Braised Beef Short Ribs

Beef short ribs are not in my regular rotation, this was my first time making them ever but the results were delicious. I used Anne Burrell's recipe (link below) which I adapted to fit my preferences (I loathe celery) and what I like more (leeks) as well as ingredients I had on hand. 

This recipe is fairly simple with the work front loaded and the rest of the time spent just smelling the delicious smell.

Ingredients: 

4 bone in beef short ribs (~2.5 pounds)
2 tablespoons of oil ( I used grape seed)
2 leeks, roughly chopped
3 shallots, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 cup of tomato paste
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 cups of water
1 1/2 cup of red wine
Salt to taste

Directions:

Season each rib with salt. In a dutch oven/heavy cast iron pot, preheat oil on medium heat. Add salted beef short ribs. Do not crowd. If you have more then 4, you may need to do this in batches.
Brown about 3 minutes per side. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

While the oven is preheating and the short ribs are browning, puree all vegetables and garlic until they form a coarse paste. Do not overblend. Season with salt (and pepper if using-- I omit pepper, just not a fan).

Remove short ribs once browned. Drain the oil, add fresh oil and pureed veggie mixture. Cook till brown, about 7 minutes. Add tomato paste and tomatoes and cook  another 5 minutes. Add wine, cook about 5-8 minutes till mixture is reduced by half. 

Return short ribs to pan, placing on top of sauce. Add enough water to cover. Add thyme and bay leaves. Cover and cook for about 1 1/2 hours. Flip ribs to the other side. Cook another hour while covered. If the sauce is getting too thick, feel free to add more water. Remove cover and cook uncovered another 20-30 minutes to allow meat to brown. Meat should be very tender.

Serve over mashed potatoes or polenta with the sauce.

P.S--next time I will be making more of these to allow for left overs. 

adapted from Anne Burrell's Braised Beef Short Ribs Recipe

Potato Leek Soup with Bacon (Non Dairy)

So technically, it's end of October so soup weather should be upon us. But it has been warm but nevertheless I have started out with my fall soup repertoire. Here we have Potato Leek Soup with Bacon. Because you know as well as I do that bacon makes everything better.

This was a huge hit with my older daughter and husband. The younger daughter--not so much. Thought she did eat the bacon crumbles. 

Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes
3-4 leeks (white part only)
2-3 shallots finely chopped
6 -8 pieces good quality bacon (divided because you will blend some into the soup and use the rest as a topping)
4 cups of chicken stock  (I used low sodium organic chicken broth by Imagine, homemade stock would be even better)
1 cup of water

2 tablespoons of oil ( I used grapeseed)
Salt to taste

Seasoning of choice (I used a spice blend from Trader Joe's)

Prep:

Peel and chop shallots and set a side. 

Wash leeks really well. Chop and set aside 

Wash potatoes, peel if the skin looks meh, leave skin on if it's pretty unblemished. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces

In a large pot or preferably a Dutch oven, heat the oil about 2 minutes. 

Add shallots, cook on medium flame for about 3 minutes.

Add leeks. Cook another 5 minutes.

Add potatoes. Add stock and water.

Continue to cook till potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.

Season with salt and seasoning. 

In the meantime, cook bacon in a skillet till crispy. Crumble and add 4-6 crumbled slices into the soup in the last 10 minutes of cooking. 

Blend till smooth, using immersion blender. Serve topped with reserved bacon crumbles. 

Potato Leek Soup with Bacon