Braised Short Ribs with Creamy Cheesy Polenta

For those of you looking to beat old man winter or if you’re just looking for a good comfort meal this recipe is for you. The ribs are slowly braised in a rich tomato sauce and then served nice and warm over a mound of soft creamy polenta.

Braised Short Ribs with Polenta

Rib Ingredients

4 – beef short ribs

3 TBS – oil (Canola, Regular Olive, Vegetable, etc)

1 – large yellow onion

2 – carrots

2 – stalks of celery

4 – cloves of garlic

2 Cups – red wine (I use Cabrent Savigon)

1 Cup – chicken stock

3 Cups – of water

1 – 12 oz can tomato paste

2 tsp – of salt

1 tsp – pepper

10 sprigs – thyme bundled together

3 – bay leaves

Preheat your oven to 365 degrees.

On your stove heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, add 2 TBS of oil. When the oil is hot liberally season your short ribs on all sides with salt. Place in dutch oven and allow to brown on all sides, should take approximately 2 minutes per side.  Once brown place the ribs in a bowl and set aside. Pour out whatever oil remains in the pot. 

Browned Short Ribs

In a food processor chop the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic finely.

Proper consistency of chopped ingredients

Place the last TBS of oil in the dutch oven and cook the vegetable mixture with 2-tsp of salt over medium heat for 7-9 minutes. You are looking to cook all the moisture out of the vegetables.

Time to add tomato paste

When vegetables are cooked add the entire can of tomato paste and cook with the vegetables for 5 min. Stir frequently as you do not want the tomato paste to burn.

Time to add wine

After 5 minutes mix in 2 cups of red wine and allow the liquid to reduce by half. This step takes approximately 10 minutes. Once the wine is reduced add the thyme bundle, bay leaves and the ribs back to the pot. Be sure to add any juices that have come out of the ribs as well. Cover the ribs with 1 cup of chicken stock then as much water as it takes to just cover the tops of the ribs (~ 3 Cups).

Cover the pot and place in the oven for 3 hours or until the ribs are tender. At the 1 ½ hr mark check the pot to ensure there is enough liquid.  When there is 30 minutes of cooking time left remove the lid so the sauce can reduce. When done add the tsp of pepper and taste for proper salt seasoning, serve over top of the polenta.

Polenta Ingredients:

For soft polenta I use a ratio of 5 parts liquid to 1 part dry ingredient. Depending on how much you're making adjust your measurements accordingly.

¼ cup – Polenta

¼ cup – Semolina

¼ cup – Shredded Fontina Cheese

¼ cup – Shredded Parmesan Cheese

1 TBS - Butter

1 ¼ cup – Chicken Stock

1 ¼ cup – Milk or Heavy Cream

1 tsp – Salt

In a sauce pot bring the cream and stock and salt to a boil. When the pot boils whisk in polenta and semolina. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Continue to whisk the polenta frequently. After 30 minutes or when the polenta becomes tender whisk in 1 TBS of butter and the cheeses. Once the cheese is melted, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Vaseliades House Salad

When I need a go to salad for a party, lunch, dinner or whatever this is what I choose. It is super easy with 7 ingredients. Here is what you need to make a dinner sized salad for one or a side salad that will serve 2-3:

2 - Packed Cups of Mixed Baby Greens
1/2 - English Cucumber quartered and diced
8 - Cherry Tomatoes halved
1/4 - Cup of Diced Red Onion
1/4 - Cup of Crumbled Feta
1 - TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 - tsp Balsamic Vinegar
Pepper and croutons to taste

Place all the ingredients in a bowl. Drizzle oil and vinegar around the outside of the salad and mix lightly as not to damage the greens. Add/ or make your favorite crouton and a few grinds of pepper. enjoy!!

Salad pictured with Chicken, Orange Bell Pepper, Cranberries, and Apple

There are several variations of this salad. For an added fruity taste add a handful of dried cranberries and/or half an apple diced. You can also substitute Goat Cheese for the Feta for a creamier less salty taste.

Other popular additions: Leftover rotisserie chickens, leftover roasted potatoes, any and all leftover veggies.

Note on dressing salads: You do not want to drown your salad. Less is better when it comes to dressing and also helps you save on calories. 1-TBS of Olive Oil is 120 calories. If you see that your dressing/ vinaigrette is pooling in the bottom of your bowl you have added way to much.

Pork Loin with Roasted Butternut Squash and Apples with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This dish is quite a winter meal. It has the smell and taste of the holidays, so throw another log on the fire and enjoy thinly sliced pork loin served over roasted Butternut Squash and Apples seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and balsamic vinegar, served over a bed of creamy mashed potatoes top off with a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

Pork Loin
1 – Pork Loin (Size depends on how many you’re feeding. Plan on three ¼”- ½ slices per person.)
1- TBS olive oil (Just enough to coat Pork Loin)
1 – tsp salt
¼ - tsp pepper
¼ - tsp cinnamon
1 – tsp paprika
Dash cayenne pepper

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Cover pork with oil salt, pepper, cinnamon, paprika and cayenne pepper. In sauté pan (that can go into the oven) heated over medium high heat, sear each side of the pork loin, about 2min per side. You’re looking for a crusty outside but not burnt. Once seared place entire pan in the oven and cook until the internal temperature is 150 degrees for medium. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apples
1 – butternut squash pealed and diced into 1-1 ½ inch pieces
3 – red apples diced into 1 – ½ inch pieces
1 – TBS olive or canola oil
½ - tsp cinnamon
¼ - tsp nutmeg
2 – tsp balsamic vinegar
1 – tsp of salt
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the squash in a bowl and coat with oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and a few grinds of black pepper. In a separate bowl place the apples and coat with balsamic vinegar and a few grinds of black pepper. Place squash in a baking dish and cook covered with foil for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes add the apples and cook another 5 minutes covered. Uncover and continue to cook until squash and apples are cooked through and somewhat soft. Time will vary based on your oven. This step could take anywhere from 10-20 minutes.

Mashed Potatoes

Yukon Gold Potato

Milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Butter

Peel potatoes and place in cold water with a good-sized pinch of salt. You want your water to be salty so the seasoning will work its way into the potato while it cooks. Bring the pot to a boil and cook till potatoes are fork tender. Once complete drain and place potatoes back in the warm pot over low heat. Let them sit in the pot for about 5 min so the excess water can evaporate. At this point add milk, butter, salt and pepper. Start with a small amount of milk and butter. Mash the potatoes till you get a smooth creamy consistency. If potatoes seem dry add more milk and or butter to get the constancy you desire. Keep the potatoes simple (no cheese or garlic, etc), as they will absorb the flavor of the pepper sauce and juices from squash and apples. Set aside on low heat till ready to serve.

Red Pepper Sauce

4 – red bell peppers

Splash of olive or canola oil

1 – cup diced yellow onion

3 – diced cloves of garlic

1 ½ - cups chicken broth or stock

1 – tsp black pepper

1/8 – tsp red pepper flakes (more if you want it spicier)

Place the red peppers under the broil and get them good and charred (black) on all sides. When done place in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap till cool. This will steam them and make it easy to remove the skin. Once cool, remove the stem, seeds, and rub the skin off.

Heat a sauté pan with a splash of oil over medium heat. When hot add the onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Sauté till the onions are soft and appear translucent. Roughly chop the roasted red peppers and add to the pan along with the chicken stock.  When it boils reduce the heat to low so that the pan maintains a simmer and cook for 45 min to 1-hr.

Pour everything in the pan into a blender and blend till smooth. The consistency of the sauce should coat the back of a spoon. If it’s too thick add a splash of chicken Once complete pour back in the pan and let sit over low low heat till ready to serve. Stir occasionally.

When ready to serve place a small amount of red pepper sauce on the bottom of a plate. Make a design with it. Have fun. On top of the sauce place a scoop of potatoes. Create a well in the middle of the potatoes and place a scoop of the apples and squash. Drape the squash with 2-3 thinly sliced pieces of pork and top with a dollop of red pepper sauce. Enjoy!

Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum

Seeing how I just purchased my Jimmy Buffett tickets for his Tampa show and his popular song Volcano says “where I go I hope there’s Rum,” I thought I’d conduct my very own Rum tasting and report out on my findings. A Rum tasting can be quite a daunting task if you don’t scope it properly. After all according to Wikipedia there are about 7 grades (types) of rum (Silver(White), Gold, Spiced, Dark, Flavored, Overproof, and Premium) and you definitely want to compare apples to apples. With that in mind I figured I start out with the most popular grade of rum, Silver.

Rum is made by distilling fermented sugar and water. The sugar comes from sugar cane and is fermented from the cane juice or molasses. Molasses is nothing more than the crystallized sugar that has been extracted from boiling cane juice. The origin of Rum dates back to ancient India and/ or China where there is record of people first drinking fermented sugar cane juice. The first distillation of Rum is credited to Barbados during the 17th century. While the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Asia all produce Rum, the majority of it is produced in various countries all over the Caribbean.

As I mentioned before I chose to taste Silver Rums. These Rums are generally light, clear and have very little flavor other than their sweetness. Because of their mild flavors they are usually only used for mixed drinks. I limited my tasting to a total of 4 different Rums (Bacardi, Cruzan, Castillo, Largo Bay). All of these are on the cheaper side and cost less than $15 for a 750ML bottle. In the case of the Castillo, I actually got a liter for less than $10. I conducted a blind tasting so I wouldn’t be influenced by bottle name. I evaluated the Rums on their nose, initial taste, and finish. Here is the outcome:

Rum A-had a light rum flavor with a hint of vanilla on the nose, the taste had a mild rum flavor with a slight sweet note. The finish had very little burn in throat.

Rum B-had a similar nose to A with a little more alcohol sting to it. The taste was buttery with a mild rum flavor on the tongue. The finish had a slight alcohol burn to it.

Rum C-had a rubbing alcohol smell to it and was very spicy on the tongue tasting nothing like rum. The finish had a pretty good burn to it.

Rum D-could have been water for all I know as it hardly smelled like rum. The taste was boring with little to no flavor at all. The finish on the other hand was very smooth, hardly a burn at all.

There was a clear divide between the 4. Both A and B came in a close 1 and 2 respectively. While B had a slightly better taste A’s smell and finish put it over the top for me. C came in dead last as it smelled, tasted, and finished horribly to me. D came in 3^rd, however, could have come in 1 or 2 had there been some flavor of any kind as it was very smooth going down.

A=Bacardi – Distilled in Puerto Rico, cost  ~$0.41 per oz
B=Cruzan – Distilled in St. Croix, cost ~$0.39 per oz
C=Castillo – Distilled in Puerto Rico, cost ~$0.30 per oz
D=Largo Bay Distilled in Barbados, cost ~$0.36 per oz

Of interest to me is Bacardi LTD owns Castillo Rum, if you believe what you read the two rums are made identically just placed in different bottles. This means you can buy Castillo for $0.11 cheaper per oz or save approximately $3.00 on a 750ml bottle and still have the equivalent of Bacardi Silver. The kicker is if they are indeed the same they should taste the same. In my tasting I found them to be completely different and not in a good way.

When I began this test I must admit I expected Bacardi to come in close to the bottom. I was quite shocked with the results when the bottles were revealed to me. While there are many silver Rums on the market, if you're looking for a good cheap silver rum to build a cocktail off of Bacardi or Cruzan would be my choice with a slight nod to Bacardi.

Yellow Green Farmers Market, Hollywood, FL

Was excited to head out to one of the local Farmers Markets this morning. The website www.ygfarmersmarket.com looks great. It talks about fresh produce, dairy, sauces, breads, oils, seafood, etc. Upon arrival the market looks great from the outside. It appears to be an old livestock warehouse which has been gutted an refitted for a flea market look. The website says it has over 300 vendor booths, but fails to tell you over half are empty.

Of the occupied booths the majority are selling some sort of apparel and or accessories. To its credit there are maybe 6-7 produce stands with what appears to be some quality yet cheap produce. I saw Red, Orange, and Yellow peppers 3 for $1 which are usually $3.99 per lbs in the local supermarket. While these peppers were smaller than what you find in the supermarket they were much firmer and didn't have that waxy look to them. The other produce I saw consisted of potatoes, tomatoes, chilies, leeks, lemons, oranges, eggplant, cucumbers, various squash, broccoli, carrots, etc. Funny though there was no lettuces.  There are also a couple stands that sell breads, sauces, cheese, spices, fresh tea mixes, oils, wine and even 1 fresh seafood stand.

While the market showed lots of promise it seems to me to be more a flea market with a few stands dedicated to food rather than a true farmers market.

I did purchase some peppers, leeks, lemons, and onions. Tonight I will use the leeks to make a potato and leek Gratin to accompany a lamb loin chop.

Greek Burger

My wife informed me Thursday we were having burgers and fries for dinner on Friday. I didn't want to settle for your normal burger so I spent my morning at work figuring out how I could shake up the standard burger. I came up with my variation of the Greek Burger. This burger has both warmness of the burger coupled with the coolness of the yogurt sauce, crunch of the relish and tang of the red wine vinegar and yogurt. Here is what you'll need:

Burger (Makes 4-5 burgers)
1lb ground beef (80% beef/ 20% fat)
1/2 small yellow onion diced finely
1/4 cup fresh Oregano roughly chopped (2-2 1/2TBS dried)
1TBS Cumin
3 oz Crumbled Feta
~10 turns of the pepper mill (add more or less if you'd like)
1TBS salt (I use kosher salt)

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for approximately 1-2 hours in order for flavors to meld together. When ready to cook heat your grill pan or grill on high heat (you want a smoking hot pan). When the pan is hot brush a couple drops of oil (olive, canola, etc) on each side of the hamburger patty. Once in the pan turn the stove down to medium heat and cook 3 minutes on the first side. Flip and cook for 4 more minutes for a medium burger (assuming a 1/4 lbs burger). Let rest for about 5 minutes before eating so juices redistribute back into the meat.  

Cucumber Relish
1 cup peeled, diced and seeded English Cucumber
1/2 cup Diced Red Onion
1/2 cup Diced Red Pepper
1/2 cup Diced Green Pepper
1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 cups Water
1 Tsp Cumin Seeds (1/2 tsp of Cumin Powder)
1 Tsp Mustard Seed
1 Tsp Celery Seed
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Bay Leaf

Dice all vegetables evenly. Bring the water, vinegar, and spices to a boil. Once boiling place cucumber, peppers, and onions in the pot. Bring back to a boil then remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool place the vegetables in a storage container with enough liquid to cover about 3/4 of the vegetables. Refrigerate till ready for uses.

Yogurt Sauce
1 Individual Serving of Greek Yogurt
Zest of 1 Lemon
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
2 tsp dried Mint
1 small clove of garlic diced finely
1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
pinch of salt
~ 5 turns of the pepper mill

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate till ready to use.  Works best if you can allow it to sit for about 1-2hrs prior to use so flavors can meld together. Note on the garlic clove. It is important the clove is very small or you will end up with a garlic flavored yogurt as opposed to a tangy lemony sauce that we are looking for.

When the burger is done spread a thin layer of the yogurt sauce on each side of the bun. Place the burger on one side and top with a thin layer of the the yogurt. Then add one leaf of lettuce and top with a scoop of the relish. Serve with your favorite french fry recipe. I chose Sweet Potato.

It's been a while...

I was messing around on the computer today and realized it's been a while (almost a year) since my last post. So I decided I will again attempt to put my food and fun on paper so to speak. My goal is to at least put something in here once a week.

Here is to me keeping to my goal.
Cheers!