Braised Short Ribs & Garlic-Horseradish mashed potatoes

Braising makes practically anything delectable, even leeks. Remember braised leeks? those were amazing, but this. This is a whole new level of deliciousness. Just imagine fall-off-the-bone flavorful meat with sauce so good you want to slurp with a straw. Oh, and don't let me forget the mashed potatoes. I served them as a bed for the gorgeous short ribs so that each bite would have a bit of tender meat and soft creamy potato. This is truly a fool-proof feast. It's hard to mess up because if you find that the meat is not fall-off-the-bone tender, than you just stick it back in the oven. Please make this. You will not be sorry. I promise.

Braised Short Ribs, serves 2

adapted by Pioneer Woman

4-5 short ribs, bone-in

kosher salt

ground pepper

dried thyme

about 3 carrots, diced

1/2 large onion, diced

1 shallot, diced finely

2 cups red wine

2 cups beef or chicken stock

2 bay leafs

1 Preheat oven to 350. Heat a dutch oven to high heat with a bit of olive oil. Season the short ribs with kosher salt, ground pepper and dried thyme on all sides (if you have fresh thyme, use it). Sear each side of the ribs in the dutch oven until nice and deeply browned, not just gray. Once all the ribs are browned on all sides, remove from the dutch oven onto a plate and let rest.

2 Lower heat to medium high and throw in the diced carrots, onion and shallots into the same dutch oven and cook for about 2 minutes. Raise heat to high and pour in red wine to deglaze the pot, scraping up the brown bits of flavor from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil. Pour in the stock and cook for another 2 minutes.

3 Season with salt and pepper and drop in the two bay leaves.

4 Return the short ribs to the pot and cover. Place in the oven for 2 hours. Then lower the heat to 325 and cook another 30 minutes.

5 Remove the dutch oven and let rest, covered, for at least 20 minutes. Once rested, skim fat off with a ladle or large spoon (or refrigerate so that fat solidifies at the top, and then reheat on the stove) and serve on mashed potatoes and spoon plenty of sauce on top.

Garlic-Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

1 When there is about 20 minutes left of braising, cover the peeled and quartered potatoes and garlic cloves with cold water, season with salt and bring to a boil.

2 When potatoes are fork tender, drain in a colander and return the potatoes and garlic cloves to the original pot. While on low heat, add milk, butter and horseradish. With a potato masher, mash all together until smooth and creamy. The garlic cloves will be soft and will mash with the rest of the potato mixture.

3 Spoon half the mashed potatoes on a plate and smooth with the back of the spoon. Serve with two short ribs and spoon more sauce on top to finish. 

Beef & Bean Stew

I know its still hot outside, but even in the scorching summer I still crave beef stew. I love the fall-apart beef and hot flavorful vegetables. This time I added a can of soft cannellini beans that just melt in your mouth. I threw everything in the crock pot (the best invention ever!), went about my day and forgot about it. When I got home, dinner was ready and delicious!

Beef & Bean Stew

1.5 lb boneless beef chuck or round cut into 1 inch cubes (I bought mine already cut)

olive oil

Salt 'n' peppa

1 leek, sliced

3 cups stock

1/2 cup red wine

3 medium potatoes, cut into quarters (I left the skin on, but you can peel them if you want)

1 carrot, cut into 1 inch chunks

1 can cannellini beans, washed and drained

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 Heat a saute pan over medium heat with olive oil and let get very hot. Season beef cubes with salt and pepper and brown on the hot pan. Work in batches as to not overcrowd the pan. Cook on both sides until brown.

2 Throw browned beef into the crock pot. In the same pan, cook leeks and carrots until softened. Season with salt and pepper and throw into the crock pot with the beef.

3 Pour stock, red wine, potatoes, and beans on top and give a good stir in the crock pot. Set on low for about 8 hours or 4 hours on the high setting.

Phyllo "Cigars"

This dish reminds me of my grandmother's friday night dinners. She would always prepare these "cigars" and we always looked forward to them. Mine, however did not come out as thin and perfectly rolled as hers, but still tasted wonderful. This is the first time I worked with phyllo dough, the thin papery dough that becomes crispy in the oven, and it was a bit difficult. It is extremely thin and delicate but after I got the hang of it, it became easier to work with. I made two varieties, one with minced meat and fried onions, and another with mashed potatoes. The potato one is not pictured because it just came out a mess. I think I didn't use enough of the phyllo dough layers to hold the heavy potatoes, so it kind fell apart. It's ok, I fed it to my dog so it didn't totally go to waste :) But the meat ones were so good!

These are great as an appetizer or a fun side dish. I want to try them in those puff pastry shells, and then maybe with a layer of mashed potatoes on top since it will hold it better, like a cup rather than a roll. Then in the oven it goes and the top of the mashed potatoes get all brown..yummm meat and potatoes! Sorry, I'm thinking ahead of myself! I can't wait to try it, and if one of you does, let me know how it comes out!

Meat filled Phyllo Rolls

1/2 lb ground beef

Half an onion, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

salt 'n' peppa

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp crushed red pepper optional

1 tsp dried parsley (was out of the fresh stuff)

1 Preheat toaster oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a bowl with the ground beef and break up with the back of wooden spoon. Season with salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, and garlic.

2 Chop and mince onion and saute over medium heat in a large skillet until soft and golden.

3 Pour ground beef in the same skillet as the onion and brown until no pink shows. I turned the heat up at the end to get some real color on the beef. When beef is done cooking, put aside.

4 Prepare the phyllo dough by taking 5 layers and brushing each layer with melted butter or margarine and stacking them on top of each other (These directions are on the box).

5 Spoon a thin line of meat lengthwise across the phyllo and begin to roll, tightly, without tearing the dough. Place the roll seam down in the oven. Brush top of roll with butter or margarine and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and crisp. If doing more than one roll, repeat steps 1 through 5 again.

6 Once rolls are baked and golden, cut them in half for easier to eat pieces. Enjoy!

Beef Enchiladas

Some of you may know how much I love Mexican food. But for those of you who don't, let me reiterate: I LOVE Mexican food! Ok now that we got that out of the way, let's chat. I grilled some burgers the other night alongside those yummy grown up fries. Apparently I made too many burgers. 3 too many to be exact. So instead of freezing them, I crumbled them up and used them in these enchiladas. They came out so cheesy and beefy, plus I threw some pinto beans in there which made all the difference. They were moist and a perfect way to use up leftover hamburger patties. Other ways to use up leftover patties: - Freeze them - Crumble and cover with cheese and guacamole and sour cream for some meaty nachos - Crumble and use in taco soup - Crumble and use in chili - Crumble on pasta or use in meat sauce

Beef Enchiladas

2 cans enchilada sauce

3 leftover ground beef patties, or about 1 lb ground beef

1 can pinto beans

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon oregano

6 flour tortillas

Shredded Cheddar

Shredded Mozzarella

1 Bunch green onions

1 Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400 degrees.

2 Crumble hamburger patties, or brown raw ground beef in medium saute pan if not using leftovers

3 Once beef is browned, pour one can of enchilada sauce with the beef, add oregano, garlic powder and pinto beans. Simmer for 10 minutes.

4 Prepare a bowl with the other can of enchilada sauce. Grease a baking pan and pour enough of the sauce to cover the entire bottom of the pan.

5 Using tongs, dip the tortillas in the bowl of sauce and cover entire surface. Place on a separate plate, and put beef mixture in the center in a line, then Cheddar cheese, then some green onions. Fold and place in the baking pan, seam facing down. Continue assembling the tortillas until the pan is full. I had to turn some of mine to make them fit.

6 Cover the rolled tortillas with the rest of the enchilada sauce and sprinkle with plenty of mozzarella cheese on top.

7 Bake in the oven/toaster oven for 10 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Braised beef short ribs

You see that bone in the center of the pot? You know, the one thats cleaned to the bone? (no pun intended) Ohhhhh yeaaaa...this meat came out so tender and soft that it literally fell off the bone! I was so happy when I came home to a crock pot full of tender beef...mmm.... the potatoes and carrots are under there somewhere. Don't think I forgot about the veggies!

I just bought this crock pot this weekend and wanted to do something Adam would absolutely love! He likes his ribs extra saucy so I searched for the perfect recipe. I found these short ribs at a local farmers market — I like to buy meat there because it is fresh and they clean them up really nice, so it's less work for me! Enjoy!

Braised Beef Short Ribs

3.5 lbs short ribs in-bone

1 cup ketchup

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1 cup baby carrots

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 large onion sliced thin, rings separated

4-6 red-skinned potatoes, quartered

Put the potatoes and carrots in a large slow cooker; top with the onion rings then the beef. Combine the ketchup, 1/4 cup water, vinegar, paprika, chili powder, mustard, garlic powder, worcestershire sauce, and salt. Pour over the beef. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours, or HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.

Transfer the juices to a saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. The sauce turned out thick enough for me, but if you want the sauce thicker, combine cornstarch with 1/4 cup water, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Pour into the simmering juices and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. Serve the beef and vegetables with the thickened sauce. If the sauce comes out to fatty, you could put it in the fridge overnight and skim off the fat before serving.

Be sure to check out this recipe at Trade you Tuesdays!