Tag Archives: thyme

Short Rib Grilled Cheese

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I’ve been meaning to post this for a while now, but haven’t been able to find the time to write it. Now this isn’t exactly the cheapest sandwich out there ( close to 30 bucks for all the ingredients!), but it’s darn worth it if you ask me! Plus, most of the work is done by the trusty ol’ slow cooker, so it’s an easy dinner.

This special sammich is tender, red wine brazed chuck short ribs shredded then topped with caramelized onions and cheddar cheese on your favorite baguette and pressed on a panini press (as I call my George Foreman grill).

*Please ignore the side dish! This was a failed attempt at oven fried green tomatoes! I will be posting a successful recipe for green tomatoes as soon as I get around to it!   IMG_2360

 

 

For the short ribs:

  • 2 Pounds Bone-In Chuck Short Ribs
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
  • 2 carrots, roughly chopped
  • a few sprigs fresh thyme
  • 3 bay leaves
  • a couple cloves of garlic
  • 1 cup red wine
  • Enough beef stock to almost cover the short ribs and veggies in the crock pot, I’d buy the 32 oz size just to be safe!
  • 4 tbsp butter, divided

 

In a skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat, and sear short ribs about 2 minutes on all sides, and remove from skillet. Add remaining butter to the skillet and add veggies, cook until slightly softened, scraping browned bits of meat from the skillet and add to the bottom of the slow cooker. Put short ribs on top of veggies, add seasonings, garlic, wine, and pour the stock over the short ribs until they’re almost covered. Cook in the slow cooker for at least eight hours.

Caramelized onions:

  • 2 large sweet onions, sliced
  • 1/2 a stick of butter
  • 1 tsp salt
  • a few splashes of balsamic vinegar

Melt the butter in a skillet. Add onions and salt and cook and stir for 30 minutes until onions are nice and caramelized. Add a few drops of balsamic to the onions and remove from heat.

 

To put it all together:

Remove short ribs from crockpot and discard bones (or save as a tasty treat for your pup!).  Shred short ribs and set aside.

Take a loaf of French bread or your favorite baguette and slice it in half. Smear the bread with some horseradish sauce or dijon mustard ( or your favorite sandwich spread ) top one side with the shredded beef, then caramelized onions, and sliced cheddar cheese.

Preheat a panini press or your George Foreman grill. Place a piece of foil on the bottom of the grill then put a piece over the sandwich. Press the sandwich and cook until cheese is melted and bread is nicely toasted.

Serve with chips or fries and an ice cold beer!

Cornmeal Crusted Trout With New Year’s Sides

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Happy New Year!

The tradition for New Year’s Day says to “eat poor” for good luck throughout the year. Now, for different people and different parts of the country, that can be a lot of different things. Some people eat pork and sauerkraut (Gross! Sorry, but that’s just not my thing!)

Here in the South, your meal MUST include greens and black-eyed peas. Greens for wealth, and black-eyed peas for luck, I believe. Nothing seems more like a poor mans meal that Southern comfort food, and for me that includes some kind of cornmeal crusted fresh water fish. Catfish would be the standard “Southern” fish, but I think it tastes kinda like dirt (they are bottom feeders after all). My favorite for this is Rainbow Trout.

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Frying fish like this is so easy! I just take trout fillets (check for bones first!) Put them in a ziplock bag with a little flour and toss to coat. Dip the fillets, first in an egg wash, then in a mixture of half cornmeal, half flour. Fry the fillets in light olive oil over medium-high in a skillet until fillets are firm and set on a paper towel lined plate. Now that’s fish!

For the greens this year I used kohlrabi greens instead of collards (trying to use what you have is eating frugally so that counts for extra good luck I hope!) I loosely followed Paula Deen’s Collard recipe. I used a leftover ham bone I saved from our Christmas spiral ham (the leftover ham, I’m going to make deviled ham with later on today). I put that in a stock pot with 4 cups chicken stock and 7 cups water and boil for 1 hour. Then add a washed bunch of greens with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Tabasco sauce to taste. Let that boil about 1 more hour. I’ve also used bacon in this recipe, by frying a few strips of diced bacon in the  stock pot before adding the water and stock and skipped the first boiling.

For the black-eyed peas, I used a recipe that was originally meant for white acre peas ( another common Southern pea related to the black-eyed pea, that I like better by-the-way). I used a pound of fresh black-eyed peas, and about 3/4 of a pound of diced smoked turkey sausage in 4 cups vegetable stock and 4 cups water and heat to boiling in a stock pot. In a small skillet, I cooked a small diced onion with some minced garlic in 1 1/2 tablespoons butter until soft, then added that, along with a fresh thyme sprig with a bay leaf or two, some dried parsley, and dried oregano to the peas and sausage and let that gently boil for about an hour.

What is crazy to me is that since I’ve started using these recipes for greens and black-eyed peas (or more often white acre peas), it doesn’t have to be New Years day for me to eat them anymore! I used to detest this stuff! But now, they’re common side dishes!

Now off to make deviled ham!

Chicken Liver Pate

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And don’t turn your nose up! This isn’t fried chicken livers, or liver and onions, or any of that. This is really good stuff! I don’t like any of the above mentioned and have been known to leave the room if I even smell it, but for some reason, ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved pate! This is made even better with the addition of crushed pistachio nuts and heavy cream. If you’ve always wanted to try pate, this is the recipe for you! Very easy, and inexpensive! 

  • 1 lb chicken livers
  • 1/2 onion sliced
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cup water
  •  1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 tbsp sherry
  • 2 tbsp heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped pistachios
  • 2 tbsp melted butter

In a medium saucepan, combine livers, onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove livers, onion, and garlic to a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add salt and pepper, then add butter 2 tablespoons at a time, blending well between each addition. Add sherry, heavy cream, and pistachios, and blend until well combined. Spoon pate into 2 ramekins and top each with a layer of melted butter. Cover tightly and let refrigerate for 4 hours up to over night. Serve with toasted French bread slices, or crackers.

Beef, Lentil, And Noodle Stew

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I had some celery, carrots, and mushrooms in the fridge I needed to use up, and had some stew beef in the freezer, so I came up with this tasty concoction. I was going to serve it over egg noodles, then decided I didn’t feel like dirtying up any more pots to wash, so I threw the egg noodles in with the stew and it came out great! This is one instance where laziness paid off! 😉

  • 1 lb beef tenderloin or top sirloin, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 4 oz cremini (baby Portobello) mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 large onion, chopped
  • 4 tbsp butter, divided
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp rosemary
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 15 oz can lentils
  • 1 cup Pinot Noir or Zinfandel
  • 1 15 oz can beef broth
  • 6 oz egg noodles
  • salt
  • pepper

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large sauce pan or stock pot over medium-high heat, and sear beef, stirring constantly, for about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove beef from pan, and place in an oven safe bowl. Cover and keep warm in unheated oven.

Reduce heat to medium and melt remaining butter in the same pan. Add carrots, celery, onion, and mushrooms, and cook about 10 minutes. Stir in wine, and cook until reduced by half. Stir in broth, thyme sprigs, rosemary, and oregano. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. ( I use grinders, so I used 3 turns of the salt, and 2 turns pepper.) Stir in lentils. Heat until mixture starts to bubble.

Return beef to the pot; cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Remove thyme sprigs, and stir in egg noodles. Cook, covered 20 minutes more, until noodles are soft.

Enjoy!

Braised Beef Short Ribs

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I never cared for traditional “Pot Roast” , (my hubby loves it), but I’ve found I really like short ribs. This recipe combines pot roast ingredients, with a little something extra to suit my taste, so it keeps everyone in the house happy! It’s warming on a cold, rainy day, and smells wonderful as it cooks!

  • 2 lbs boneless beef short ribs
  • 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
  • 3 carrots, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 lg onion, roughly chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3 tbsp fresh thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 15 oz can beef broth
  • 2 cups red wine
  • 2 tsp tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 cup reserved cooking liquid

Place celery, carrots, onions, and garlic in the bottom of a slow cooker.

Melt butter in a medium size skillet over medium-high heat. Sear short ribs on all sides, about 1 minute per side, and place over veggies in the crock pot. Add thyme, bay leaves, beef stock, and wine, and cook on low for 8 hours.

After 8 hours has passed, remove veggies with a slotted spoon to a food processor or blender, add tomato paste, and pulse until smooth. Pour mixture into a small sauce pan, and heat over medium-low heat. Add cooking liquid, a tablespoon at a time to veggie mixture while stirring. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook until heated through. Serve short ribs over hot mashed potatoes with veggie sauce spooned on top. Enjoy!