Friday, February 18, 2011

Heart & ribs

I made these ribs the other day. I think they would have been delicious if I'd set the oven at a lower temperature. I did 350... Jack suggested 275 would have been better.

Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs. beef short ribs (grass-finished if you can get ‘em)
  • Sea Salt & freshly Ground Black Pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons Cooking Oil of your choice (we used bacon lard)
  • 1 Cup of Dry White Wine
  • 1 Cup of Strong Brewed Coffee
  • 1 large Yellow Onion, chopped
  • 2 Teaspoons Chili Powder
  • 1 Teaspoon dried Oregano

Instructions:

  • Season the short ribs with salt and pepper, to taste.
  • Warm the oil in a large skillet over high heat.
  • Add the ribs and brown until golden, turning them once, about 2-3 minutes per side.
  • Transfer the ribs to a paper-towel lined plate.
  • Pour the wine and coffee into the skillet. Cook over high heat, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom, until the sauce is reduced by one forth, about 2-3 minutes.
  • Put the ribs, onion, garlic, 2 teaspoons Sea Salt, chili powder, and oregano in a slow cooker. Pour in the wine sauce and cook, covered, on high for 2.5 hours. Transfer the ribs and sauce to a serving dish and serve.

Also, I found the top half of a cow heart in our freezer, so I stewed that up. Briefly:
Sautee diced bacon in a Dutch oven, and add in some veggies (red jalpenos and mushrooms). Remove the bacon & veggies with a slotted spoon, and brown the heart (trimmed of fat and cut into cubes!) in the fat. Add the veggies back in, and enough water to cover everything. Season as you see fit. We put in salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, etc. at first, and then we added some soy sauce, fish sauce and miso later on when it seemed to need a little extra something.

It turned out pretty well, but it was really oily - too much bacon grease? Not enough fat trimmed off the heart? Anyways, the top of the heart muscle seems to be tougher than the bottom, so stewing it was a good way to soften it up. The meat turned out to have great texture!

Simple simple truffles

I made truffles as a belated Valentine's gift for Scott. Easy & really good!
Inspired by Mark Bittman.

Heat 7/8 c cream on the stove until it's steaming .(I had half-and-half on hand.)
Stir in 8 oz chocolate until it's melted. (I used half unsweetened and half semisweet.)
Stir in whatever flavors you like. (Rind from half an orange, a teaspoon of rum, a little cinnamon.)

Refrigerate until it's solid.

Scoop out truffle-sized amounts, shape into balls, and roll in cocoa powder (mixed with cinnamon) to coat. Store in the fridge.

I love that it's essentially a 2-ingredient recipe (cream + chocolate) with lots of flexibility!


I also want to try this chocolate custard (1 can coconut milk + 1 cup chocolate chips + flavorings) sometime soon.