It was our turn to host the monthly poker game.  The fare “before Todd and I” was pizza and beer.  The fare is now, hopefully, a far cry better.  Some nights it is still pizza as I use this group of great friends as guinea pigs for recipes I am testing for upcoming classes.  They always humor me and eat whatever I cook with a smile on their faces when I know there are silent wishes for the “before Todd and I” days when they could just order pizza and know that dinner was going to be edible.    We used to just cook and eat.  Now that there is Doable and Delicious, we cook, photograph and then, finally, eat. 

This week was a double whammy as I was testing recipe for an Island Style Mon class as well as completing the Daring Cooks challenge.  Shhh.  That is double top secret so you will have to tune in on the 27th for the second part of tonight’s experiment.  

I was running short on time so Todd made Jamaican Beef Dumplings as an appetizer.  It is quick to put together and was happily eaten by everyone.  As we have been together for a few years now, I can pretty much tell when there is silent grousing or obvious enjoyment.  These fall under the latter category.

Jamaican Beef Dumplings  from Gourmet Magazine, May 2009

1/2 cup finely chopped scallion

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

3/4 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 pound ground beef

2 tbsp fine dry bread crumbs

siracha sauce

wonton or gyoza wrappers

oil for cooking and frying

Cook scallion, onion, curry powder, thyme, salt and pepper in 1 1/2 tbsp oil over medium heat until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.  Add ground beef and bread crumbs and cook until meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Add siracha and allow to cool. 

Put a teaspoon in the center of a wonton wrapper.  Brush edges of wrappers with water, fold in half and press to seal. 

Heat 1 inch oil to 350.  Fry dumplings, turning a couple of times, until golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Serve with additional siracha sauce if desired.

This is one of those weeknight meals which started one way and ended up entirely different than I had initially thought.  This is a frequent occurrence for me so while the end result is sometimes not where I was going, the path I take at the fork in the road is usually a good choice. Todd says it is because I am distracted by shiny things…. he might be right.  Red is, after all, my favorite kitchen color!

I went to my favorite Italian market for some semolina for a class.  As usual, I got sucked in.  I passed all the bags of pasta without looking at them.  And then, as I was grabbing a bag of semolina, my eyes, oh my eyes, they actually focused on the pasta.  If you ever visit an Italian market, you realize that it isn’t all in the blue boxes or cellophane bags all the same color and all the same varieties we have choices of:  ziti, penne, rigatoni, spaghetti and elbows.  If you are lucky, they toss in a tri colored rotini to make you think you are doing something special with your dinner.  But at Mazzaro’s.  Whoa.  They have pasta shapes I can’t pronounce.  And in colors you could never hope for at the grocery store.   I love how these springs uncoil during cooking to soak up all of the pasta sauce!

So I had these two bags of pasta just waiting to be used.  I immediately thought ooey, gooey macaroni and cheese.  I had about four varieties of cheese and some milk.  Bechamel here I come.  And then wham.  I saw a red pepper which was starting to look shriveled and sad.  I knew it wasn’t long for the world so I took it out and cut it into bite sized pieces.  And then out came some beef sausage left over from a catering event.  A bit of oil and a quick saute of both the peppers to soften and char them a bit and the sausage to render off some of the fat. 

I did manage to complete the bechamel and added some monterey jack and sharp cheddar to the mix.  I added the cooked pasta, peppers and sausage.  When I was putting away the milk, I spied some arugula and thought what the heck.  It will add some color and crunch.  I grabbed a few leaves and tossed those in.

My mac and cheese went from ooey, gooey and creamy to hearty, substantial and full of flavor. 

And the moral of the story?  Sometimes choosing the unknown fork in the road leads to a cleaner refrigerator!

2 cups pasta

2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp butter

2 cups milk

1 cup cheese of your choice

Any assorted bits from your refrigerator

Boil the pasta according to the package directions.  Meanwhile, heat butter in a large skillet.  Add flour and stir to combine for about 1 minute (to eliminate the pasty taste).  Add in the milk and stir until the mixture starts to thicken.  Add in cheese and stir until melted.  Drain pasta and add to the skillet, tossing to combine.  Add in any leftover bits and serve. 

Comfortable:  Braised short ribs.

Hearty:  Braised short ribs.

Doable: Braised short ribs.

Delicious: Braised short ribs.

Nothing was jumping out at me during a recent trip to the grocery store.  I passed up and down the packages of chicken, pork, lamb, beef and veal several times.  And then I spotted them.   Beef short ribs.  They were beauts.  I hate when they are small.  Fatty but not to the point of overkill.  Meaty but not to the point of leanness.   Two packages in the cart as well as a boneless pork loin because man can’t live on short ribs alone,  off  I went to the produce section for some aromatics: carrots and onions.  A few cloves of garlic and some mushrooms because well, what the heck doesn’t taste better with some mushrooms tossed in. 

The beauty of short ribs is that they cook low and slow (a braise by most definitions) and can be inspired by so many cuisines. 

I took the lazy route and just made them with beef broth, red wine, some aromatics and a generous dose of mushrooms.  Delish!

BRAISED SHORT RIBS

3 lbs beef short ribs

1/2 cup flour

salt and pepper 

olive oil

1 large carrot

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups beef broth

3 cups red wine

Add salt and pepper to the flour and dredge the ribs in flour.  Heat oil in a large pan and brown the ribs on all sides.  Add the remaining ingredients, cover and put into a preheated 350 oven for about 2 to 3 hours, checking to ensure that the ribs are bathed in liquid and are fall apart tender.  Serve over polenta, mashed potatoes or egg noodles.

As I was going through my monthly rip and rape of my cache of food magazines, I was intrigued by this recipe for a couple of reasons:  I thought it would photograph well and because it fit in great with the quirky calendar day, Richard Nixon visits China for the first time.  I am simply being honest here people.  Sometimes the food in our house is not based on what looks good as I am perusing the butcher counter or the produce bins.  It isn’t based on what I have in the pantry or what Todd or the Queen might have requested.   It is based on the blog and my all important blogging calendar.  If I need something orange, that is what we are eating.

That being said (and I would appreciate you not taking me to task for not having this post prepared on Richard Nixon visits China for the first time which was Febuary 21, 1972), this is one of the best stir frys I have had in recent memory. 

STIR FRIED BEEF, BROCCOLI AND YAMS from BonAppetit

1/4 cup water

3 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsp oyster sauce

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (I increased to 1/2 tsp)

1 lb flank steak cut in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/4″ thick slices

1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

2 1/2 tbsp oil, divided

4 cups broccoli florets

1 yam, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/3″ slices

2 tsp chopped peeled fresh ginger

Stir water, brown sugar, oyster sauce and red pepper flakes together and set aside.  Place beef in bowl. Season with salt and pepper and toss with cornstarch.

Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in large wok over high heat.  Add beef mixture and stir fry until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.  Transfer mixture back to bowl.  Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in same skillet.  Add broccoli, yam, ginger and sauce.  Toss to coat.  Cover, reduce heat to medium high and cook  until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.  Add beef mixture back to pan.  Toss until sauce coats beef, about 1 minute. 

The flavor combinations are divine.  The sweetness of the brown sugar and the yam combined with the heat from the crushed red pepper danced on your tongue.   There was crunch from the broccoli while the beef  and yams were incredibly soft.  Todd was amazed that it was flank because it was so tender and moist.

I must admit that I have never used yams in a stir fry before.  The orange color was the key but I am now a convert.   What out of the ordinary ingredient have you added to a stir fry?