Korean Short Ribs

This one is adapted from Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Fast and Slow. I didn't want to add a Daikon radish, but feel free to add it. I chopped up three baby bok choy and put it in near the end of the final saute. It was delicious. I garnished with lots of scallion slices (both white and green) and lots of sesame seed. Gerry had a hard time eating only one serving (makes 4.)

2-1/2 to 3 pounds short ribs

1/2 cup soy

1/2 cup sake (I substituted 1/4 c. rice vinegar and 1/4 c. mirin)

8 medium garlic cloves

4-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

3 T packed light brown sugar

2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds (if you need to toast them, put them in a dry pan and toast until brown. Don't burn!) And more for garnish.

1 ripe pear, Asian preferred, roughly chopped

10 dried shitake mushrooms (I used fresh) cut in half

1 medium carrot, sliced into1inch slices (I would use more)

1 small diakon radish, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

6 scallions, sliced white and green

Rinse the short ribs in cool water for 10 min to and hour and then drain and let dry. 

Blend the liquids (soy, sake etc.), garlic, ginger, sugar, pear, sesame seeds. Puree until smooth and pour this mixture into the instant pot. Place short ribs in the instant pot. Add the mushrooms.

Lock the lid in place and move the pressure valve to sealing. Select pressure cook on high for 55 minutes. When pressure cooking is complete, let the pressure reduce naturally for 15 minutes and then release to vent. Press cancel on the pot.

Remove the ribs. Skim off and discard the fat in the pot. Cut any fat from the ribs. Select Normal/Medium saute and add the carrot (and diakon) to the mushrooms and sauce. Cook for 15 minutes until the sauce is a glaze. Add the meat (and bok choy) near the end.

Press cancel and stir in 1/2 of the scallions. Serve over sushi rice and sprinkle with more sesame seeds and scallions. Serve also with cucumbers sprinkled with salt, rice vinegar and sesame seeds.

Swedish Meatballs

 I came across a meat mixture in Aldi the other day - ground beef, veal, and pork. It's a meatball and meatloaf mix from Thomas Farms. I'm not a meatloaf-maker, but what came to mind was Swedish meatballs that I had as a kid a hundred times. I usually get them at Ikea when we stop for lunch after shopping. There's something so comforting about this simple food. Ikea serves

I went to my trusty New York Times International Cookbook from the 1970s. I relied on the book many times in the past - especially for stuffed cabbage. I found three Swedish meatball recipes on pages 529 and 530 and chose the one that sounded closest to what I was looking for and adapted it Swedish Meat Balls II.

That recipe actually is very nearly like one that I am sure my mother used from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, of which she was a devotee. Here is my adaptation:

Meatballs (small; make 30-40)

1-1/4 lbs. meatball and meatball mix

1 cup bread cubes or large crumbs (I used some large crumbs from sourdough baguettes that I had frozen)

6 T. light cream

3 T. finely grated onion

1 clove garlic, finely minced (I used one T roasted garlic)

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg

1/4 ts. grated allspice

1 egg, lightly beaten.

Brown the meatballs in 2 T oil and 1/8 c. butter on all sides. Remove from the pan and place in a baking dish. Cover with 2-1/2 cup beef stock and bake for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees.

Sauce

Blend 1/8 c. butter with 2 T. all purpose flour. Stir the bits left in the pan into this roux and cook a few minutes. Mix in the broth (using something like Kitchen Bouquet to darken the sauce.)  Add the meatballs to the sauce. Serve hot over cooked
egg noodles. 

Just like home as a kid!

Lamb Shanks Curry

 We love lamb shanks and I find them at Whole Foods consistently. They freeze well, too. Rather than make the traditional lamb shank recipes I've posted before, I thought I'd try them with Indian spices. I served them over while basmati rice cooked in the rice cooker with a few Star Anise and a bit of butter and salt. I minced a handful of cilantro and tossed it in when the rice was hot. 

This recipe is adapted from Archana Mundhe's The Essential Indian Instant Pot Cookbook. 

Start with 4 lamb shanks. The recipe called for them to be cut into 2 inch pieces. I used whole shanks. Pat them dry.

Make a paste with 2 T fresh lemon juice, 2 tsp. kosher salt, 2 tsp. minced garlic, 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger, 2 tsp. ground coriander, 1-2 tsp. Kashmiri red chile powder or another mild chili powder, 1 tsp. cumin and 1 tsp. turmeric. Rub the paste all over the shanks.  I placed them in a plastic bag and put heaping teaspoons of paste on them and used the plastic bag to spread them. Massage the paste into the shanks.

Let sit 3 hours to overnight.

Slice 2 large yellow onions, thinly.

When ready to cook, pour 1/4 cup oil into the instant pot and saute the onions until limp and yellow. Do not burn or brown heavily. Press cancel and place the shanks in amongst the onions, covering each shank with some onion. Make sure any browned bits of onion are scaped off the bottom of the pot. Pour 1/2 cup water into the plastic bag - shake to combine any spice that was not on the lamb. Set this water aside.

Secure the lid and set the pressure release to Sealing. Select Meat/Stew and set the cooking time for 40 minutes on high pressure. The pressure will adjust and the seal will seal after 5-10 minutes. The countdown to 40 will begin. Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes. Move the pressure release to vent to allow all steam to escape. Remove cover. Return meat to the pot.

Remove hot shanks to a meat board and remove all the meat in chunks. 

Stir 1-2 tsp. garam masala into the 1/2 cup reserved water. Pour into the pot with the onions, broth and lamb. Stir and saute for about 5 minutes. It will thicken slightly.

Spoon the meat mixture onto the prepared rice. Serve with Naan pockets if desired, filling them in halves.

Italian Plum Torte

One of my professional colleagues and Facebook Friends posted a terrific photo and recipe for Italian Plum Torte. Italian plums (prunes fruit) are abundant in September - even in New England. Thanks Christi and April for the inspiration!

I decided I wanted to make Marian Burros' famous torte, too! (NYT has some great articles about the recipe and its history.)  The farmstand I was referred to was too far away.  I didn't know that the local grocery stores sold the plums and was thrilled to pick up two bags.

The torte is delicious. I had made a dried plum cake a few years ago that everyone loved. Why had it taken so long to make the fresh version?

You should have a 9-inch or a 10-inch cake pan. But, I imagine any low ceramic dish would do. I preferred to use parchment paper, turn the torte over onto a plate, and then turn it back onto the cake plate under my cake dome. So I used the cake pan.

First, slice the plums in half and remove the pit. The torte calls for 24 halves, but I think I used 30. The size will make a difference. 

Cream 3/4 or 1 cup of sugar with 1/2 c. butter at room temperature. I always over-cream these days, until the sugar and butter are really incorporated. Add 2 eggs and cream a bit more. Add 1 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, and a pinch of salt and mix well. It's that easy.

Spoon the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Place the plums skin-side up on top of the batter, covering it. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes until a cake tester is batter-free.

The NYT article suggests adaptions you might make with spices, extracts and flours. Go for it! 

Cardamom-Coriander Syrup (for Finnish Nail cocktail)

Beth gave me a great book from the Portland Alpine & Hunt Club in Portland, ME. One of their specialty cocktails is the Finnish Nail (do you see what they did there?)

First, you make the cardamom-coriander syrup:

Take two broken-up cinnamon sticks, 1-1/2 tsp. coriander seeds, 1 T black cardamom pods roughly-broken up (NOT green cardamom), and toast in a 450-degree oven on parchment paper. See my photo. The PA&HC book says about 8 minutes. NOT. After 6, they burned. I went for 4 minutes.

When they are still warm, blend in a spice blender with 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes until evenly ground. Add 4 ounces of high-proof rum. Blend quickly (you may lose some of the rum out of the spice blender. Just replace it in the next step.

Combine 15 oz. hot water (very hot, but not boiling) and 3/4 c. finely granulated sugar. Stir to dissolve.

Use a coffee filter in a sieve or strainer over the sugar water and let the spice/rum mixture filter through, spreading the spices to let all the water go through slowly. 

Transfer to a clean bottle and label. Refrigerate for up to two months, shaking with each use.

For the drink, combine:

2 ounces blended Scotch

1/2 ounce Drambuie 

1/2 ounce syrup

Add ice to the glass and stir 20-30 seconds. Strain into a double Old Fashioned glass with a large ice cube. 

Lemon peel and garnish

One-Pan Pasta

"All you need is one pan and eight ingredients, and this delicious dinner is on the table in 20 minutes." Martha Stewart

We've been making this one-pot pasta since COVID, when I began buying large bags of fresh basil at our local specialty farm stand/gourmet store here in Marion (Fieldstone.) I have a bumper crop of basil this year that I need to use up before we leave for Florida in September. 

This is adapted from Martha Stewart, and you can find plenty of adaptations on cooking sites. 

Photo snip from Chew Out Loud dot com

This is, simply, the fastest, healthiest, most delicious meal.

If you are using ground beef or sausage, cook it first and remove from the pan, and set it aside.

Place the oil at the bottom of a large skillet. (If you have meat drippings, don't use the oil.) Saute the garlic for a minute or so until fragrant.

Place the pasta in the middle of the pan and arrange handfuls of the onion, peppers, tomatoes, and basil. Add the liquid (all broth, all water, or a combination of all - 1/2 cup white wine if preferred.) Add red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Simmer until the pasta is the desired consistency. Don't overcook. Mix all in the pan, adding meat, and serve with grated parmesan and sprigs of basil. 

Ingredients:

12 ounces pasta (dry, not fresh) and I like bucatini, long fusilli or curly thin lasagna noodles

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 cups sliced multi-colored peppers

2 cups halved grape or cherry tomatoes

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

½ tsp. red pepper flakes

1 cup fresh basil leaves, plus sprigs for garnish

2 T. olive oil

Salt and pepper

4-1/2 cups liquid (broth, bone broth, and white wine or water)

Freshly grated parmesan for serving

Cooked ground beef or cooked, sliced sausage

Pasta with Scallops and Fresh Garden Vegetables

I love to hunt for interesting pastas from TJ MAXX stores - Marshall's, Maxs and Home Goods. They are a bargain compared to the gourmet prices on imported Italian pastas. 

Tonight we had Barilotti with scallops and fresh vegetables. I searched our frig and garden and came up with a 23-ingredient dish! It was easy to cook, despite all those ingredients. (WHAT IS BARILOTTI? It's a hearty pasta made of semolina flour and water. Shaped like an empty pea pod, it's a perfect form for cradling sauce, according to Ciao Ciao Bambina.)

Ingredients: Sea scallops, pasta, Manchego cheese, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, celery salt, olive oil, butter, bacon, spinach, basil, chives, shallots, roasted garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, shishito peppers, olives, cream, white wine, egg,

First, I cooked and drained about 8 oz. of the Barilotti pasta. Interestingly, I couldn't find Barilotti in my pasta encyclopedia. The $6.00 bag cost me $3.99 at Home Goods. It's a pasta that creates a nice pocket for a rich creamy pasta sauce. I cooked it just past al dente so as not to have any crunchiness. I drained it and set it aside. 

I gathered olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, butter, heavy cream, white wine, 1/4 c. sliced olives,  and one egg. Grated some Manchego cheese (or Parmesan or other hard cheeses.)

While I was cooking the pasta, I chopped my veggies:

• 1 ripe tomato, diced
• 10 stems of fresh chives, sliced 1/8 
• 10 sprigs of Globe Basil (less of sweet basil leaves)
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 1 T. roasted garlic
• 2 shishito peppers or mixture of bell peppers to make 1/2 cup thinly sliced
• 1/2 yellow and 1/2 zucchini squash, sliced vertically and sliced into1/4 in. slices

I tossed the zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, shallot and garlic with olive oil and 1/4 tsp. celery salt, salt and pepper and roast in 400 degree oven about 10 min. until roasted (not crisp, but not too soft.)

In a hot skillet, I cooked 4 slices bacon diced.  When cooked, I tossed the pasta in the bacon and remove it to to another pot to stay warm. I added a few large handfuls of fresh spinach leaves and olives. Covered to keep warm.

In the empty skillet, I added a T butter to the bacon grease left in the pan and placed about 20 washed and dried sea scallops, seasoned with salt and pepper. Quickly sauteed so they were seared. 

I added 1/4 c. white wine and cooked for a scant minute. Removed scallops to the pot with pasta and bacon and spinach. Added 1 Tsp. red pepper flakes to the pot. Covered again to keep warm and wilt the spinach. 

To the white wine and scallop liquid, I added 2 T. butter and 1/4 c. heavy cream. Cooked about 1 minute and added diced tomato and basil leaves. Slowly whisked in 1 egg, whipped with a fork. Turned off heat. This was nice and creamy. Added in the roasted vegetables. Stirred.

Poured this mixture over the pasta/spinach/bacon/scallops in the pot. Mixed quickly. Plated and garnished with cheese and chives and some basil leaves.