The Best Short Rib Recipe Ever

 

This is a great winter dish, and the smell of the braising ribs is guaranteed to make you drool. The key is getting meaty ribs. Do not use flanken cut ribs, which are cut across several bones. The ribs from the butcher should look something like this:

 

This recipe has been in my family for over 40 years,...thanks Mom.  Allow 2 ribs per person, and I always double the sauce so there is plenty to cover the meat and the buttered noodles.

Ingredients:

8 Meaty short ribs
1 large onion sliced
2- 3 tbsp.s olive oil for browning
Sauce Ingredients (for single sauce, but you should double it.)
1 cup Heinz chile sauce
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup chopped scallions
2 cloves chopped garlic
3 tbsp.s honey
1 tbsp. mustard
1 tbsp. worcestire
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/8 teaspoon celery seed (crushed)
pinch of thyme and cayenne
 Instructions:
Combine all of the sauce ingredients and simmer for 15  minutes.
Season the ribs with salt and pepper and brown in oil in a dutch oven in batches. Brown the onions in the same pan then deglaze with the red wine. Add the ribs and onions and the sauce and cover the dutch oven and bake for 3 hours at 350. Check out hour intervals to ensure meat is covered in sauce, or turn the ribs if they aren't covered. Remove the ribs to a platter when done and skim the sauce of excess oil/fat. You can thicken the sauce if desired with a little corn starch, but usually it is not required. Drizzle sauce over ribs and buttered wide egg noddles, or over gnocchi, or over polenta. The sauce is truly amazing and would make anything taste better.

If God didn't want us to eat pork, then he wouldn't have made it so delicious.

I could never be a Muslim or eat Kosher. The pig is the ideal food source. Imagine going through life without: pork chops, slow cooked baby back ribs, pulled pork, cured specialty hams, any kind of sausage, taylor ham, or most importantly...bacon. I'd rather be dead! Lets look at this cute little fellow a little closer.

Of course this chart represents a full grown pig, but lets not forget about suckling pig, which when done properly, may be the best tasting thing known to man. The people of Spain quite possibly make the best version. I have had it in Madrid at the world's oldest operating restaurant, Restaurante Botin, which has been serving suckling pig since 1725 and they do it very well.

The skin is super crispy and the meat melts in your mouth. You definitely need a reservation for this place, as people come from around the world to eat here. Around our table there were Germans, Japanese, as well as local Madrilenos. As good as Madrid pig may be, a short train ride to Segovia will reward you with the best suckling pig in Spain. These puppies are fed only mother's milk for 21 days prior to being thrown in the oven and crisped up. Some people may feel a little guilty eating a baby, until they taste it.

With colder weather approaching I need to make some pulled pork. Here is a nice recipe:

 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/oven-roasted-pulled-pork-sandwiches-recipe/index.html

It uses a vinegar based sauce, which I think goes best with the pork.  Any left over shredded pork freezes very well for months. When it comes out of the oven it looks a little like this:

Ripping off a few pieces of the outside crusty bits, even without sauce is amazing. I could easily have a food blog that only concentrates on the "Wonderful World of Pork".  I have a strong belief that if Muslims and observant Jews all ate pork, they would get along much better.

Cruising away

I leave today for my 2 week cruise departing out of Malaga, Spain. All the dieting was worth it, because now now I can gain 10 lb.s in the next fortnight. Fifteen Bars on board doesn't scare me either. I will have try each of them! I am especially looking forward to going to three of the Canary Islands. Mile high mountains on on one island, and a volcanic wasteland on another. They also make a lot of wine on the islands, which I will no doubt sample.

I have cruised transatlantic before and learned that it is the most relaxed you will ever be,  is when you cross the Atlantic for 7 days. You don't see any ships, land or anything for 7 days. At night, without all the light pollution, there are millions of visible stars.

Steve's Burgers

I know, I am supposed be on a diet. But after reading about Steve's Burgers on "Tommy Eats" blog, and hearing the review from my friend "Big Dave" I had to stop there today. I won't eat dinner tonight to make up for it.  The place itself is a slice of Americana. Pressed on Route 46 west in Garfield, it is very easy to drive by.  It's family owned and operated by father and son, and they have one of the best burgers I have had in the state of New Jersey. I love a good burger and have probably eaten thousands of them in my lifetime.

Today I had the bacon cheeseburger, which had two thick full length slices of crisp bacon on top of the fresh ground juicy patty. You really don't even want to put ketchup on it.

The double bacon cheeseburger

They also make fresh cut french fries that I ordered well done and they were perfect. Similar to 5 Guys, but better. The hot dogs, cheese steaks, and onion rings all looked really good as well. There are 3 small tables inside and a few picnic tables outside. I can't believe this place isn't packed with burger lovers.  I will be back very soon to mess the diet up once again.

Steve's Burger's. 506 Route 46 West, Garfield, NJ

The Diet Plan

Did you ever look in the mirror when coming out of the shower and see the above shape. Well, I did about three years ago, and went on my diet plan and lost 40 lbs. in about 3 months. Three years later and I have to lose about 15 lb.s to get back down to my low weight. I am going on a 13 night cruise in six weeks and know I will gain some poundage, so now is the time to slim down. As any of my readers know, I love food and drink, and it's not easy to say "no".  I am now on my advanced maintenance plan, where weekdays (and most of the weekend) I stick to the plan. I do cheat a couple of times a week, which prevents rapid results, but it is coming off.

The following is my basic plan, which is similar to Atkins and South Beach, but it allows vodka and red wine. Why deprive yourself of all pleasure.

The Jersey Paulie Diet Plan

Things to avoid totally for the first month:

• All pasta products
• All bread products
• All rice or bean products
• All potato products
• All fruit juices, sugary sodas, sweet drinks
• Every single dessert item: cakes, cookies, candy etc…
• Every single chip/cracker snack: pretzels, chips, cheese doodles, crackers etc..
• Beer, white wine, cordials, sweet mixers(including tonic)
• Most fruits…(a small amount of fruit is allowed, like ½ apple a day, or 6 strawberries)
• Any bottled or processed food:  salad dressings, ketchup, barbeque sauce etc.  Look at labels for “high fructose corn syrup”, which is your enemy. Condiments that are O.K. are: mustard, mayonnaise, butter.

Things O.K. to consume for the first month:

·        All meat, chicken, or fish either broiled, baked, deep fried or grilled. Be careful with sauces, and avoid those that contain flour, cornstarch, any type of sugar.

·        Eggs, whole milk, cream, butter, all cheeses (which includes: cottage cheese, cream cheese stuffed in celery, cheddar cheese melted over anything, swiss cheese melted over tuna, etc…).

·        Salami, cured meats, bacon, sausage, taylor ham, and every other flavored pig product

• All salads: lettuces, onions, cucumbers, celery, tomatoes, olives (all types), limited carrots due to their sugar content, dressed with only olive oil and red wine vinegar, or mayonnaise. Never use bottled dressing as it is loaded with high fructose corn syrup. (Tuna salad with regular mayo is a staple.)
• Almost all vegetables. No beets, carrots, potatoes, otherwise smother them in melted butter, which is allowed.
• Nuts… cashews, peanuts, almonds, walnuts etc..  Not huge portions!
• Very few fruits. A few strawberries, cherries, or other berries, ½ and apple etc.
• Whipped cream made with heavy cream and Splenda. You can mix some Baker’s semi sweet chocolate with the whipped cream as well for a rich dessert that has very few carbs.
•  Vodka, scotch, Tequila, Gin, or red wine (dry). Avoid all other alcohol and all mixers except club soda.

There are a lot of things to eat and they will fill you up. The first month is critical, and you have to avoid everything on the “avoid list”.  You will lose 20 lbs. in the first month if you play by the rules. After the first month you can cheat a day or two a week and still lose weight, but not as quickly. This is a plan that when properly applied, you are never hungry. Also, the fact that you can drink red wine and vodka, you are not miserable.

Foie Gras au Torchon

I don't care that they force feed ducks to enlarge their livers to create fois gras. I am an animal lover, but that applies to dog, cats, hamsters, etc... If shoving food down the throat of a duck is required to make the most delicious substance on Earth, then line the little bastards up and start shoving. My wife and I were in Quebec last week for 2 reasons; play golf on Laurentian mountaintops, and dine on some of North America's finest cuisine. The Quebecois restauranteurs take pride in presenting you with great local ingredients, and excellent service. The Eastern Townships section of Quebec (east of Montreal) is known for being the largest producer of ducks in North America. Fortunately, the Laurentians are on the other side of Montreal, and the many French restaurants located in the mountain villages buy the local ducks and their delicious enlarged livers.

I have had fois gras at Jean George and Picholine in New York City, but the portions are much larger in Quebec. Although typically served with some type of sweet fruit chutney, I prefer it with some coarse salt spread on a toast point. Why cover the perfect taste with anything?

I learned that the word torchon,  means dish towel in French, because after preparing, it is wrapped in a dish towel, to extrac moisture and form it into a roll. This is not a recipe you want to make at home, as it takes three days. I also don't particularly like dealing with raw liver. If you feel the need to make it, check out this site  http://ruhlman.com/2011/05/how-to-make-torchon-recipe/

The best fois gras I have ever had was at a little place in Ste. Adele, Quebec called L'Etape Gourmande, run by a French native. The Gourmande dinner had 5 courses and was very reasonable at $46.00 per person (Canadian), which is about half af what you would pay in NYC. The fois gras appetizer included 2 large discs; one of just fois gras, and the other with a center bit of mango chutney. If this restaurant was in Northern Jersey, it would be packed every night. If your travels ever take you to this pretty spot (golf in summer, skiing in winter) stop by, and you will be delighted.

http://www.etapegourmande.com/en/cuisine.html

It is amazing that after a 5 1/2 hour drive from Northern New Jersey, you are transported to what seems like the French countryside. We have been to Quebec 6 times in the past 12 summers and I look forward to returning soon.