Amazing Short Rib Ragu

For me, beef short ribs are more of a pain than they are worth. Generally speaking. As a child, my Mom made a dish that I loved, called Beef with Sweet Cabbage - - - except for the fact that she used beef short ribs and there was sometimes about one bite of meat to a short rib. The dish is one that I reworked, still called Beef with Sweet Cabbage, using brisket instead, cooking the brisket and then cutting and shredding it into manageable bite sized portions. 

Short Rib Ragu over Pappardelle Pasta

Aside from the small amount of meat to be had on some short ribs, they are fatty. So fatty in fact, that they will leave a thick layer of fat atop any soup or stew, which then needs to be removed. Eating a "whole" short rib, with the bone and fat and gristle, well, no, that's just not going to happen. Not in my house.

However.

A few years back my ex-daughter-in-law told me about a Short Rib Lasagna, which I went on to recreate as best as I was able. It is delicious, truly. The catch is working with the short ribs.

Okay, I have made that Short Rib Lasagna twice now, and working to get the meat out from all the fat is still a royal pain, but the meat is nice and tender, and already in bite sized morsels, just due to the way the meat is distributed in the short ribs. So, when my son's birthday was coming up and he had a nice Italian Amarone wine he wanted to drink, I said I would work on a dish that would pair with his wine. We discussed what kind of dish to use, what flavors to add, and came up with a Short Rib Ragu. I planned to serve the ragu over homemade pappardelle pasta. In essence, the recipe is not far off from the way I cooked the short ribs for the lasagna recipe, but just a few differences became pertinent to the flavor profile I wanted.

Short Rib Ragu over Pappardelle Pasta

Key flavors I wanted to add in with the short ribs were some Parmigiano-Reggiano rinds or "heels", mushroom powder (from dried shiitakes, ground to powder then sieved), lots of onions (I chose red onions for sweetness), a head of roasted garlic, some finely grated carrot (again, for sweetness), tomato sauce & strong wine (Cabernet). In a departure from my norm, to date, I opted to oven braise the dish, instead of using a slow cooker. Fresh rosemary and thyme with some bay leaves were the main herbal flavors. Something my son wanted in the flavor profile was fennel seeds. In all my planning, I did mean to add a substantial amount of parsley, which I completely forgot, and never once did I think of the fennel seeds, though I did a light smashing of some fennel seeds which we added at the table. These certainly would have been good, added in to cook with the ragu.

MAKE AHEAD

It is good to make things ahead when possible, thereby giving oneself time on the day of serving. I made this dish 4 days ahead of serving. Any longer and it would be preferable to freeze until the day before it is needed. To thaw, allow to thaw in the refrigerator for 1 or 2 days and then return the ragu to a heavy pot with a tight fitting lid and warm gently over very low heat, stirring occasionally, or in the oven. The roasted garlic can be made ahead. (Cut off top quarter inch from the whole garlic head, set into foil, drizzle with olive oil, crimp foil at top and roast in a preheated 400 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes. Once done and cooled, squeeze out all the soft garlic into a lidded container, drizzle on more olive oil, cover and refrigerate until needed.)

NOTE

Parmesan "heels" are the rind ends of good Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. These ends are hard and not usable to grate, but are excellent when tossed into a soup or stew to cook, giving flavor, but not leaving sticky cheese to coat everything. Save these rinds in the fridge or freezer, well wrapped. Cook in any soup or stew, then remove them once the meal is ready to serve.

Short Rib Ragu

Short Rib Ragu over Pappardelle Pasta

Serves 10 (Freezes well)

4 to 5 pounds beef short ribs
Oil, for browning
I head roasted garlic, cloves all squeezed out of their skins
2 large red onions, in thinly sliced quarter-rounds
1 red bell pepper, chopped small
2 carrots, grated very finely on small holed grater
1.5 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms, blitzed to powder, strained
2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon red wine
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 - 3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 - 2 Parmesan "heels" if available
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
2 bay leaves
0.5 cup of chopped parsley, optional
2 - 3 teaspoons whole fennel seeds, optional

Heat oven to 250 or 260 degrees, or whatever temperature will maintain a simmer. Have ready a heavy, large, oven safe pot with tight fitting lid, such as an enameled cast iron pot or braiser.

Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat and add in a tablespoon of olive oil. Brown a few short ribs at a time, not overcrowding the pan. Turn them to brown all sides evenly. 

While ribs are browning, slice the onions and place half the onions into the pot or braiser. Add in the red bell pepper and carrots, part of the rosemary and thyme. As the ribs are browned, remove them to the pot. 

Once all the ribs have been browned and added to the pot, pour off all but a tablespoon of grease from the skillet, then add in the red wine and cook quickly to reduce by half. Once reduced, add in the mushroom powder and stir. This will want to thicken. Scrape all the mushroom/wine mixture atop the ribs in the pot, then add in all the remaining ingredients: tomato sauce and paste, remaining rosemary and thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper, Parmesan heels, parsley and fennel, if using. Set the pot on the heated burner and bring the ingredients to a simmer, then cover with tight fitting lid and set in the oven for about 4 hours, or until the meat is tender and falling off the bones.

Once tender, remove from oven. Remove the ribs, bones, and any pieces that have fallen off bones, to a plate to cool. Use sheets of paper toweling, set briefly on top of the stew in the pot to remove the thick layer of grease. Discard these grease-soaked paper towels. Repeat with more paper towels if needed. 

Once meat is cooled, remove the meat, shredding if needed. Discard all bones and fat or gristle. Return the meat to the pot and stir. The sauce is now ready to eat, but will taste better with at least a day's rest in the fridge, or freeze if preparing ahead. Also, this is a large amount, so it can easily be divided into two portions, freezing one and keeping one out to eat. Serve over any pasta desired.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Overlooked Recipes

I put a stop to my website as of last September. I had been steadily working to add in to this blog all the recipes that had previously only been posted on the website, but inevitably, some get overlooked. I want to post three I discovered I had missed.

I have been horribly lax with working on my blog, or putting out a newsletter, or even cooking much of anything new. Why? I got into a project and it has occupied all my attention and interest for months, now. I periodically like to put together "books" with comb bindings for myself or for family. Often these are cookbooks of collected recipes for a family member, as well as being a quick reference for me. Sometimes I have dedicated myself to identifying flowers (as after a trip to California, with a slew of flowers I'd never seen before, living in the east) and making a small booklet, so I have them as a reference. I have done this with birds, using my own photos as well as photos my sisters had taken. We love birds. That book was immense, and it is in a large binder. Another was butterflies. Most often it has been recipes just because I love to cook.

Cactus Flower

The one that has occupied my time these past three months or so has been any and all plant photos taken in Arizona. I had visited AZ a fair bit in past, as one of my sisters lives here, but really never thought to live here myself. But, here I am, and now I am seeing cactus plants and wondering what kind they are, or other plants in general. While some seemed very straightforward, having been labeled, others not so much. And I have spent countless hours researching online. The last in a long line of plant types are succulents, and soon I will be wrapping up this project. I still have orphan plants I cannot identify, no matter how long I search. Alas. 

So back to these missed recipes. I just found that I had omitted them yesterday, and was horrified, because they are some favorites. So, without further ado:

Turkey or Chicken Tetrazzini

Serves 6

Turkey Tetrazzini

6 ounces spaghetti
¼cup butter
½ cup flour
2¾ cups chicken broth
1 cup light cream or evaporated milk
¼ cup dry sherry
1 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained (6 oz. can)
½ cup green pepper, chopped
1 small jar chopped pimiento, drained
2 cups diced cooked turkey, or chicken
½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water till just barely tender; drain. In a large skillet melt butter; blend in flour. Stir in broth, whisking so no lumps form. Add cream. Cook and stir till mixture thickens and bubbles. Add the wine, salt, pepper, spaghetti, mushrooms, green pepper, pimiento and cooked turkey. Turn into a 12 x 7½ x 2" baking dish. Sprinkle top with Parmesan. Bake @ 350 for about 30 minutes.

NOTES: I have on occasion tripled this recipe for a party. Divide the mixture into two 9 x 13 inch pans, and add on about 10 minutes of cooking time, or until it is bubbling all through.

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Smoky Pork BBQ Ribs

1 (3½ pound) rack pork loin ribs

Smoky Pork BBQ Ribs

6 - 8 tablespoons Sweet Smoky Cocoa Rub
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
3 cups mesquite wood for smoking
½ cup Sweet Tangy BBQ Sauce

Early in the day, soak the wood chips in water to cover, for at least 2 hours or more. Pat the Sweet Smoky Cocoa Rub onto both sides of the slab of pork ribs, plus 1 teaspoon of the salt per side, and allow to stand at room temperature, while the wood chips are soaking; 2 hours.

Once the wood chips have soaked long enough, cut two sheets of foil. Place half the wood chips onto each piece of foil and make a packet enclosing the wood and poke holes into the top.

At least 5 hours before you want the ribs done, start the grill, heating only one side. Once grill is ready, place the slab of ribs onto the hottest side and allow to sear well, about 10 minutes. Flip over and sear the other side for about 10 minutes. Move the ribs to the unheated side of the grill. Set one of the wood chip packets onto the hot side of the grill. Close the lid and monitor the temperature, keeping it relatively low; below 300 degrees if possible for at least 2 hours. Midway between, if the first wood chip packet has stopped smoking, place the second packet onto the hot side of the grill, to keep up the smoking. 

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Once the ribs have spent at least 2 hours on the grill, prepare a sheet of foil large enough to completely enclose the slab of ribs and set it into a large baking sheet with sides. Remove the ribs from the grill and set onto the large foil sheet. Cover the top with ½ cup of Sweet Tangy BBQ Sauce and then fold the foil around the ribs, completely enclosing them. Place the baking sheet into the oven and allow to bake slowly for another 2 to 2½ hours, until completely tender.

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Tzatziki Sauce

Makes about 1½ cups sauce

Tzatziki Sauce

1 cup plain Greek yogurt or 1½ cups other plain yogurt
½ cucumber, peeled, seeds removed, diced small (optional)
2 tablespoons good quality olive oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced finely
1 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

If using a good quality Greek yogurt such as Fage brand, you may not have to drain the yogurt. If using other brands or the larger amount of just plain yogurt, set the yogurt into a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl. Place in the refrigerator and allow to drain for at least 1 hour or more.

If raw garlic upsets the stomach, set the minced garlic into a small bowl and just barely cover with vinegar. Allow to stand for at least 10 minutes, then drain. This removes the raw taste. Add to the recipe and continue.

Discard the yogurt liquid. Place the drained yogurt into a bowl. Add the olive oil. vinegar, garlic, dill and salt and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning. If using cucumber, stir in. 

Note: Cucumber, while true to the recipe, will add liquid if it sets for too long, making the mixture runny. If using cucumber, it may be best to stir in just before serving. Use this tzatziki when serving Falafel or Butternut Squash Falafel. 

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Ravioli Worth the Making

I love ravioli, always have. I favor cheese fillings over meat fillings, preferring to have meat in the sauce to go with it. My husband on the other hand, has never once, ever, ordered ravioli if at an Italian style venue, but always has gone with spaghetti with meat sauce and meatballs or sausage, if available. 

My earlier free-form ravioli experiment

With that in mind, while I have a couple of times in all my years made ravioli, I had never gotten a rave from him. Since I know that is not his "thing", that's okay, but at least I attempted them. Once I made them - earlier this year in fact - and used some of the leftover cheese pieces (of Romano and Chevre mashed together) I had used in the center of one of the flank steak rolls (appetizers for a Winefest here). There ended up more of the cheese filling than flank pieces, and I just got the idea to mash them up with some of my homemade pesto and fill ravioli. They were really good, but to try and explain what I did would have been near-impossible, so I didn't even try. Still, since my husband seemed to like those ravioli well enough, I had kept this in back of mind to try again at a future date.  

Making the pasta for the ravioli was another thing I  hadn't done too much of, despite having the pasta rolling attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. I did make the past for the earlier ravioli. I was absolutely 100% sure that the recipe I used was in the booklet for my new Breville Sous Chef food processor. I went to the booklet to recreate the pasta. And . . . it wasn't there! I looked through the recipes at least 5 times. I was THAT sure it had been there! Oh well.

My new Ravioliera

Also, in the last couple of weeks I was on the Williams Sonoma website for hours and hours, just feasting my eyes. I went there specifically for a tablecloth, which I bought, but the only other thing I ordered after those hours on end was a ravioli mold. This is not a machine, or even a plate to fit into a machine, but just a mold with 12 little wells. The raised edges are meant to cut the ravioli, once filled and topped with pasta. It seemed, at the time, to be a good idea. Lots of people complained about not having a tool to press the dough into the wells. Others complained about the ravioli sticking in the wells and not coming out easily. Despite this, I ordered it and it came about a week ago. The tablecloth is stunning, and I am so very happy with it. The little ravioli former was beckoning.

Just formed Cheese & Pesto Ravioli

When I made ravioli in the past, it was free-form, seen in the photo above. I am no Mario Batali to just whip them out easily and readily. When I saw this little "ravioliera", I didn't know how large or small the ravioli would be, and there was nothing in the description (nor on the box once I received it) to say what size ravioli it would turn out. I used it the other day, with great success (after an initial learning curve), and it makes 2-inch ravioli. 

Keeping in mind all the negative comments on this little device, I was determined to make it work. I used a pasta recipe from the latest Food and Wine magazine, though I totally forgot to add the water! I tried, belatedly, to work in some water, accomplishing maybe 2 tablespoons worth. The pasta was nicely dry, which usually doesn't happen for me, so I had less problem with things sticking than usual. I rolled the pasta through the pasta roller attachment and though the recipe stated how many times and how thin to roll it - possibly because I forgot the water in the recipe, but there was no way I could form ravioli into the little wells without the pasta tearing. It was just too thin. I went one roller setting less thin, and had no more problems. I did find that it was easier to make one very long piece of dough (ultimately both top and bottom of the ravioli), setting half of it way off to one side covered with a damp towel, while working with the other half set over the ravioli former. I held the dough up while gently pressing the indents into the wells with the thicker end of my marble pestle. One of my round measuring spoons would probably have worked as well. If this is confusing to read, it was not that difficult. Just a matter of some common sense. 

Exquisitely flavorful Cheese & Pesto Ravioli

One comment I had read stated that it was best (rather than heavily dusting the ravioli wells with flour as the instructions suggest) to instead heavily flour the bottom of the pasta dough before setting into the mold. This worked well for me. With a little bowl of water nearby, I moistened the perimeter of each filled well before flipping the long pasta tail from off to the one side back over the wells. After pressing very well all around the edge to seal each individual ravioli, I ran the little wood dowel over the top to cut them apart. I will say this was not exact. It appears either the raised ridges are not of even height, or the wood dowel is not totally smooth. However, it did most definitely leave a deep enough impression so it was easy to go and run my pastry cutter (with the same zig-zag edge) over the parts that were not separated. All in all, after the first piece of dough through, I had a system going and it went very well.

In the same Food and Wine magazine article that I used the pasta dough recipe from, was the recipe for the ravioli filling. I liked the thought of the cheese part, though the actual recipe was for much larger ravioli that would have an egg yolk dropped into the center of the cheese filling before sealing. With my little ravioli of a bare 2-inch diameter, there was no way to add an egg yolk into them. I used the Feta, Romano and Parmesan, then added some of my own Pesto to flavor it instead of adding other herbs and such. 

This was the absolute best ravioli! Even my husband raved about them. Granted, I did nothing special with the sauce part. I fried hamburger, added some onion and green pepper and a larger jar of Ragu and cooked it. But no matter how you look at it, these ravioli were most exceptionally good! If you prefer a simple marinara, Puttanesca or a raw tomato mixture, any of these would be great. I think these were good enough to serve alone with a drizzle of olive oil, but my husband would so not go for that!

Cheese & Pesto Ravioli

Cheese & Pesto Ravioli with Parmesan shavings

Makes 58 - 60 (2-inch) ravioli 

PASTA
2 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
2 - 4 tablespoons water
2 cups "00" or semolina flour (I used semolina)

FILLING
7 ounces preferably sheep and/or goat milk Feta 
7 ounces whole milk ricotta
1.5 ounces Romano cheese, finely grated
3 tablespoons (preferably homemade) basil pesto
a few grinds of black pepper
a few gratings of fresh nutmeg

Place the flour in a food processor. Separately, whisk together the eggs, yolks and water. Drizzle into the processor while pulsing, once all added, process until the mixture starts to come together. Turn out onto a surface and knead a few times to form a ball. Wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Wipe out the food processor bowl and add in the Feta, broken into chunks, along with the grated Romano. Pulse, then process to completely break down to crumbs. Add in the ricotta, pesto, pepper and nutmeg and process until well combined. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To roll the pasta, a pasta roller of some kind is preferable, unless you have great experience at rolling pasta dough thinly. (I don't.) Cut the dough into quarters, working with one quarter at a time and keeping the remainder well covered. Roll the dough out slightly, into a long oval. Run it through the pasta roller on its widest setting at least 4 times. Turn the setting to the next smaller setting and run it through twice more. Turn the roller to the next smaller setting and run the dough through twice. The dough should be quite thin. If not, use the next narrower setting twice and possibly even one more narrower setting if needed. The dough should be thin, but not so easily torn.

You should now have a very long, narrow piece of dough. Drape half over a ravioli former, or if free-forming, cover half the dough with a towel while forming ravioli with the other half. In a mold, press the well-floured dough into the wells. Use a very small cookie scoop to make even sized little mounds of the filling. If free forming, simply keep the filling mounds evenly spaced for ease of cutting. Moisten the edges all around the filling with water. With the mold, flip the long tail of dough over the top, pressing well around each well to seal. If free-form, moisten the dough all around the filling, and then mold the long remaining tail over each mound of filling, pressing tightly all around each mound to seal. With the mold, run the dowel or rolling pin over the top to make the cuts. Turn out and separate any places that stick, using a pastry cutter. If free-form, simply cut between the mounds with a knife, use a biscuit cutter or use a pastry cutter. Whichever works best.

Once formed, make sure the ravioli are well dusted with flour so they do not stick. They will cook in boiling, well-salted water in about 3 to 4 minutes. Serve with your favorite sauce.

MAKE AHEAD:  The ravioli can be frozen. Make sure  the bottoms are well dusted with flour, then set the ravioli in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze until solid, then remove them to a zip-top bag and return to the freezer for up to 3 weeks. They can be cooked straight from the freezer, though the timing might require another minute or two to bring to temperature all the way through.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.