An epic journey making shortribs...or I will take the chicken please

Yes! That is the tabouli that I made last week. One of my favorite things in the whole world. Ya know, some tomato, some cucumber, and some parsley and some mint. Add that to Bulgur and zip it up with some olive oil and lemon juice and as far as *I* am concerned I could call it dinner.



I have more mint than I will ever be able to use in my garden. This is a good thing.



I made a chicken to go with the tabouli because Dr. Food can NOT live on tabouli alone. This recipe is from my archives that date back about 30 years. No margarine these days. I use butter, but besides that the recipe is still awesome. All you do is put all the ingredients except the chicken (duh) into a sauce pan and heat up for a few minutes. You then pour it over chicken parts. Sprinkle with parmesan and paprika and bake in the oven until done. What is done? I dunno. You want me to make it for you too? Until it is the right chicken temperature. Oh yeah, it goes in a 350 oven.



I poured it over a whole chicken and skipped the parmesan and paprika. It came out good.



What is this you ask? It is chicken stock that I am making to go into a master sauce that is going into a dish for short ribs.



We had bought fantastic grassfed beef at Whippoorwill Farm when we went up to Connecticut (Waving to Robin and Allen!)



Robin had given me some leaf lard which this recipe just so happened called for.



It rendered down to really clean white white white lard.



The master stock also called for hocks and feet. Oh lookie Dr. Food! We just so happen to have some in our freezer.



We started this master stock the day before. This stock was more work than the dish itself. It was worth it. We only needed 2 cups for the dish itself but now we have this liquid gold in our freezer.



Here are the stars of the show.



These were browned the night before and left to soak in marinade overnight.



The marinade was not so simple either.



Bouquet Garni's pfffft. I say let em choke on a little coriander. Either that or spit it out on the ground like we do around here (we don't really spit on the floor, I am just jokin).



Finally into the refrig to bask in marinade overnight.



This is the master stock the next morning. Look at the color.



All this work for 2 cups of the gelatinous beauty.



The short ribs were served on a bread salad.



This part was easy at least.



There ya have it. I failed to mention that this dish is by Zak Pelaccio, the guy who I got the recipe for one of my favorite dishes of all time, which he calls Malaysian Chicken and Rice I make this chicken dish about once a week. So to sum it all up, I am not sure that spending one whole day making 2 stocks for this dish and then part of the next day putting it together was worth it. I mean it was good but I think the best thing to come out of it was the Master Stock. I think I would have liked the short ribs just braised in some good wine. The meat was so good. Good thing we have more in the freezer.



What is this? Last night I made Sukiyaki. It is a Weight Watchers recipe from long ago that I still make because I love it so much. It even has Tofu and spinach in it.



So here is the deal on the recipe for the short ribs... You want the recipe email me and ask for it. It is long and intense and I don't feel like typing it out unless you really want to make it. Fair enough?

Meantime here is the recipe for Sukiyaki that I use.

Beef and Spinach Sukiyaki

8 ounces capellini or angel hair pasta
4 tsp vegetable oil
2 Tbl sugar
1 lb beef tenderloin cut lengthwise in half then cut crosswise into very thin slices.
1/2 lb napa cabbage, cut into 1" pieces
6 oz fresh white mushrooms halved or quartered, if large
1 1/3 C Chicken broth
1/3 C sake, dry white wine, or dry vermouth
1/4 soy sauce
1/2 lb firm tofu, cut into 1/2" cubes
6 oz Fresh baby spinach

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold running water; drain again. Wipe pot dry.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in the same pot over medium heat. Sprinkle the sugar evenly in the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar turns caramel-colored, about 2 minutes. Add half of the beef and cook over medium-high heat until just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer the beef to a plate. Repeat with the remaining beef. Reduce the heat to medium to prevent the sugar from burning, if necessary.

3. Return beef to the pot along with the pasta cabbage, scallions, mushrooms, broth, sake, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil Reduce the heat and simmer covered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tofu and spinach; cook until the spinach wilts, about 1 minute.