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.

Strawberries and rhubarb: vibrancy and an evolution

When the cold starts moving out, vibrancy moves in. Like a shapeshifter of the best sort, it comes in many forms: flowers; brightly hued berries and tomatoes; changing pedicure polish preferences; fewer black clothes.

It's almost shocking, the first few times you encounter really red strawberries, variegated stalks of rhubarb and bright green basil with leaves the size of dog ears. I can never resist buying huge quantities of these things and then enjoy working like mad to do justice to them before they lose their luster or, worse, begin to rot.

Other than pie and jam, my favorite way to combine strawberries and rhubarb is in a simple, cooked-down puree. It's like applesauce, but seriously pink and a bit more interesting. Oliver and I like to eat it plain; nothing needed but a spoon and, if you want to get fancy, a bowl. It's also divine with yogurt or ice cream; an easy snack or dessert if ever there was one.

Sometimes, when I'm really jazzed and/or in a dessert-obsessed myopia, I stir some of the puree into this French yogurt cake and then also dollop a bit on top for a streak of pretty. Both are a sublime addition to what is already a ridiculously good cake. Thank you hottie Andrew Knowlton!

Go forth y'all, and make! Also, go read my latest bit on the Huffington Post!!

Spring dinner, in anticipation of spring

Just before bedtime last night, Ol jumped head-first into a window sill. I was fine until I saw his hand and Mom's upper lip and the tip of her nose covered in blood. She wasn't hurt but had kissed him, and I worried that at some point, his tears would pause, and he'd think, "Now why does Misse have a blood mustache and Rudolph nose?" I mimed that she may want to skedaddle to the bathroom and clean up.

All is fine now. 

At the market yesterday was first-of-the-season halibut. The steaks were stunning, and I couldn't resist buying a large hunk, knowing it'd be spectacular with some mango salsa.

mango salsa

It was. The roasted asparagus with cumin-coriander aioli was lovely too, and the strawberry-rhubarb pie made me close my eyes after each bite, blissful.

toasted cumin and coriander aioli

strawberry-rhubarb pie version 2