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| We're figuring out who is the boss (we agreed she was taking the picture) |
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| CEO of Ike Inc. |
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| Ike's first South Dakota Bird |
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| Stretch! |
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| Working In South Dakota |
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| I am one tired pup! |
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| Spoiled, me????? |
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Happy Birthday to Ike
Monday, April 30, 2012
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.
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!
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.
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| short ribs |
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.
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.
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