Chipotle-braised short ribs

I've gotten a bit frustrated lately with the amount of time it seems to take to make good food. Apart from stir fries and PB&Js (which, let's be real, are amazing and an essential part to a healthy diet), I take a really long time in the kitchen.Most days, I love being in the kitchen. I love the smells, the sounds, the bustling, warm activity of it all. But sometimes, other things get in the way. When you have a seven-month old who can dump out the recycling bin and suck on the end of a shampoo bottle within a matter of the six seconds that you turn your back (true story), you don't exactly have the luxury of making your own broth, whisking constantly, or searing-to-perfection every single day.

That brings us to short ribs. I've had a few packages that have been staring at me from the freezer. I've made them once. They were gorgeous. They were insanely good. They took the most gigantic amount of time to make. But when you step back and take a good hard look at what really went on in the recipe, you were really just simmering some meat in some stuff. Couldn't I just cut out all the other mess? All short rib recipes call for searing the ribs first, draining the fat, then cooking them more, then draining more fat. Also, it called for lots of prep time in the seasoning, the chopping of veggies, etc. My goal with this meal was to minimize the fuss, stick her in the oven, then get rid of all the fat at the end. Am I compromising some stuff? Probably. But the end result was still awesome, my braising liquid will definitely be repeated in the future, and my baby is not ingesting soap. Success.

In the spirit of things, I decided not to go to the store for any of the ingredients. All of these items are pantry staples. Don't have soy sauce? Add a bit of salt. Short on fresh ginger? Skip it altogether and maybe toss in a few extra garlic cloves. Have beer instead of wine? Or prefer chicken broth? Go for it. This recipe is stress-free. One little caveat, and this is a biggie. Make this the day before you plan to eat it. Remember all that fat I was referring to earlier? It's so much easier to dispose of it quickly after it has congealed thanks to an overnight stay in the fridge. Yes, it's gross to chip congealed fat off your food, but it's much cleaner and efficient to do it this way vs. gently spooning off liquid grease blobs for what feels like forever.

If short ribs aren't your thing, use this liquid with a good roast. 

Chipotle-braised short ribs
1 large onion, sliced
6-8 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, roughly chopped
half jalapeno, sliced
1 cup cheap red wine
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp fresh ginger, sliced
1 tsp. season salt
1 tsp. cumin
1tsp. chili powder
approx. 2 lbs. short ribs
water

Dump all of this into a big dutch oven. Fill the pot with water until most of the meat is submerged in liquid. Bring to a boil on the stovetop, then stick into a 350 degree oven. Your goal here is really tender meat. Poke at it with a fork every now and then to gauge this. Mine cooked for three hours before achieving falling-apartness. Remove from oven, and let cool a bit before refrigerating overnight. When ready to eat, pick the congealed white fat from the top and discard. Reheat on stovetop, and serve with your favorite starchy goodness (grits, mashed potatoes, etc.), spooning the liquid over the top as a sauce. Brave eaters will be fine with picking meat off bones, but for pickier people, take a few minutes to remove the rib bones and tendons.

A fish fry

One of the best parts about living in the Pacific Northwest and being from Texas is showing off awesome seafood to the people that visit you. We've lived here for four years, and we are extremely fortunate to have had lots of wonderful people come stay with us from back home. And almost every time we get an overnight guest, we'll cook up something from here or here or, even better, something we've dug or caught on our own.

In-laws have been with us for the past week, and shonuf, we ate the crap out of some seafood. We snagged some gorgeous true cod at the market. As I've mentioned before, frying things is tricky business for me. The perfect combination of golden, crispy crust and perfectly cooked meat/veggie is a holy grail. Batter can turn to goop. Protein can either be underdone or rendered tough and chewy. 

But when you nail it, oh MAN does it feel good. This is how this fish turned out. The fish was flaky and moist, the crust was flavorful and crunchy but the flavor of the fish still shone through. After seventy gajillion attempts, I think I finally happened upon a recipe that I will turn to again and again. 

And while you're at it, whip up some coleslaw. Disclaimer 1: this would be a total pain to make without a food processor. I don't think I'd hand grate all this business. Of course, you could buy those nifty pre-grated bags. Disclaimer 2: I'm not a big cole slaw fan. Line up typical seafood/barbecue sides, and I'd pick about 30 things before I landed on cole slaw. But this really surprised me. I made it because I knew that aforementioned in-laws are big slaw fans. So I made it my way - cutting out some of the mayo and sweetening it with applesauce.

Fried cod

2 large filets of cod (about 1.5 lbs)

salt and pepper

1 12 oz. can of beer (I snagged one of FIL's Miller Lites)

2 1/2 cups flour

a few shakes of seasoning salt

a few squirts of hot sauce (I used sriracha)

oil for frying

In a large wok or dutch oven, heat a few inches of oil on medium high.

Pat fish dry. Cut filets on the diagonal into two inch pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour beer into bowl and whisk in 1 1/2 cups flour. Add seasoning and hot sauce and whisk until just combined. Pour remaining cup of flour onto large plate. Pick up a piece of fish at the tip with two fingers. Dip it into batter, letting the excess batter drop off. Dunk it into the flour and roll it around to coat. Gently slide it into the oil, being careful that the coating stays into place. Fry a few pieces at a time, carefully turning it with a slotted spoon until golden.

Cranberry cole slaw
1/2 head of green cabbage, grated
1/2 head of red cabbage, grated
4 carrots, grated
1 apple, chopped
2 tbsp. freshly minced parsley
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup mayo (feel free to add more if you want a little creamier)
1/4 cup applesauce

Mix together in a large bowl and chill.


 

Tortillas

This one takes a little bit of elbow grease and time. But really, no skill or savvy. And they're so so impressive. Extremely flavorful, incredibly textured and wonderfully fragrant, there's nothing like homemade tortillas.

Ok, so the real reason I made these was because I bought this. (Time out. How hilarious is it that a person reviewed lard on Amazon? And even more hilarious that they discuss the hilarity of reviewing lard on Amazon? Awesome.) Time in. You see a box of lard, you buy a box of lard, right? Then, when you run across a recipe that calls only for lard, flour, salt and water, you dive right in.

Like I said, this requires no skill, just time and a little focus. We served these with brisket last week and one pal said it was "the best thing I have ever put in my mouth." I'll take it.
ps- I doubled the recipe and made my tortillas a little smaller. They were cute.

Flour tortillas
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup lard (or shortening, or butter)
1/2 cup warm water

Combine the salt and flour in large mixing bowl. Cut the lard in, and add the warm water until you have a soft and pliable dough. I used a pastry cutter (or fork, if you're pastry cutter-less) with the lard, then my hands. Move the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes. Shape into a ball and cut into quarters. Working with one quarter at a time, cut each quarter into three equal pieces. Roll into balls using your hands.

Using a tortilla press, rolling pin, or bottom of a pie plate, roll (or press) these to 1/8 inch thickness. They won't be perfectly shaped, but that makes them even more homey and impressive. Until you're ready to cook, I laid each disk on a baking sheet, sprinkled with a tiny bit of flour, and lapped one on top of the other. Heat a cast-iron skillet or other large frying pan over medium high heat. Cook each disk for about 45 seconds on each side. They'll puff up and get those lovely brown spots. Serve immediately.

You'll never buy tortillas again.

pps- thanks to SAM for the shoutout!

The basics

This post is for my littlest bro, a senior in college. He's very cool, rocks out in a band, has a gorgeous girlfriend. He says things like dope and tight (or did, back when they were cool) and wears beads and awesome vintage clothes and reads poetry. But about once a month he calls me up and makes me feel really cool by asking me cooking questions.

 It goes a little something like this, "Sister, what's going on?" "Not much Mel, just making bla bla bla for dinner" "Oh my GOD that sounds so good."

Here's the funny part, I'm usually making something simple, something so not impressive, but because it involved a little more effort than peeling back a wrapper and turning on a microwave, he's really wowed. I always tell him I'll email him a recipe, but I usually forget and my coolness factor plummets. So here you go Mel. Start here. Make these two things and you'll impress the heck out of that lovely girl of yours. I promise.

I don't really understand why this dressing works so well. But the ingredients are always on hand, and the longer the garlic sits on the oil, the more flavorful this gets. I like to put it all in a mason jar and shake it (cue Artemis' Coyote Ugly audition in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. 'I'm just a small-town girl...)

Salad dressing
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2/3 cup oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Stir ingredients together. Be sure to mix again before serving, as oil and vinegar don't mix. (duh)


There's no excuse for buying tomato sauce in a jar. The store-bought stuff tastes like butt compared to what you can make on your own. This is a really basic recipe that can be pepped up with chili flakes, lemon zest, half and half, etc. But on its own, it shines.

Tomato sauce
a few tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine (any kind will do - hopefully you're drinking some with dinner anyway)
1 small can tomato paste
2 tsp. sugar
salt and fresh pepper to taste

Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil. Saute the onions on high until very soft. Let them sit for a few minutes before turning - you want them to get a good char on the bottom (but not burnt!). Add the garlic and cook for a minute more. Once you smell the garlic, add the tomatoes, water and wine. Stir in the paste and sugar. Let cook for a minute longer and add about a tablespoon of salt to taste.

Toss with pasta, some roasted veggies and parmesan. Smear it on pizza dough. Bake with chicken and cheese for something impressive. Yum yum.

Chana masal-aaah

It's raining for the 750th day in a row here in Olympia. And not the cozy, Texas thunderstorm kind of rain, but the drippy, cold misty rain that saps every ounce of energy and happiness from your bones. The worst part about this gloomy March day is that, technically, spring is here. Cherry blossoms have exploded, daffodils are everywhere. Heck, even some crocuses have peeked their way through the garbage that is my yard. All I want to do is run and play and sing. But all I physically can do is sprawl out and watch another Hulu'd Gossip Girl episode. And eat heaping bowls of comforting food. Food that I can put 10 minutes of effort into. Food that will taste so good that I won't mind that it's another asshole day out there. Enter Chana Masala.

This lovely dish is easy, fortifying and fast. No fresh veggies, no succulent bits of meat. But nothing processed either, and hey! It cost only, like, $2.50 to make.

That's the glory of Indian food. Stock up on some spices and curry pastes and an (almost) Curry Corner-worthy supper is all yours for a few pennies. I used dried chickpeas here. Soaking and simmering them in a little chicken broth reveals tastier beans. But let's be real, I'm in it for the savings. I think this recipe called for 40 cents worth. Boom! Plus an onion, garlic, a can o' tomatoes, fresh ginger and those exotic-sounding spices, and you have yourself a meal. (Cue Carl Weathers' soup bone/stew comment from Arrested Development).

Eat with basmati rice. I also sprung for some TJ's flat bread.
And get to an Indian market ASAP. If you're in the Olympia area, all this goodness can be procured at Curry Corner. You can also get henna hair dye there too. Just sayin'.

Chana masala (adopted from Deb over at Smitten Kitchen)
1 lb. dried chickpeas, rinsed
a few cups chicken broth (or salted water)
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. grated ginger
1 jalapeno
1 tbsp. garam masala
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 cup water
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
juice of 1/2 a lemon
salt to taste

Rehydrate the beans by letting them soak overnight in a bowl of water. Then, simmer them for a few hours in broth until tender. OR use canned chickpeas if you're pressed for time. In a large, lidded pot, saute onion and jalapeno with a glug of olive oil over medium high heat. After ten minutes or so, add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Stir in all the spices and let all that cook for a few minutes. Then, add chickpeas, tomatoes, paste and water. Let cook on low for 10 minutes or so. Squirt in the lemon juice. Add salt to taste (I used about a tbsp).

Clams and fries

For the inaugural post, we'll start things off with what we love most. Fried things and cream. It's a Lenten Friday, meaning no meat. Meaning I crave burgers and steak and chicken strips and bacon all. day. long. So, in the spirit of sacrifice and abstinence, we take this opportunity to stuff ourselves with the riches of the sea. Last week: seared scallops. Before that: gorgeous halibut. Tonight? Clams and fries.

Ok, so fries have always eluded me. They're, like, my most favorite treat, but they're tricky little suckers to make well. I've read over and over how the double-fry is the way to go. But who has the time for that? Tonight, my friends, I made the time. And I'm so glad I did.
You're supposed to let them sit for a while between cooking. 10 minutes was my threshhold cuz we were hungry. But it definitely did the trick. The fries puffed up to a golden, crunchy-on-the-outside, toothsome and succulent-on-the-inside perfection.

Then the clams. These dudes are hard to eff up. You steam until they open. Done.

The liquid can include any manner of treats. Chicken broth, cream and garlic are staples for me. But toss in bacon/pancetta, fresh herbs, onion, citrus zests and you have something extraordinary. We whirled in a chunk of curry paste and were in heaven.

Clams and fries
2-3 lbs. potatoes (we had sweet potatoes and reds), sliced to 1/4 inch thickness
oil for frying (peanut is great, we used vegetable)
a few tsp. minced rosemary
1.5 lbs. clams (littleneck, manila, etc.) scrubbed clean
2 c chicken broth
1 c half and half
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp curry paste
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in large wok or dutch oven at medium high heat. Fry potatoes for 10-15 minutes until soft. Remove from oil using slotted spoon to sheet pan or plate. (don't worry about draining on paper towels, as you're just going to toss them back in the pan). Let sit for at least 10 minutes, preferably longer. For the second frying, watch for the potatoes to get puffier, firmer, probably 10-15 minutes more. Drain on towel and let sit for a few minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt and rosemary.
Bring broth and half and half to a simmer in a large saucepan. Whisk in garlic and curry paste and cook until garlic is fragrant - maybe a minute or two. Dump in the clams and cover. Check after a few minutes, turning off heat as soon as clams open. Cooking too long will make them chewy.

Throw away any unopened clams. These are gross, dead duds that you won't want to eat anyway.