Monday, February 13, 2012

Recipes


Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

Looking to impress someone with a delectable dinner? I use this recipe as my base for preparing the most succulent short ribs:
 
4 English cut beef short ribs, trimmed (roughly 8 ounces each)
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 bottle full bodied red wine, such as Cabernet
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock (original recipe calls for 4 cups of veggie broth)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

Notice that there are only five main ingredients, so it makes your shopping list as well as the cooking very easy.  Short ribs can be expensive, but in Seattle, Fred Meyer, QFC and Safeway all sell them for half the cost of a butcher or fancy grocery store; you just might need to budget for two ribs per person. (Five, 5 oz short ribs at Fred Meyer was $9; Five, 8oz short ribs at Central Market was $22.75.)

My spin on the recipe is that after one hour in the oven, I add chopped carrots (figure one carrot per person) and any leftover wine and give it all a big stir.  It’s also important to use good red wine in this recipe if you want the meat to develop full flavor.  I serve the ribs with mashed potatoes, polenta or rice. Add a green vegetable if you want more than carrots (asparagus, Swiss chard or broccoli are good choices.)

For the original recipe, click here.


Hoisin Glazed Shrimp

I bought a pound of fresh, medium shrimp and wanted to make a tasty, easy dish, so I turned to my trusted Real Simple magazine.

1 lb shrimp
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons of toasted sesame seeds

Instead of threading the shrimp on skewers and broiling them, I simply put them in a pan for three minutes on one side, flipped them and then added the hoisin sauce to the pan for another four minutes of cooking.

My spin on this recipe is the hoisin glaze.  I added a tablespoon of orange marmalade and a splash of orange juice to the sauce, stirred it and then poured it on the shrimp. I served the shrimp over brown rice with a cucumber salad on the side. (See recipe for more details.)

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