Monday, February 16, 2009

BG's Ribs Part 1

I take it for granted that if one of my imaginary, internet friends takes the time to post something, that it must be good. Unfortunately, I have "discovered" a lot of mediocre music and now question the taste of many of you (except for the The Fat Guy; he is spot on). I wouldn't dare try to foist my music upon any of you, except for the Live Adventures of the Waterboys of course. you'd be a fool not to add that to your collection. ;)

I had no trepidation at all about trying BG's braised short ribs with maple-horseradish glaze. You all know his foodie tendencies and I am sure you enjoy his food posts as much as I. This weekend, I decided to give one of his recipes a try. I do not have the fancy pans or gas stove, but I like to cook and can improvise, so here goes.

The day started at the Cock n' Bull for West Ham vs. Middlesbrough about 10 a.m. I must confess to three too many Guinnesses which wasn't really a problem as I had been dropped off and would not be driving home. I knew it would lead to an early bedtime. But, as the old Arsenal fan says, "you can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning."

On the ride home, I noticed rosemary in front of the Rosewood Market, but the light changed before I could jump out and harvest some. I directed the driver to Jake's, where I knew there were a number of robust bushes out front. I collected enough for the meal and a few extra sprigs and headed home.

As soon as the Guinness reached its half-life, I headed out to the grocery store for the few items needed. This is a simple recipe in terms of ingredients which is a welcome relief from the twenty herbs and spices a lot of the cook books insist are vital for your meats and potatoes. The butcher at Bi-Lo turned out to be pretty much a meat cutter and did not understand the way I wanted the ribs cut, so this is what I ended up with. I wanted the bricks BG had in his, but they ended up tasting fantastic so no use complaining now. Much like Danny Devito in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I need a meat guy.

The first step was browning which was accomplished quickly. I left a good bit of pink in them as I am always worried of over cooking.


Removed from heat and set aside


The carrots and onion were sauteed until softened with the Rosemary. I used two carrots instead of one as I like the flavor they add. Another downside of Bi-Lo was an almost non-existent Porter selection. A Porter of some sort was then added to the mixture. Bottle not shown on purpose.




I got maple syrup and rosemary going on the side. I added the horseradish later but should have used the entire container. More on that later.



After the vegetables were ready to go into the oven with the ribs, I cut up a bunch of onions and stuck them in the pan with butter and another rosemary sprig for onion pie. I thought it would go well with the ribs. This is easy to do, onions and stick of butter until clear.



Cool the onions to room temperature then add 1/3 cup flour and two eggs for each pie you have enough onions for. I added a little bit of sharp cheddar to the mixture as I really like cheese. It looks like goop below but it will come out of the oven gorgeous.


Pour into pie pan and into the oven at 375 until the knife comes out clean. At about the the thirty minute mark, I added grated Parmesan to the top.

--Part 2 to follow--

3 comments:

BG said...

Tease

BG said...

Looking at the pic of the beef more closely, I think those are RIB ribs, not short ribs. That being said, any beef cut with enough fatty tissue would be workable here.

BigPirate said...

I don't think the guy had any idea what he was doing. There was enough fat to render out nicely though.

I only tease as I couldn;t figure out how to post more than five pics on one post. I've since figured it out.