Short Ribs & Pie

I woke up yesterday morning with a serious hankering for braised short ribs. Beef short ribs, slowly cooked in a medium oven until the flat bones slip out on their own.

For a once-vegetarian, committed for so many years, the simple pleasure I take in the hollow sound made by clapping loosed ribs together surprises me every time. I am both amused and taken aback; just what happened to render me able to embrace meat again?

Pregnancy and childbirth, surely. But after that immediate bloodlust was sated, my carnivorous appetite remained. Since, I've educated myself about eating meat responsibly and humanely, and I still don't eat baby animals or offal.

short ribs: waiting to be browned, and definitely so

Short ribs are, quite possibly, my favorite cut of red meat. I love the way they remain firm but in a falling apart by the very strand sort of way. The flavor is spectacular but not so strong that it can't accommodate various seasonings.

My preferred recipe for short ribs is this ragu from a Food52 cook. She serves it atop polenta, but I never do, not least because T is not a corn-product kind of guy. Cornbread, grits, cornmeal in most ways...it's not his bag. So, I spoon this ragu atop pappardelle, made with eggs please, and then grate Parmesan generously over the top. 

short rib ragu with pappardelle

The recipe takes a while but, like my meatballs, is worth every minute of labor. Make the whole amount, or double it, and you've got plenty for a crowd or your freezer. And your house will smell to the nines, so make sure someone comes over to inhale deeply and sigh contentedly.

I always intend to make a green salad to go alongside. Half the time I do, but the rest of the time I forget or am too tired to carry through with the plan. No problem. Do or do not.

A fruit pie is the perfect finish for a hearty meal like this one. Strawberry-rhubarb is nice because its tang (and, if you make it, my salty, oil-based crust) counters and cuts the richness of the beef and noodles. Its color is also a nice compliment to the earth tones of all you just downed.

Leftover pie makes a hell of a breakfast, too.

So much good food

Yesterday was a celebration of vegetables, as I was knee-deep in fresh ones and needed to start clearing a path in the fridge. I made a Hakurei turnip, celery root, leek mash with ricotta and parmesan as well as a pan of roasted Romanesco broccoli in a mint-lime olive oil drizzle. Nothing to write home about but solid, comforting and healthy nonetheless. I admit that T made a turkey sandwich to go alongside. Whatever!

Isn't that a striking vegetable? Each floret makes me think of the golden mean in brassica form. Spectacular.

The veggie hash reminded me of best-case mashed potatoes.

Tonight we enjoyed the short rib ragu that I made in NM (and have often cooked) and love. I never serve mine on polenta, but rather a wide noodle like pappardelle or, tonight, mafaldine, another ribbon-type pasta.

Delicious.

Valentine's Day is nearly a wrap

Yesterday's snow meant another school cancellation today. The boys and I read their new V-day gift books, putzed around, bought two yards of black felt for continued Jedi cloak making, went out to lunch and then moseyed over to T's parents' house. There we dug a "luge" run in the front yard and after a long and nice visit, I left to pick up Valentines dinner fixings while my sweets stayed for a sleepover. Such a gift to T and me.

Once home, I cleaned and decorated (it's really too bad that if you look underneath those heart balloons there appear to be nipples), paid bills, shoveled more snow (I actually really enjoy shoveling snow; it's winter raking), and got started on the bolognese sauce for our meal. T brought roses, we exchanged cards, I changed into my pajamas and while the ragu stewed, we finished Part 1 of Harry Potter #7, a very well done film. Quick break for dinner which also included a fennel, blood orange, pomegranate and pecorino salad + champagne, and back to the couch for Part 2. Very plain, very basic, very nice.

Now it is most surely time for bed though I did sneak a peak at Facebook before calling it a day. I smiled and loved what I saw. So many of my friends doing things equally unfancy- one couple is at their sons' hockey tournament; another at California Pizza Kitchen with their kids; one couple in an airport; another at home like us. There are times when I look around at where I am in life, and I think, "Jesus, when and how did I get here? Tired, nearing 40, PTA member, PJs 75% of every day." It's such a surprise to me sometimes, as if I don't recall the decade that's passed since my mid-20s which was, indeed, a less tired, no PTA in sight, much freer era. Yet I wouldn't trade any of this for that even though the changes can still blindside or simply surprise.

Tonight I find myself missing my little boys, those sweet munchkins that can drive me to the brink of both insanity and unbelievable in-loveness. I will be so happy when they don't wake me up in the morning but I'll also be so happy to feel their arms wrap around me in a hello embrace tomorrow afternoon.

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you're feeling loved!