Fortunately, Evan and I are fairly interchangeable around the house. We can both do laundry, clean and cook pretty much anything with the exception of grilling in my case and baking in Evan’s. Though, I must admit that a while ago, while waiting to start his job here in Maryland, he did bake me chocolate chip cookies that were heavenly and hot out of the oven the minute I walked in the door from work. I did, if only for a few moments, consider convincing him to be a stay-at-home-husband.
This past weekend, I bought short ribs at the grocery store because quite frankly, if we eat any more chicken, I fear we will grow feathers. They were a safe choice as we could slow braise them and turn them into perfect tortilla stuffing or turn into a scrumptious stew. Since I shopped and sort of planned the menu, Evan executed. We also benefitted from baby arugula from my parents’ garden. Pairing the short ribs with mashed potatoes laden with lots and lots of butter though thankfully, not as much as Joel Robuchon recommends was heavenly. We did balance the whole meal out with a peppery argula salad.
For anyone who is interested in my, not Evan’s, braising recipe, it goes something like this:
Heat the oven to 300*F. Sear bone-in short ribs on all sides in a large, cast iron pot. This should take about 10-12 minutes. Remove the ribs and slowly sauté 1-2 sliced onions (I like more) in the pot until soft and translucent. Add 2 tablespoons of good quality tomato paste and 2 anchovies if you have them. Cook the mixture until the tomato paste is toasted and the anchovies have disintegrated. Add 28 oz of canned, whole tomatoes that have been hand-crushed and bring to a simmer. Gently nestle the meat into the pot and add enough chicken stock/water to cover the meat 3/4 of the way. Add a few sprigs of fresh thyme, bay leaf and cover. Bake for 3 hours until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. Enjoy!
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