Braised Short Ribs with Cheddar Polenta

Hello Friends!  I hope all of you are well since I last posted.  I had knee surgery last Monday and am starting to heal up nicely.  I am still in pain and walking on crutches but started physical therapy today so I am hoping that things will continue to go smoothly and my knee will heal.  I am anxious to get back to my active lifestyle!  Anyway, last week my mom came to stay and help me out and this week her best friend, whom I call Auntie Raven, is here!  


Last week, while restricted to my bed, I was watching the Today Show and Melissa d'Arabian was on making  braised short ribs with polenta.  I had never made short ribs before and they looked really intriguing.  Even more intriguing was that she said the entire meal was only $10!   I went online and printed the recipe and Auntie Raven and I decided to make it for dinner tonight! Instead of serving the ribs with Melissa d'Arabian's recipe for polenta, I made my polenta, but used a mixture of cheddar and parmesan to change things up a bit!  If you are not a fan of polenta you can serve this dish over rice, noodles, mashed potatoes, even bread or biscuits!  Being me, of course, I made a few minor changes to the ribs.  Here is the original recipe.  Here is what Raven and I did:






Braised Short Ribs

• 6 lbs bone in country style pork ribs (about 8 large ribs)
• 2 tbsp. granulated garlic
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 stick butter
• 2 carrots, chopped (if you want, you can use baby carrots, I would probably double this next time I made it because I am a carrot fan)
• 1 large onion, or 2 medium onions chopped (to save time you could use a bag of frozen chopped onions)
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small can tomato paste (6 oz.)
• 3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Trim the fat from the meat.  Pat ribs dry and season with granulated garlic and pepper.  

Heat oil and butter in a large dutch oven or heavy duty stock pot that is OVEN SAFE.  Brown the meat on both sides, in batches if necessary, and set aside.  Add the chopped vegetables, except the garlic, and saute about 5 minutes or until onions are soft.  

Add the minced garlic and saute another two minutes stirring frequently.  Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until well combined with the vegetables, about 1 minute. 

 Add the vinegar to the pan, and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom (this is called deglazing).  Add the red pepper flakes and bay leaves.  Place the meat back in the pot on top of the vegetables.  

Pour in the chicken stock until it is halfway up the pot (you may not use all of the chicken stock).  You don't need to cover all of the meat.  Cover the pot and bring to a simmer.  Once it simmers, place the pot, cover on, in the oven.  Allow to braise in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes.  Remove the cover and continue to cook for an additional 2 and a half hours, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced by half.  This will allow the meat to become tender and liquid to reduce in volume. Remove the bay leaves after cooking.

Remove from the oven, and serve meat with sauce over a bed of polenta, or  your favorite side.  This meal freezes easily.  The leftover meat is also excellent served on sandwiches, hot or cold!

This meal takes a long time to make, but it is easy because it is made in one pot.  The prep time is about 20 minutes and then the cooking time is fairly hands off.  Not only is the dish easy to prepare, it is also VERY kid  and budget friendly, thus WORTH THE EFFORT!  I highly recommend it.  I am going to give this recipe the "Daniel Favorite" rating because Daniel ate it up and asked for "MO MO PORK"  not once but TWICE!

Salisbury Steak

I don't know about you, but I love to revamp old recipes.  I remember in elementary school they used to serve Salisbury Steak (or some sad version of it) in the lunchroom and it was mega gross.  But this is a classic meal that is really quite yummy when done right (or I should use better grammar and say "prepared correctly")  I got the idea for this recipe from my collection of Pampered Chef Weekday Dinners-Done!  I of course "Foodie Mommied" the recipe as I usually do, but either way, whether you make it the PC way or The FM way, this recipe is definitely a keeper!  I served the Salisbury Steaks over mashed potatoes.  YUM!




Salisbury Steak


Patties

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp onion soup mix (msg free)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1 tsp. granulated garlic or garlic powder
• 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

Sauce

• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 (8oz) pkg sliced mushrooms (I left these out because David HATES mushrooms)
• 1/2 cup dry red or white wine (I used white cause that is what I had on hand but red would be quite lovely as well).
• 2 cups beef broth or stock
• 3 tbsp onion soup mix (msg free)
• 1 tbsp flour (I like to use Wondra but you can use all purpose)

To form the patties, combine all of the ingredients for "patties" except the olive oil.  I mix it with my  hands to make sure it is well combined.  Form into four oval-shaped patties.  Heat the olive oil in a deep sided skillet over medium high heat.  Add the patties and cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until just browned.  Remove meat and cover with foil to keep warm.  Add the onion and carrots to the skillet and saute until onions are translucent.  Add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up all the brown bits, and allow to reduce by half.  Add the tomato paste and whisk together.  Whisk together the flour and the beef stock, then add it to the skillet and continue to whisk until starting to thicken.  Add the soup mix, and stir.  Add the patties back into the skillet, carefully turning to coat with the sauce.  Cover and simmer on medium low heat for about 10 minutes or until meat is cooked through (internal temperature is 160 degrees fahrenheit).  

Happy and HEALTHY cooking and EATING!

Foodie Mommie Recipe Make-Over: Cheeseburger Hoagie Sandwiches

The Foodie Mommie October Sale ends TOMORROW at 10 pm!  Don't forget- 10% off your entire purchase of Pampered Chef Products! Visit the Foodie Mommie store to take advantage of this great offer!

Here's a super quick and easy recipe brought to you by The Pampered Chef and made over in true Foodie Mommie style!  This is also one of Daniels favorites.  It comes from The Pampered Chef It's Good for You cookbook.  I really like the Pampered Chef recipes and cookbooks but sometimes they call for ingredients on my "yucky no-no" list, in which case I need to make them over!


Cheeseburger Hoagie Sandwiches

• 1 lb ground turkey or beef
• 1 (8 oz.) package grated cheddar cheese (or I like to use a cheddar jack blend)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tbsp. yellow mustard
• 1/2 cup pureed squash (optional)
• Your favorite burger toppings (I like shredded lettuce, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish, sliced tomatoes, etc.)
• 4 soft  hoagie rolls

 Cook the turkey or beef, onion, and garlic in a large, deep sided skillet over medium high heat.  Once the meat is no longer pink, add the ketchup, mustard, and squash and stir well to combine.  Turn heat down to medium low.  Add 1/2 the cheese and heat through until melted.  Cook another 5 minutes stirring frequently until mixture is hot and bubbly.  Spoon mixture into hoagie rolls and garnish with your favorite burger toppings and condiments.  Top each sandwich with remaining cheese.  Yummy!

Happy and HEALTHY cooking and EATING!