PW's Braised Short Ribs with Bacon Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Do you know the Pioneer Woman?  You should, she's a World Famous Blogger.  A gifted photographer.  And soon to be even more mainstream...because she's having a movie made about her right now.  Being played by none other than Reese Witherspoon.  Ree Drummond is also an INSANELY good cook.  I know.  I just made her Braised Short Ribs.  You should too. 



PW's Braised Short Ribs w/ Bacon Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Here's what I used:

8 whole Bone-in Beef Short Ribs
1/4 AP Flour, for dredging
6 pieces pancetta, diced (I used bacon)
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 whole medium onion, diced (I used 2)
2 shallots, peeled and finely minced
3 regular carrots, unpeeled, diced
2 cups red or white wine (I used Barefoot Merlot)
2 cups Beef broth
2 sprigs fresh Thyme
2 sprigs fresh Rosemary

4 peeled russet potatoes
1/2 cup colby jack cheese, shredded
1 tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup sour cream
bacon crisps from Braised Short Rib recipe above

Here's what I did:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Season ribs w/ S&P, and dredge in flour.

In a large dutch oven, cook pancetta (or bacon) on medium until crispy and then remove (and set aside for mashed potatoes).  Add olive oil to pancetta/bacon grease and raise heat to high.  Brown ribs on all sides for 1-2 minutes per side, and remove.  Turn heat to medium and add onions, carrots and shallots to pan.  Cook for several minutes and then add wine.  Deglaze pan (scrape bits off bottom) with cooking spoon to get the yummy bits into the mix and off the bottom of the pan.  Boil for 2 minutes.

Add broth, 1/2 tsp salt and fresh ground black pepper.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.  Add ribs, thyme and rosemary (whole).

Put lid on pot and cook for 2 hours in the oven.  Reduce heat to 325 and cook another 35-45 minutes.  Ribs should be falling off the bone.

While ribs are cooking, set a large pot to boil with potatoes.  Cook until soft.  Add potatoes and the last 4 ingredients together and mix with hand mixer in large mixing bowl until smooth.  Add S&P as desired.

Plate with mashed potatoes on the bottom, 1-2 ribs on top, and then drizzle/heap sauce/vegetables on top and around the plate or bowl. 

This dish definitely has a "fall/winter" vibe, but we weren't complaining.  It was decadent, delicious and surprisingly simple for what you get as a result.  Yummm.

Slow Cooker Pork Masala with Red Potatoes and Baby Carrots

I have a back issue of Bon Appetit with a Child Friendly Chicken Masala that I have been wanting to try.  I have always loved Indian food, but Nick has a real aversion to anything he thinks may be "curry-like".  So I was thinking a child friendly version may be just the ticket to introducing him to the cuisine.  Additionally, if its a little toned down on spices, the chances are higher that Sydney will like it too.

On to the modifications, I made more than a few.  I converted the recipe from a traditional oven to slow cooker.  I used pork tenderloin instead of chicken. I substituted sour cream for plain yogurt, and dried onion flakes instead of fresh chopped.  I also added vegetables and white pepper.

Slow Cooker Pork Masala with Red Potatoes and Baby Carrots

Here's what I used:

1 2 lb pork tenderloin, cut into fist-sized chunks
1/2 bag baby carrots (or enough to cover bottom of slow cooker)
3 large red potatoes, skin on, cut into 1" pieces
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tbsp garam masala (Priya brand, found in my local grocery international section)
2 tsp kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp dried chopped onion
1 cup sour cream
3 tbsp olive oil

Here's what I did:

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, and cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours, or LOW for 8-10.  Just prior to serving, remove pork and cut into 1" or bite sized pieces, and then add them back into the cooker.

Serve over Basmati or Long Grain rice.

I am soooo pleased with this one.  My first foray into any sort of Indian fare, and it was really successful.  Spices were right on.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

About a week ago, a hex hit my house.  As in, my nearly 2 year old daughter and my husband both came down with a bug that knocked them out of commission for nearly a week.  Somehow, miraculously, I was unscathed.  I think it was so that someone other than the dogs could keep them alive.  I don't think Maddy or Jazzy could cook food, go get gatorade, spoon mylanta, or attend to the myriad of other things that were going on in the house...so lucky me.  I did make a huge portion of Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, complete with homemade egg noodles to sustain my poor, sick babies...and it lasted a good week.  I just poured out the remaining 2-ish cups of it last night.

This recipe is fairly easy, just requires that you taste your stock to ensure it has enough flavor for you, and add to it as you see fit for your taste.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Here's what I used:

1 5 lb whole chicken fryer
1 bag baby carrots (or 4-5 peeled/chopped large carrots)
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
4 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves only
S&P
Chicken Bullion

Egg Noodles (recipe below or store bought)

Here's what I did:

Preparation for this recipe consists of chopping all vegetables, and feel free to add veggies that you like to this, and omit what you don't.  Also, rinse and pat dry the chicken, discarding innards.  At this point, I cut the chicken into 4 main pieces, breasts, and thigh/legs.  Alternately, you can buy a chicken already cut up, to save on time.

Then, in a large stockpot, place chicken and all vegetables.  Add cold water, until chicken pieces are fully covered.  Allow chicken and vegetables to boil on med/high for about 20-25 minutes.  Remove chicken at this point, and take off and discard skin and bone.  Chop chicken into bite-size pieces, and add back into stockpot.  Set eat to a low simmer.

At this point, take a taste of the stock.  Its probably pretty bland.  Add salt, pepper and chicken bullion cubes or powder until you reach desired flavor profile.  Add cajun seasoning if you want a little more kick.

Homemade Egg Noodles

Here's what I used:

2 cups AP Flour
3 large eggs, beaten

Here's what I did:

I used my Kitchen Aid mixer, and simply added the flour and eggs to the bowl, and used paddle attachment for 30 seconds.  I did not need to add any extra water or flour to get the right consistency.  Test dough with finger, if its too sticky/gooey, add flour by the tbsp until dough is tacky, but not gooey.  If its in small balls, add water by the tsp until dough begins to bind together.

Remove dough from mixer, and hand knead into a ball.  Wrap with saran wrap and let sit for 15 minutes to 2 hours (as time permits).  You can make dough ahead of time, and then begin the soup.  That way, as soup boils, you can be forming your noodles. 

At this point, I again used my Kitchen Aid mixer, and added pasta roller attachment to the front.  Divide dough into 6 even sections, and keep unused sections covered by saran wrap or dish towel until ready to use.  Generously flour the dough, and feed it through the roller, starting at the widest section, #1, and continuing twice per setting until #4.  Continue this for all sections of dough, laying flattened pieces down on a floured surface, and covering with a dish towel.

Once all sections have been flattened, I added my linguine pasta cutter attachment.  Feed each section of dough through the pasta cutter, and then hang the pasta groups to dry.  I have a pasta drying rack, but you can also drape the noodles over the side of a large mixing bowl until ready to add to the soup.

Now, by this point, the soup should be ready for the noodles.  I simply took each section of fresh noodles, and with kitchen shears, cut the noodles over the stockpot, and let them fall into the soup below.  I made each set of noodles about 2" long.  I did this with all groups of noodles, and then let simmer for 5 minutes.

Test your noodles to ensure they're fully cooked.  If you opt to make them by hand, make sure the dough is rolled out very thin, and then hand cut with a butter knife.  These may take longer to cook, as they will probably be thicker.

Again, check seasoning and adjust to your liking.

Sydney was requesting "nooo-ols" for days afterwards.  This keeps and microwaves beautifully, so it provided us with 4-5 days of soup for both Nick and Sydney.

Rosemary Sage Pork Rib End Roast

Here's another easy one, that got rave reviews from the hungry crowd last night..with enough leftovers for Sydney's lunch today...







Rosemary Sage Pork Rib End Roast

Here's what I used:

1 4-5 lb Pork Rib End Roast (or any roast/tenderloin of pork)
2 heaping tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp dried sage
3-4 tbsp olive oil
S&P

Here's what I did:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Combine olive oil, garlic and dried herbs in a bowl and stir to incorporate.  Meanwhile, set pork roast into a roasting pan, and season lightly with S&P.  Then brush or spoon on the marinade, and cover pork roast completely.

Roast at 500 degrees for 15 minutes, turn once to evenly brown.  Turn oven down to 325 for another 35-40 minutes.  Allow pork to rest 5-10 minutes before serving, tented with foil.

I paired this with some baby carrots that I steamed, and seasoned with nutmeg (carrots are SO GOOD with nutmeg), a little butter, S&P.  I also made steamed cauliflower, cut into small 1/2" pieces. 

This was easy with not a lot of prep and the pork was very tender.

Slow Cooker (Crockpot) Beef Round Roast with Baby Carrots and Red Potatoes

Well, we got hit with another snow storm yesterday, that added 12" to the 33" that were already on the ground here in Northern Virginia.  Good thing we all shlepped to Costco for a few hours on Tuesday, mostly to get out of the house - but we also stocked up on some goodies.  Wine.  Goat Cheese.  Fresh Mozzarella...you know, the essentials!  ;)

Let me say that Costco Goat Cheese and Mozzarella are awesome.  And for 2 lbs...and just under 4 dollars each...that's an amazing deal.  We pay 7-10 dollars for a half pound at our local grocery chain. 

I digress...  Being stuck inside, and wanting something comforting and hearty, I checked my fridge.  I had a 2.7 lb Beef Round Roast that was looking pretty good.  So I looked up recipes on All Recipes and found one called "Erica's Delicious Slow Cooker Beef Roast"...and modified from there.

After reading some of the reviews, I made more than a few modifications...

Slow Cooker Beef Round Roast

Here's what I used:

1 2.7 lb Beef Round Roast (other roasts will work, too)
20-30 baby carrots (enough to cover bottom of Slow Cooker)
1 medium onion, quartered
4 cloves garlic, peeled but whole
6-8 red potatoes, quartered
1 cup chicken broth
1 can condensed golden mushroom soup
3-4 tbsp vegetable oil
2-3 tbsp AP Flour
2-2 tbsp Worchestershire Sauce

Here's what I did:

Add all vegetables to bottom of Slow Cooker, except for the potatoes.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet (I used nonstick) with 3-4 tbsp of vegetable oil, and set to medium/high.  Season the roast with salt, pepper, and dredge lightly with AP Flour.  Add roast to pan, and sear for 15 minutes, browning all sides of the roast.

Place roast on top of vegetables in the Slow Cooker, and pour broth, soup and worchestershire sauce over roast.  Set to LOW for 6-8 hours.

During the final 1.5 hours, add potatoes, and make sure they're covered in gravy so that they heat evenly.

I sliced the roast in 1/2" pieces, and then placed them back in the slow cooker during the last 20-30 minutes, and served the vegetables and roast in soup bowls.  This was an easy, hearty meal for a blustery day.

Cajun Chicken Soup

This is a recipe that I used to cook regularly in the winter months while Nick and I lived in Arlington, VA. We'd invite a few friends over for football, put a few logs on the fire, make this soup and enjoy it with some crusty, rustic bread. Just the ticket for a chilly winter day.

Cajun Chicken Soup

Here's what I used:

1 chicken, cut in parts (including back & neck if you can find it)
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp chopped garlic (I used pre-chopped garlic from a jar)
3 quarts water
3 tbsp salt
1 tsp Tony Chacheries (or other Cajun seasoning)
2 tsp black pepper
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 bag egg noodles (or linguini/spaghetti broken into 2-3" pieces)

Here's what I did:

Add chicken, water, seasonings and all vegetables to a large stock pot or dutch oven. Bring to a boil, and then down to a simmer for 50 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from the pot and take off skin. Take meat off the bone and rough chop into bite size pieces, about 1" cubes. While chicken is removed, bring soup back to a boil and add egg noodles. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes. Once noodles are cooked through, add chicken back into soup and serve.

This soup is so flavorful and rich, while still being healthy, fresh and yummy. Really hit the spot. In fact, this is what I will be having for lunch today, too!!