears he has a partial tear of his Achilles tendon on his left foot (hock).

We were referred to a specialist and while we don't like to hear the bad news it isn't as bad as it could be. The good news is no surgery!! The bad news is a series of splints and casts for the next 4-6 weeks. Well keep everyone posted - but check out the pic below... The Vets at the VCA Aurora Animal Hospital even chose blaze orange for his outside wrap - in honor of his hunting... and while it took a little while for him to get used to it - he motors around pretty well. I don't know how we'll keep his energy channeled as there is no playing or unsupervised time outside so that may mean even more walks for he and I.

Crazy Coupon

Hi everyone -
Another quick note - Wanted to do a follow up to a subject that I touched on in an earlier post. My wife is a very effective couponer - not totally over the edge but really pretty effective on getting value out of the deals offered. I was asked by one of our neighbors the other night (while Sandy actually was AT a coupon class) if we really save money with coupons? I said yes we do, and we really have enough toilet paper and paper towels for a while - it's not like they expire or go bad so why not, right? So anyway I wanted to put together a post for a meal or appetizer who's main components were all purchased with coupons.

Here is one I did today with ingredients and approximate cost

Crab Louie Salad:

Crab pieces (6 oz each package buy one get one free coupon for one free so total cost $0)

3 Tablespoons green onions, chopped (whole bunch $1 approx cost 20 cents)

2 stalks celery, diced small (again whole head $1 approx cost 20 cents)

3 radishes cut into matchsticks (again whole bag $1 approx cost 15 cents)

4 oz Fresh Mozzarella "pebbles" (2 (8 oz each) for one at Jewel -approx cost of amount 50 cents

2 tablespoons Lemon Juice (lemons 3/$1) cost 15 cents

Tablespoon Capers with Juice (had those in fridge - cost today $0 but OK say 50 cents)

2 Tablespoons Ketchup (OK who doesn't have ketchup in their fridge????? - heck check your glove compartment of your car :))

Tablespoon of Cocktail sauce

Mix together and serve on crackers, Melba toast or even better in a Bibb lettuce boat...

Total cost about $3 for an appetizer that would feed 10-12 guests...

Take a look - doesn't look bad does it...(I made a sandwich for lunch no stinkin' Melba toast for me)

Pheasant Poppers

Just a quick post here. A couple of posts back I posted some pheasant breasts wrapped in pepper bacon and grilled... So my mind started working I was watching a cooking show about appetizers and one was a jalapeno popper and that started me thinking.... So bear with me on this one, as the recipe is a little "loose" in it's construction but I'll think you'll get the idea.

2 whole pheasant breasts (boned out)

4 oz cream cheese

1 tsp of paprika (sweet or smoked either one)

1/2 tsp of Chili powder

1/4 tsp granulated garlic

few drops hot sauce

small can of water chestnuts (sorry only need 6-8 slices of them total - depending on the number of pieces of breast meat you get)

either pepperocinis or jalapeno pepper slices (same thing one per piece of breast meat

1 cup bottled Balsamic vinegar dressing

4-6 slices of bacon

6-8 toothpicks

First bone out the breasts and pound each fillet to a about 1/4 " thin.

Mix next 5 ingredients together until well blended.

Place Tablespoon (more or less depending on size of breast) of cream cheese mixture near one of the short ends of the pounded breast)

Place one slice each of the water chestnut and pepper on the cream cheese and roll.

Secure with one toothpick.

Take bacon slice and wrap the pheasant roulette in a covering of bacon, and secure with another toothpick.

Marinate refrigerated in dressing for 20 mints to hour.

Place on hot grill - watching for flare ups due to oil. Cook until bacon is cooked and cream cheese starts to run out.

Serve with favorite dipping sauce.

Ike, thanks for getting me these birds.. Couldn't do it without you buddy.

Terrific Turkey and Groovy Gravy

Hi everyone;
I hope everyone had a safe and joyous Easter. Let's not forget the reason for the holiday, and for the kids may they still be on the sugar high from chocolate bunnies and jelly bean Easter Eggs.

For me it was cooking for the family dinner. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy.
Today I just want to tell you about the turkey and the gravy.... For the first time I brined my turkey. I followed the recipe for the brining by Alton Brown -more or less I added some additional items but I have to say that if you haven't brined a turkey before, it really does add an amazing amount of moisture as well as some subtle flavor.

Here is the link.. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html

I added an orange and lemon studded with cloves and used a 5 gallon cooler (like the kind that get dumped on coaches after they win the Superbowl) for about 20 hours. I was quite impressed with the level of juiciness and flavor it imparted. I also instead of using canola oil, I made a compound butter of rosemary, sage and Italian parsley and liberally massaged it in under the skin as well as on the top of it and it made a beautiful golden brown and crispy skin. It really was a "Terrific Turkey".

Now for the "Groovy Gravy" and I wanted to tell you about that. I have never had much luck with flour gravies, preferring cornstarch over flour, but traditional turkey gravy calls for flour so that is what I tried to use.
I started with about 4 cups of drippings from the turkey - de-fatted using a fat separator cup. it was very clear and flavorful looking liquid so I has a very good base from which to start.
I then took 1/3 cup each flour and unsalted butter, melted the butter and added the flour and stirred until a golden brown. (I was making a roux). I wanted to make sure I cooked the flour enough (always my problem I think) to remove the pasty, gummy taste. BUT you have to be very careful not to burn it a roux can go from golden brown to brick to BLACK in a very few minutes so pay attention :) One it got to the color I liked I added the 4 cups of drippings and stirred with a wooden spoon until the starch particles burst and turned the liquid into the best looking gravy I had ever made. Added a little salt and pepper to taste and removed from heat.

A hint for serving (or at least transporting to where your dinner is being served, if you have a good thermos, charge it with hot water for about 10 minutes pour out the water and then fill with your gravy. Mine stayed steaming hot for over 2 hours that way......

It really did turn out to be a great meal... Everyone participated and no one went hungry.
Happy Easter everyone!