One Thing Leads To Another....

Or at least that's what the song says... And so life imitates art yet again.

While surfing for a couple of new chicken recipes this last weekend, I happened to see a link for Braised Beef Short Ribs.

Now I have to admit... I've always been a rib snob. If it's ribs, it's pork... end of discussion.

But I had to check myself when that thought started bouncing around my head. If it wasn't a good dish, why, oh why is it one of those culinary staples that every big chef seems to dredge out now and then? Not to mention a whole lotta average joe cooks like me.

So, armed with that thought, next time I was at the grocery store I grabbed some up.

Today was a work from home day (yeah... the job allows that now and again), so I thought I'd give it a shot for lunch. And if it worked, I'd see about adding it to the dinner menu. So I found a couple of recipes on Epicurious.com, picked the simplest one, and started in.

Heated up the pan with some bacon drippings almost smokin hot. Tossed the ribs in some flour to coat, and worked up a nice pan sear on the ribs. (Note: Next time I'm gonna S&P the ribs before I flour em. I think that'll add another depth of flavor)


While this was going on, I coarse chopped an onion and some rosemary, and added some finely chopped garlic to a baking dish. Recipe called for carrots and celery also, but I didn't have any. I did add some dried celery flakes to compensate.


Got the oven up to 350, packed the ribs on top of the foliage and covered with foil. Added a couple cups of beef stock to jumpstart the melting process as well. Into the oven for a long cook.

Two hours later... it was lunch time. No, I don't mean it was noon... I mean it was lunch time... the aroma had done got my belly all riled up and snarling. As a buddy of mine sez, "mah big guts was eatin mah little guts". So I pulled the pan and did a little tenderness check.



Tender enough. And I was hongreeee.


Strained off the foliage and juice back into the searing pan, and reduced by about 2/3rds. Thickend with just a touch of slurry, and poured back over the ribs that had been resting on the side.


Dished a few up and took the plunge. Nice... very rich from all the collagen and connective tissue in the ribs. Nice base of flavor from the pan sear... Good taste of sweetness from the onion. The melted fat and gelatin from the bones added a really nice velvety texture to the sauce.






Next time, three hours in the oven. They were very tender at two hours... but at three they should be really fork tender.

All in all, this took a whopping 15 minutes of actual hands on work while I was on a conference call. Who says meetings are a waste of time? With the long cooking time, this is definitely a weekend dish, or something to cook if you're home for the day or home early. You could also use 1 cup stock and 1 cup wine if'n you wanted for a little more French flavor to the dish.

As for effort... virtually none. Taste? I'd give it an 8/10, simply because I didn't have the nice assortment of veggies as the base, and because it really needed to cook another hour to really develop the flavor. Maybe add some fresh basil to complement the rosemary as well. But other than that, all that was missing was some smashed taters to soak up that wunnerful gravy.

This one goes on the dinner menu, even if it's just for me and momma. Picky kids can just fend fer themselves....

Sunday Smokin'

Well, it'd been way too long since I'd fired up the smoker, so I thought it was high time. Saturday, I got hold of a nice little 11 pound brisket, a 9 pound pork shoulder, three really nice racks of spareribs and about 10 pounds of bologna.

Saturday night (Nosh night, see post below) after all the cleanup was done and everyone had gone to bed I started in with the prepwork. I peeled and trimmed the ribs and rubbed them down with my favorite dryrub. Then I did a little injecting into the pork butt and rubbed it down all around as well. Next up I poked the brisket all over to get it good and tender and liberally applied the dry rub to all surfaces. Last up was the three rolls of bologna. Peeled the wrapper, poked numerous holes in it, and rolled it in the rub.

Here's the brisket, butt and ribs all prepped up and ready to hit the chill chest for the night.

Here's the bologna all poked and seasoned too.

Next morning I got the smoker all fired up and a good temp working with some hickory all wet and ready to hit the fire. About three hours later, here came the bologna.....

Another hour or so, and the ribs got pulled and wrapped in foil for another three hours of cook time...

And last but not least, the brisket and the butt got hauled out...

The brisket was perfect. Easily sliced and soft enough to pull apart with a fork.

The butt wasn't as tender as I like it, so I fired up the oven to about 195, and dropped Mr. Pigbutt in there for an overnight meditation on the fine art of being tender.

Next morning (actually, this morning) about 6 I pulled that butt out and, my oh my.... fork tender doesn't even come close.

All I had to do was give it a mean look and it just came apart.

Literally.

It took about 2 minutes to pull this whole half sheet.


Now I just chill it, vacuum seal it, and I'm good for a few months. I generally portion the brisket, pork butt and bologna into 1 pound portions and seal each one individually. Ribs generally get sealed up whole. That way, when me and the missus get a hankerin' for some 'cue on a Satruday afternoon, we can pull out a little of each one. A couple minutes in the microwave (it's sealed, so it just steams itself), and we have smoked meat that is absolutely as good as it was the day I smoked it.

Add sauce and whatever condiments you want, and you have a 'cue feast fit for a king.

And the best part of all... is knowing that I did it all on my own and don't have to spend a fortune on 'cue from the local pit.