Peppered Short Ribs.

I'm finally home, cooking and baking in my own kitchen, and it feels so good.  In fact, it felt so good, I had to make the following for myself.  And since the topic for Sunday Funday was either a slow-cooker meal or a slow-cooked meal, this was a perfect choice to make.  

It's actually been quite a few years since I first made this.  I made it for my sister, Tania, for her birthday, and, well, she was nice and said it tasted good, and it did, but it needed improvement.    So I played with it a few times over the years.  I think I've finally hit it out of the park.  

At least my mouth did a happy dance when I was eating it the other day.  

I used a couple of different colored peppers, but you can just use green peppers if you like.  

And the leftovers, well, let me just say they were delicious, and I still have a couple of meals in the freezer for future meals.  

And I think it's really easy to make cause you basically put it into a crockpot or in my case, a Dutch Oven, bung it into the oven, set it and forget it for a few hours.   

To start with, cut up an onion. I actually measured it, and it came out to a heaping cupful.  Add it to a hot pan along with the same amount of sweet pepper, and saute in a little oil until the onions are translucent.  I happened to have a couple of orange peppers, so I used one of them here, but you can use a green pepper if you like.  

I think the correct term is 'sweating' the onion, but I think that's just rude, 😉   I mean, who wants a sweaty onion?  

After the onion and pepper had cooked together for a bit, I put them into my brand new 2 quart Dutch Oven, and sauteed some sliced garlic in a little oil, just until they turned translucent.  I didn't want any color on them; just wanted to get them cooking a little bit.   Fun fact: depending on how you cut up the garlic, the flavor changes a bit.  I sliced them here, as I didn't want the flavour to be too aggressive.  If I'd crushed it, the garlic would have been more pronounced.   And wow is that picture ever blurry.   

I then added the garlic to the sauteed onions and pepper and proceeded to brown the ribs in the remaining oil, adding them to the pot with the pepper and onions.  I quartered a few small tomatoes and added them to the pot before putting the lid on and placing them into a 275 degree oven.  

After letting them roast for about 2 hours I pulled the pot out of the oven, added a few more quartered tomatoes and let them slow cook for an additional 2 hours.   Along with the remaining coarsely diced red, green and orange peppers along with a few more quartered tomatoes.  What can I say, I like cooked tomatoes.  

I used my tongs to turn the meat over and mix up the peppers, tomatoes, etc.   It was only then that I added a half teaspoon of salt to the pot.  

The majority of the flavour here is from the slow-cooked peppers and tomatoes.   There was no added liquid, so after removing the pot from the oven, I placed the cooked meat on a plate and thickened the tomato/onion mixture with a little flour slurry.    You do need to cook it for a few minutes to cook the flour and get the floury taste out.  

I cooked a small pot of Basmati Rice as my carb.   And served the peppers and onions over the rice.   I even sprinkled the plate with some fresh chopped parsley.  

Can I just say, my sister would have loved this latest iteration of the dish.  Cooking it low and slow in the oven rendered out the fat and broke down the connective tissue beautifully.  

 

Peppered Short Ribs

Yield: 4

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 4 HourTotal time: 4 H & 20 M

A lovely slow cooked meal, ready in just a few hours in the oven or in a crockpot.

Ingredients

Short Ribs

• 1 1/2 lbs. Beef Short Ribs, with bone if possible.
• 1 cup Sweet Onion, cut into coarse dice
• 1/2 green pepper, cut into coarse dice
• 1 1/2 orange pepper, cut into coarse dice
• 1/2 red pepper, cut into coarse dice
• 8-10 small tomatoes cut into quarters
• 3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Oil for sauteeing 1-3 teaspoons
• 1 tablespoon flour and 2-3 tablespoons water, stirred together.

Instructions

1. To start with, cut up an onion. I actually measured it, and it came out to a heaping cupful. Add it to a hot pan along with the same amount of sweet pepper, and saute in 1 tsp oil until the onions are translucent. I happened to have a couple of orange peppers, so I used one of them here, but you can use a green pepper if you like.
2. Set the remaining pepper and tomatoes aside.
3. Place the onion and one pepper into an oven-safe pot or into a crockpot.
4. Slice up the garlic and saute it in 1/2 teaspoon of oil in the same pan, then add it to the onion and pepper.
5. Sauté the beef ribs in the remaining oil, and brown well on both sides.
6. Add to the pot and top with 4 or 5 small tomatoes that have been quartered.
7. Put the lid on and place in a 275-degree oven and bake for 2 hours.
8. Remove the lid, and add the remaining peppers. Top with the rest of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with the 1/2 teaspoon salt and put the pot back into the oven.
9. Let it cook for another two hours and remove from the oven. Take the meat out and set it aside while you thicken the pepper and tomatoes with the flour slurry. Let it cook for a couple of minutes so that the flour cooks out.
10. Serve with rice, potatoes, or your choice of starch.
11. Sauté any leftover peppers and onions with some mushrooms and make my Extra-Ordinary Grilled Cheese.  Recipe and instructions on this blog.  

Estimate only

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• Braised Beef Cheeks over Garlic Gnocchi by Culinary Cam
• Crockpot Orange Chicken by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Garlic Rosemary Lamb Shanks by Food Lust People Love
• Keto Masala Beef Steaks by Sneha's Recipe
• Peppered Short Ribs by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Slow Cooker Cinnamon Apple Oats by Our Good Life
• Slow Cooker Chili con Carne by Palatable Pastime

Gluten free waffles with Pears in a Balsamic reduction.

Wow, will you look at that fancy, dancy title.  😏 

It sounds fancy, doesn't it?  But it sure tasted good.   Maybe not the most visually appealing, but the flavour, OMG the Flavour!!!!  

I'm going to participate in this weeks, Sunday Funday (and sorry I don't have the icon on this computer).  The theme this week is Waffles.   It's being hosted by Stacy of Foodlustpeoplelove.com. I'm a super big fan of waffles.  I've been living a semi-nomadic life for a few months now, and love it when I stay in a hotel that features a 'free' breakfast and has a waffle iron in the breakfast room.  Sometimes, they're even in the shape of the state.   In fact, I love waffles so much that I purchased a mini waffle iron and have been using it in various places I've been staying at, mixing up purchased pancake mix.  Not the greatest, but needs must.    

In fact, a lot of stuff happens in my kitchen when I wonder what would happen if I?'  

I had some gluten-free flour I'd purchased to make some gluten-free fry bread for some Navajo Tacos I was making for family.   The fry bread was almost ok, it was all eaten along with a lot of the Chili I'd made.  BTW, that Chili is amazing.  Just sayin... the colder months are ahead of us...  And what is the correct spelling?  Chili or Chile, I use both interchangeably.   

Well, onto my gluten-free adventures with Waffles.    I actually started out with some ripe pears, my brother had given me a few pears, and since I don't like them ripe, I'd been eating them whilst still green, however, one of the pears ripened before I could consume it.    Along the way, in my travels, I'd succumbed to purchasing some Black Cherry Balsamic Vinegar.   So I wondered what would happen if I poached the pear in some of the Balsamic Vinegar, along with some sugar, and WOW, did it taste good. 

 I took the pear chunks out and reduced the liquid a little further, and got the most amazing sauce.   And ummm, ended up with far fewer pear chunks to put on top of the waffle, cause I kept on sampling the pear chunks.  They were that good.  

Here's the recipe for both. BTW, I make more waffles than I could eat at a setting, so I froze the rest and will pop them into the toaster to reheat later on. 

Those frozen waffles, OMG good, toasted, straight out of the freezer.  And ummm, since I like play a little in the kitchen, I caramelized some apples and topped the waffles.  Note to self:  wait until the apples are a little cooler before tucking into them.  They were a touch on the molten lava side until they cooled down just a titch.   And for the Toffee apple topping, I melted some sugar, added apple slices, let the cook for a few minutes, took them out of the molten sugar, added a little butter, put the apples back into the molten sugar and then topped the waffles.   

Gluten Free Waffles with Poached Pears in Balsamic Reduction

Yield: 2 large waffles, 6 single waffles

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking adapted from many recipes

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 10 MinInactive time: 5 MinTotal time: 20 Min

Simple, delicious, and can use up ripe pears.

Ingredients

Gluten Free Waffle

• 1 1/2 cups 1-1 gluten-free flour
• 1/2 cup grated frozen butter
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 2 eggs - Separated
• 1/2 cup + Milk, more if needed to make a batter. You want it a little stiffer than a pancake batter.

Instructions

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Separate the eggs, placing the yolks into a bowl along with the milk. Put the egg whites into another bowl and whisk them to a soft peak. Set aside.
3. Into a large bowl, place the gluten free flour and the baking powder. Grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients and mix together.
4. Stir the egg yolks into the milk and pour into the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Leaving small chunks of stiff egg whites.
5. Place a good dollop (1/4 cup) of the batter into each partition of the waffle iron and close the lid. Cook until golden brown.
6. When done, place on a plate, and add the poached pears and syrup. Enjoy the meal.

Poached Pears

1. Wash and cut up a ripe pear or more into chunks.
2. In a small pan, add 1/4 cup of Black Cherry Balsamic Vinegar or your choice of vinegar, then add 1/4 cup each of sugar and water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down, and then add the pear chunks, turning them over to coat evenly.
3. Simmer for about 10 minutes, and then remove the pears with a slotted spoon to a small plate. Let the remaining syrup cook and reduce for a few more minutes. Take it off the heat and add the poached pear chunks back to the sauce. Set aside while making the waffles.
4. Add more Balsamic Vinegar and sugar as needed. 1/2 cup of each item will poach up to 3 pears.

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• Apple Cinnamon Waffles from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Bacon Cheddar Spinach Waffles from Food Lust People Love
• Gingerbread Waffles from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Gluten Free Waffles with Poached Pears in Balsamic Reduction from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Keto Spiced Omelette Waffles from Sneha's Recipe 
• Oatmeal Waffles from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Protein Waffles from Our Good Life
• Waffle Cupcakes from Amy's Cooking Adventures

Grilled Cheese, Extra Ordinary

 I honestly had no idea what to call this grilled cheese sandwich.  I thought of calling it a lot of names, but kept coming around to extra ordinary.    

I need to tell you, it's National Sandwich Month.  So here's my latest, greatest, reiteration of a Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  

There are a bunch of bloggers who are also posting their favorite sandwiches, sides, or fillings as well.  You can check them out at the end here.  

I mean, we've all had grilled cheese sammies, haven't we?  It's a kinda go-to sandwich in my household. Pair it with a bowl of tomato soup, and you have comfort food, right?    I'd make it with ham and tomato inside, and that was a substantial meal in itself.   

I'm currently sorta houseless, my house is up for sale, and I'm bouncing around various furnished places, looking for my next home.   I'm staying in a cottage at the moment, which has a full kitchen, (Yippee), and have been using it as my base.   And since it's a temporary place, I've not stocked it up with a lot of food.  Mostly food I can cook quickly, without fuss.   Like grilled cheese sandwiches.  Easy peasy, right?

Last week, I took advantage of a nephew's offer to get me some fresh crab and decided to make some of my award-winning crabcakes for the family.   Said with a tongue in cheek.   They're good, don't get me wrong, but still, they're crabcakes.   They've also got a ton of ingredients in them, so I had lots of peppers, onions, and celery left over. I sautéed them in a pan, thinking I'd just portion them out and freeze them for future omelettes.   

Well, by the time I'd finished cutting all the stuff up and sauteeing them (I added a couple of mushrooms to the mixture as well),  I was hungry.  I was not in the mood for an omelette but decided to see how this would taste on a grilled cheese sandwich.  So I did a bit of a dive into the fridge, pulled out the heel of a piece of Havarti cheese, and some leftover gruyère I'd used in my Roasted Radish Tart.   I had been invited to a party and brought this as my offering to the potluck.  So many people now eat grain-free as well as gluten-free, and this tart is amazing.  It's a great dish to bring, unusual, and tastes amazing. I also had some dried-up (just a little) cheddar cheese, so I decided to go ahead and add it all to the sandwich.  

My mouth would have done a major happy dance if it weren't full of goodness.  

You all know how to make a grilled cheese: butter the bread (of your choice), place the buttered side down in a pan, add the cheese, then cook it until it's golden brown.  I started this one that way, and then added a generous spoonful of the veggie mixture, topped with more cheese, and another slice of buttered bread.  I like to cook mine over fairly low heat so the cheese melts and the bread browns.  But you do you.  

When I sauteed the veggies, I didn't bother adding any seasonings, cause I'm also cooking salt-free (mostly) these days.   And they didn't need any extra boosts, really, they didn't.   And there was plenty of salt in the cheeses, anyway.  

All right, enough of the hyperbole.   Here's the recipe, well, it's more of a how-to.  Cause let's face it, we all know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich, well, many of us do. 

Saute together over fairly low heat - one chopped red onion, one each, chopped Red Pepper, Orange Pepper, Yellow Pepper, 3 stalks chopped celery, 3-5 large mushrooms.   Cut them all into uniform pieces.  And by the way, you can sub in Green Peppers for the Orange and Yellow peppers, but I would counsel keeping the Red Pepper or one of the other Peppers in.  They tend to be sweeter than the Green.   Just sayin...  I sauteed them in a mixture of ghee and a neutral oil.  

Butter your bread on one side, place it in the pan, butter side down.   Lowish heat.  Add your cheese of choice, sliced as thinly as possible; grated is better.   Add some sauteed veggies, then another layer of cheese.   As soon as you see some melty action happening with the cheese,  add the second slice of buttered bread, butter side out, and flip the entire sandwich.  The first side of the sandwich should be nicely browned.  Continue cooking the sandwich until the second side has browned, and then serve it.  You can add some ground pepper or other spices if you like, but I liked them just as they were.  The best part was that I had enough for several sandwiches or omelettes.  

And there you have it, an extra

ordinary Grilled Cheese.  

I also added a sprinkle of dried tarragon to the veggie mixture, but it kinda overtook the veggie taste.  

Take a look at what some other talented bloggers shared for National Sandwich Month. 

• Caramel Pulled Pork Banh Mi Sandwiches by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chicken Caesar Wraps by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Family Favorite Tuna Salad by Food Lust People Love
• Grilled Bombay Sandwich by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Grilled Cheese Extra Ordinary by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Hung Curd Veggie Sandwich by Sneha's Recipe
• Pie Iron Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches by Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sunflower Pesto Turkey Sandwich by Our Good Life

Restaurant Meals on my Road Trips, part one.

 I usually post about the food I make and enjoy eating, but I'm in a situation right now where I'm not cooking, well, not much, that is.  
I am however eating many of my meals in restaurants, well, I've actually been eating in restaurants a lot. 

Along the way, I've been 'one of those' people who takes pictures of my food. Mainly because when it's presented to me in an appealing, visual way, I want to honor the artist who plated the food.  

Anyone can slop food onto a plate, but much of the time, actually, most of the time, whoever prepares the plate in the kitchen takes pride in how that meal is presented.   I know I did when I cooked in a restaurant.  I wanted the food to not only taste good, but be of visual interest as well.  

Without further ado, well, not much of it, and where I can remember which restaurant I was in at the time, here are some of my meals from the past month.  

Clam Strips - Warmhouse Restaurant - Neah Bay - WA

Sweet n' Sour Pork - Fried Rice -Dynasty Restaurant - Sequim WA

This is my usual 'test' dish when I try a new Chinese Restaurant - if they prepare it well, I'll go back and I'm going to be returning here and trying more of their menu, cause this was hands down delicious. 

I'd ordered a french dip with salad here, and the salad came out just like this.  So pretty, I had to not only admire it, and take a picture of it, but also complimented the artist.  Salad at the "In Place", Forks, WA  It was so appealing, and made me happy to eat it. 

Pork Fried Rice at Seven Brothers, 7 Cedars Casino   

Beautifully cooked pork belly. Look at the presentation.  Adelicious meal, and one I'll go back for. 

Blackened Cajun Salmon at Applebee's, Sequim WA

On the way to Sequim, I was hungry and stopped at the Halfway House in Brinnon, WA.   I saw that they had a Monte Cristo on the menu and I didn't bother looking any further.  It had to have been at least an inch thick, perfectly cooked, and so good, I think I kinda overate.  I even got a slice of their coconut pie to go, and scarfed that down later on.  Didn't get a picture of that one, but I am so tempted to go back there and have a meal again.  Totally worth the stop. 

And last but certainly not least, I also stopped at a Mexican Restaurant, called SOL de Mexico, in Reedsport, OR and ordered the Chile Relleno Combo     So good and it hit the spot.   I admit it, I kinda pigged out a bit, but it was totally worth it.  Lots and lots of cheese in both the Enchilada and the Relleno.    

And there you have it.  A few of the dishes I've considered good enough to take pictures of, and blog about.  

I do admit to ordering a few, 'test dishes', in restaurants, Chile Relleno's is my test dish for Mexican Restaurants, and I get excited when I find one that measures up to my taste.    As did this offering.  Chile Relleno's is one dish I do know how to make and make well.  

I'll continue to be one of 'those' people who takes pictures of their food, but only when the dish warrants it.   

Garlic Scapes Stir Fry

 Have you missed me?  👀😉   I've been around, just haven't done a whole lotta cooking the past few months. 

 I either haven't felt like it or have been busy packing up my house, and well, gee, good home cooking hasn't been on my radar.    What didn't help was having most of my toys packed, and well, gee, it's kinda hard to cook when you've packed most of your tools.  

And now, I'm in an interesting 'pied a terre, a temporary apartment, and it's just fine.   There is even a two burner cooktop, and I couldn't help but think that this entire apartment, complete with the two burner stove insert was pretty much the same size as the apartment my parents had in Copenhagen, and they had 4 kids there. YIKES!!!  My mom would have been right at home cooking here. The kitchen is teeny, but serviceable, and I'm enjoying the challenge.  

Back to my story, I was first introduced to Garlic Scapes by my one of my sisters, she threw some on the grill and we ate them with a steak I think.  I was offered some scapes the other night and said Yes Please, and came up with the following concoction.  

A Garlic Scape is basically the flower stalk that comes up from the garlic bulb.  Growers cut the flower stalk to encourage the garlic bulb to get larger.  And ummm, the scape is totally delightful.  Mild, very mild garlic flavour.    And it lends itself to so many applications.  I don't have a full on kitchen or my usual supplies handy, otherwise I might have been seduced into making some pesto, with walnuts, or pureeing them and adding to some hummus.  I had all kinds of ideas floating through my head.   And next year, I'll be growing some of my own and then I'll have even more fun.  

But in the meantime, I also had some asparagus, carrots and a couple mushrooms, and decided that they would lend themselves well to a stirfry.   I also had a shallot and well, gee, I had to add it, not just for color but flavour as well. 

I also cooked some pasta to add in, cause my body doesn't think it's a complete meal unless there's either carbs or protein involved somewhere.  

There aren't any kinds of proportions here, just cut up what you think you'll eat and go from there. 

I did start cooking the carrots and shallot first.  Mainly cause carrots take a little longer to cook, and I wanted the shallot to cook and start breaking down a little to add a touch of sweetness to the dish. 

 After letting them saute for a couple of minutes, I added in the rest of the veggies, let them cook to crisp-tender, and finally dumped in some pasta.  (I forgot to take a picture, sigh.)  The only seasoning was a touch of salt, a salt free herb mixture and a couple grinds of black pepper.  And it was insanely delicious.  I ate every bite. 

I'm so totally making this again, but next time I'll actually take a picture of the finished dish.   In the meantime, I've still got some scapes left, along with more asparagus, and I'm wondering how they would taste mixed into some ooey gooey mac n' cheese?