I like to cook. I'm even pretty good at it when not pressed for time or budget. I don't often cook big meat dishes though. However in the October issue of the Rachael Ray Magazine which I picked up at the grocery store last week, I came across a recipe that kind of lept off the page and said "Try this."
About a week ago or so I mentioned that I had re-watched the movie "Julie and Julia," and it put me in a food frame-of-mind. I think that's why I bought the magazine. Cooking was tickling my subconscious. That and the promise of autumn coming. Not that you'd know by the outside temps that a change is season is on the way, but my joints are telling me. I like to cook bigger meals in the autumn and winter....use the crockpot, cook up recipes that take hours of prep. Don't know why, just do.
I'm not trying to "push" this magazine on you - it's just that I had fun making this recipe...enough to gather the ingredients for a group photo at the beginning and take a completion shot at the end. [I'll bet you're wondering where I got those little talking boxes and bubbles? Ask me in the comment section and I'll tell you.]
The recipe is called "Cherry-Braised Short Ribs with Bok Choy & Soba Noodles." There is a big photo of the finished dish on page 131 in the magazine and the recipe is on page 136. I more or less followed the recipe. Here's what happened:
THE INGREDIENTS
- "...3 lbs beef flanken short ribs (about 1 inch thick), sliced across the bones and halved crosswise...." Well I went to the store and looked in the meat case for short ribs and didn't see any. I then asked the butcher. He said he could cut some for me, how much did I need? I said 3 lbs. He brought me out that package you see above...most of them were about 2" thick! Awesome!
- "...1-2 tbls vegetable oil...." I always use olive oil.
- "...2 tbls sesame seeds...." I don't care for sesame seeds, so I skipped them.
- "...2 tsp grated garlic..." Since I don't like to chop or grate garlic I opted to buy a small jar of pre-minced and used 2 generous teaspoons.
- "...1/2 cup red wine...." Now, my husband does not care for the taste or smell of wine so what I used was the cherry juice.
- "...1/4 cup red wine vinegar...." I chose to use a 1/4 cup of Black Mission Fig Balsamic Vinegar by The Chef's Olive Mix that I bought from their shop in Old Sacramento not long ago. [sooooo tasty!]
- "...2 cups beef broth...." I like to use an 'organic' brand.
- "...1 cup hoisin sauce...." See the Hoisin in the group pic above? Just so you know, 1 cup is that whole jar.
- "...1/2 cup bottled pure cherry juice...." Yep.
- "...1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce...." Yep again.
- "...1 1/2 lbs. bok choy, well rinsed...." The 'well rinsed' part goes without saying. Here's a funny story: there is a clerk in our grocery store who confuses baby bok choy with Belgian endive. I tell him, bok choy has an open mind, and endive a closed. ;)
- "...1 pkg (8.8 oz) soba noodles, cooked and rinsed...." Rather than buy noodles, I decided to use what I had on hand...thin spaghetti.
I skipped the last two ingredients: dried cherries and scallion greens.
Now for the cooking [in a very large pot or dutch oven]:
The recipe said to brown the ribs. Because the ribs I bought were so huge, it took longer. Once done I then did as instructed: "...transfer to a plate...lower the heat...add the garlic and cook, stirring for 1 minute...." Remember I didn't use sesame seeds? They would have been toasted in the pot just before the garlic.
Next was to add the wine [cherry juice for me] and vinegar stirring up the browned bits; then add all the other ingredients up to the bok choy and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, put the ribs back in and make sure they are covered with liquid. I had to add extra water since these ribs were so thick. [the extra water did not dilute the flavor one bit] I put the lid on, lowered the heat to lowest simmer temp and let it cook for a bit over two hours.
After two hours, take out the ribs and add in the bok choy. Doesn't take but two shakes to cook bok choy [5 minutes]. The noodles were cooked separately and I timed them to be ready by this point. What I did was to drain them and put them back in their cooking pot. Then I spooned about 1/2 cup of that delicious cooking stewing juice to them and stir them up good. I put the ribs and the bok choy in a large serving dish and spooned a generous amount of stewing juice over that.
Done! With it I served some toasted, buttered olive bread. Yum!
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