Pasta with Braised Short Ribs

I'm a total sucker for a hearty pasta dish and I love when I find one that I know will become part of my repertoire.  Once that is forgiving, one that I can adapt and call my own, and one that has popular appeal.  Some of my all-time favorite pasta dishes that I make on a regular basis are:

Spaghetti Bolognese

Creamy Faijta Pasta

Kale with Pasta

and of course, Tandoori Chicken with Pesto

I've made a braised short rib with pasta before (with morels, for a recipe challenge), but something about this one seemed more attractive.  I watched Giada make it on the Food Network and was immediately hooked.  This isn't a weeknight kind of a meal, but a great snowy, Sunday afternoon kind of a dish.  The kind where you are cozying in with the fire on, mug of mulled wine, and all the time in the world to wait for a perfectly satisfying dinner.  The picture up there doesn't really do it justice.  The first night we enjoyed this I tossed it with penne and let the pasta cook in some of the sauce (which is deep, rich and creamy), and that picture above was taken the next day, when I tossed some of the leftover meat with some elbow.  So trust me, it's a beautiful dish, and shred some parmesan when serving up, drizzle some truffle oil, and curl up with a big bowl of it.     

Penne with Braised Short Ribs, adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

4 pounds beef short ribs

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

~ 2 cups diced tomatoes (canned)

1 cup red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 cups low-sodium beef broth

1 pound penne pasta

1 t garam masala

1 t ground cumin

2 t paprika

1 bay leaf

salt, pepper

Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the ribs with salt and pepper. In a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or ovenproof stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. In batches, add the ribs and brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the ribs and set aside. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, wine and mustard. Bring the mixture to a boil and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add bay leaf, and spices.  Return the ribs to the pan. Add the beef broth, cover the pan and place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours until the meat is fork-tender and falls easily from the bone.

Remove the ribs from the cooking liquid and toss the bay leaf. Using a large spoon, remove any excess fat from the surface of the cooking liquid. Using a ladle, transfer the cooking liquid in the bowl of a food processor or Vitamix. Process until the mixture is smooth. Alternatively, you can leave the liquid in the pot and use an immersion blender.  Pour the sauce back into the pot and keep warm over low heat. Remove the meat from the bones. Discard the bones. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into small pieces. Stir the shredded meat into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until very aldente. Drain the pasta and toss back into pot. Pour about two cups of sauce over pasta and let finish cooking.  Serve into bowls and spoon over meat sauce.  

French Pâté

My husband loves pâté.  It's one of those things I've picked up from cheese shops when we host our wine club, but I've never made it from scratch and always thought about doing so.  I grew up watching my mom sauté chicken livers so the thought of doing so doesn't really phase me.  I watched a few Mark Bittman podcasts on my way to and from Japan and his recipe for chicken liver pâté completely inspired me.  He makes things look so easy and effortless and I appreciate that, though I love America's Test Kitchen, he's the complete opposite - no fretting over precision.  I doubled the recipe so I would have enough for our holiday wine club party, ourselves, and a dinner party my parents were having.  So, I made a lot of pâté.  Way more than necessary, so I'll just post one for 1 lb of chicken liver.  I was feeling so inspired I even ran out to The Container Store to pick up a few hermetic glass jars but all kinds of containers would work, like a small mason jar or a ramekin.  I adapted Mark Bittman's recipe and added some garam masala (along with brandy and Marsala wine).  If I ever publish a cookbook it may be called "Everything's Better With Garam Masala". Don't steal that, OK?

I pureed the pâté in my Vitamix, which made it unbelievably smooth, but a food processor will also work well      

Chicken Liver Pâté, adapted from Mark Bittman's The Minimalist on The New York Times (link to video)

1 lb chicken livers, washed and dry

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

~ 1 stick butter (more as you see fit)

~1/2 c cream (more as you see fit)

2 t ground black pepper

1 t salt

1 t garam masala

1 t paprika

1/4 c Marsala wine 

2 T brandy

Sauté onion in a medium skillet with about 1 T of butter.  Add bay leaf and spices and aromatics.  Toss in livers and let cook, but not overcook.  They should be firm but still a bit pink inside.  Halfway through this process, add in alcohol and let simmer.  Remove livers from pan when cooked, and spoon into food processor (remove bay leaf and toss).  Meanwhile, let the liquid in the pan reduce down for a few minutes, then pour into food processor.  Pulse until pureed, then slowly add cream and add butter, and pulse until smooth and creamy. Let set in fridge for a few hours before serving.  

Toffee

These nutty, crunchy, buttery toffee bars come courtesy of my friend in cooking club, who adapted the recipe from Martha Stewart.  Here is a link to the original recipe.  She used semi-sweet chocolate instead of dark chocolate so go with your deep desire on that one.  I can't wait to try these myself - I've kind of always wanted to pour hot toffee in a pan, let it cool and then break it apart into pieces.  A note from another friend in cooking club is to possibly score the toffee before it cools to make breaking it up easier. 

1/4 pound almonds (I think any other nut would also be fine, pecans or hazelnuts sound great)

3 cups (6 sticks) salted butter (yikes!  but worth every calorie!)

3 cups sugar

1 pound semi sweet or dark chocolate    

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast nuts on baking sheet, about 15 minutes. Remove nuts from oven and let cool completely. Transfer cooled nuts to a large ziplock bag and pound nuts until coarsely ground.

Melt butter in an 8-quart pot over medium-low heat; stir in sugar. Continue stirring until toffee reaches 305 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 30 minutes.

Pour toffee onto an 18-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet, spreading evenly. Let cool until toffee is slightly hardened. Run a knife along the edges of the baking sheet to make toffee easier to remove.  

In a bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water, melt chocolate. Remove chocolate from heat and let cool slightly until it reaches about 95 degrees on a candy thermometer. Immediately pour melted chocolate over toffee, spreading evenly to cover. Sprinkle over coarsely ground almonds, pressing down with offset spatula. Transfer to refrigerator until toffee is set, about 1 hour. To remove toffee from pan, run a sharp knife along the edges and lift toffee from the bottom. Using your hands, break toffee into large pieces.

Chai Cookies

Someone needs to seriously ask me to stop eating cookies.  I'm always a cookie monster, but I've turned into a terribly bad one this holiday season.  I just can't seem to get enough.  I've been craving Mexican Wedding Cookies for weeks now so I decided my Cooking Club holiday treat exchange was the perfect excuse to whip some up.  And the fact that I couldn't have the entire batch all to myself was a huge incentive.  I jazzed them up a bit by adding some "chai" inspired spices.  So I guess I should have just said I "spiced" them up, and then written no pun intended, ha!  I love the slight complexity the cardamom and ginger add.  The base is a nice nutty shortbread that isn't sweet at all, and then you roll them around in powdered sugar which makes each bite sweet, but not overly sweet, as the cookie crumbles.  These are perfect with tea.  I feel like I always say that, but seriously, these are perfect with tea.

I combined a bit of garam masala along with ground ginger and cardamom, but my garam masala is home made and has predominately clove in it, so just add a bit of ground clove instead, as store bought garam masala will not be the same.

"Chai" Mexican Wedding Cookies, adapted from Mom's old recipe box


1 c butter (2 sticks)

3/4 c blanched almonds, toasted
1/4 c toasted pecans
1 T vanilla extract
2 c flour
4 T powdered sugar plus about 1 cup more for rolling cookies in after baked
~ 1 t mix of ground ginger, clove, cardamom (just sprinkle them in and judge by the smell how strong you want the spices in the cookies, I like less cardamom and more ginger, for example)

In mini food processor (or coffee grinder) pulse nuts until fine. Cream butter with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) and then add sugar. Add vanilla, nuts, flour and spices and beat until incorporated.  Form 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes (until just toasted looking).  Roll cookies in powdered sugar while warm, and then roll again after they cool.

Pumpkin Custard and Shortbread Parfait

I had hoped to be able to post this recipe before Thanksgiving, but just didn't get a chance before I left for Japan. I created this recipe for Walker's shortbread who generously sent me boxes of shortbread cookies so I could develop a recipe for them.  I'm usually quick to decline these kinds of offers, but I've always loved Walker's shortbread so was happy to oblige.  I've also always thought my favorite custard recipe would pair so well with some shortbread cookies.....so I decided to make it a bit seasonal by converting the custard into a pumpkin custard.  It turned out perfectly, and I crushed a combination of butter shortbread and orange Viennese shortbread.  The orange essence tasted brilliant with the pumpkin.  I lightened up the texture with some whipped cream, but I think it's optional.      

Pumpkin Custard and Shortbread Parfait (link to my recipe on Walker's website)

1/2  cup  sugar
1/4  cup  cornstarch
2  cups  half-and-half
5  egg yolks
1  teaspoon almond liquor
3  tablespoons  butter
1  teaspoon  vanilla extract

1/2 cup pumpkin (not pie filling)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4  teaspoon ground cardamom

1 cup cream, whipped

12 walkers shortbread cookies (6 butter shortbread, 6 orange Viennese cookies)

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Whisk together half-and-half, egg yolks. Gradually whisk half-and-half mixture into sugar mixture in saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook, whisking constantly, between 2-4 minutes - watch it carefully and as soon as it starts to thicken and "smell" like a custard remove mixture from heat.

Whisk in 3 tablespoons butter, vanilla and almond liquor.  Stir in pumpkin and spices; cover and chill at least 4 hours.  Place cookies in large ziplock bag and crush.

Layer pumpkin custard, crushed cookies and whipped cream in martini glass or parfait glass.  Serves 4.

Arigato!

Hello there!  It's been a while, and I have an excuse....I've been in Japan!  My husband has been traveling there for work and when we realized he would be there the week before Thanksgiving and the week after Thanksgiving we booked my flight over to Japan for the week OF Thanksgiving!  I can't say I missed my dear U S of A traditions all that much.....because, really, who has time to think of such things when there is Japanese culture and food to enjoy?  We were in Tokyo and Kyoto and had the most amazing time (Kyoto was charming beyond my expectations and I would go back there in a heartbeat).  We ate sushi to our hearts' content, I inhaled bowls of noodles (including some Miso Ramen that changed my life).  I enjoyed delectable yakisoba, platter upon platter of dumplings, an embarrassing number of rounds of tebasaki and lots of evenings full of yakitori and yakiniku.  And of course cups of green tea and I may or may not have had some sencha ice cream twice in one day.  I also ate the most amazing apples I've ever eaten - juicy and crisp beyond belief.  I don't know if these were Japanese apples, or, as I learned, Grade A apples from orchards in the US that never make it onto the US market because the Japanese buy them all up.  We celebrated Thanksgiving with dinner at Nobu.  Would you believe I was nearing growing tired of sushi at this point (I think the early morning trip to the Tsukiji fish market followed by sushi for breakfast may have starting pushing me over the edge).  Not quite, but I was getting there.  But everything on the menu at Nobu sounded amazing and I proved that the kobe beef gyoza, the tempura rock shrimp and the tuna tacos were more that just that.  I was only there six days, so as it may sound, I purposely overate.  I was quite determined, in fact.  Some of the things I brought back with me include Japanese sea salt, sushi rice, wasabi salt, packets of loose green tea, ceramic tea cups, bamboo trivets, and adorable bags of delicious hard candy in flavors like ginger and green tea (these are going to make great hostess gifts through the holidays). Unfortunately, it was hard to get good photos of food that I ate, mainly because it was too dark in most restaurants to get a good shot, or, I didn't bring my camera with me at night.  So there you have it.  I am back now and can't wait to have my first Japanese inspired dinner party.  Back to blogging soon!