Tag Archives: main dish

Jan5

Spiced Tongue

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pork tongue plate Pork Tongues

Spiced Tongue

6 servings for a 3 pound beef tongue

Ok, I bet a lot of you are going EWIE, but I know that some of you are going to be interested in this recipe.  I remember when I was a little girl being totally freaked out when my mother brought to our dining table “the tongue” and it was a big one—unpeeled.  She peeled it in front of me and I thought that I would get sick.  But I braved it and ever since have enjoyed the lesser loved dishes including sweet breads, liver, kidneys, snails and well, you get the picture.  So, when I saw 4 pork tongues at the grocery

store the other day, I was happy indeed.  This was my first experience with pork tongues.  They turned out delicious however they were much harder to peel than the other tongues I had encountered.  There are many ways of cooking a tongue but this recipe is one which ends up having a nice sweet sauce on it and I think that even first timers may enjoy it.

Ingredients for boiling the tongue:

  1. One fresh beef tongue (3 lbs.) but I cooked my 2 lbs. of 4 pork tongues
  2. 1 Tsp. salt
  3. 1 onion studded with 3-4 cloves
  4. 6 sprigs of fresh parsley
  5. 3 celery stalks with leaves
  6. 2 peeled carrots cut into large pieces
  7. Few whole pepper corns
  8. 1 bay leaf
  9. Water to cover

Instructions for boiling the tongue:

  1. Place the tongue and the ingredients above in a tall pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover the pot and simmer until the tongue(s) are fork tender—about 2 ½ to 3 hours.
  2. Remove the tongue(s) from the water and cool slightly.
  3. When cool, if need be, cut of bones and gristle at the thick end; slit the skin from the thick end to the tip on the underside.  Use a paring knife to loosen the skin at the thick end pull and peel off the skin from the thick end to the tip.
  4. At this point you can slice it and serve it with mustard, horseradish or whatever you enjoy with tongue.  You can eat it hot or cold.  However, after slicing this is what I do if I don’t feel like just having slice tongue with a homemade mustard, horseradish,  piquant or nice vinaigrette sauce:

Ingredients for the spiced tongue sauce:

  1. 3 strips of lemon peel
  2. 1 Tsp. cinnamon
  3. 2 Tsp. brown sugar
  4. 1/8 Tsp. freshly ground pepper
  5. 2 C. white wine or dry vermouth
  6. 1/2 C. raisins (optional)
  7. 1/2 C. Blackberry or currant or cranberry jelly or sauce (optional)

Instructions for the spiced tongue sauce:

  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2.  Simmer (but don’t boil) the sauce ingredients so that they are mixed well.
  3. Place the tongue slices in an oven proof casserole dish and add the sauce ingredients and bake, covered in the 375 degree oven until the meat absorbs nearly all the liquid—about 35 minutes.
  4. I serve this with roasted fingerling potatoes and a nice side vegetable.
Dec18

Angel Hair with Herbed Shrimp

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herbed shrimp on red pasta with herbed shrimp

Angel Hair with Herbed Shrimp

Serves 4

Fresh shrimp bought from your fish monger is really superior, however, often when I want a last minute meal and don’t have anything much in the refrigerator I dig out my shrimp bags from the freezer.  Shrimp are not very high in calories and I enjoy them—even if they do come from a foreign country.  I know that there is controversy about this. No matter, for my taste, this is an easy dish to fix and I think that it’s good for just you and yourself (the way I often am) or for your family or even for a company dish—accompanied by a delicious green salad.   I like to use the two varieties of shrimp listed below just for the fun of it.  As well, for sure you can use fresh uncooked shrimp purchased from your fish monger and then it’ll be even better.  You have a bit more work to do, but there’s nothing like fresh uncooked shrimp.

Ingredients:

8 oz. angel hair pasta

6 oz. frozen cooked tail on shrimp (about 1 ½ Cups)

6 oz. frozen cooked tail off shrimp (about 1 ½ Cups)

1 – 1 ½ C. sliced fresh mushrooms

1/4 to 1/2 C. chopped fresh tomatoes or drained canned tomatoes (depends how much you want the tomatoes to influence your dish)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 Tblsp. olive oil

1/4 C. white wine

1/8 C. lemon juice

3/4 to 1 C. chicken stock(and more if you feel that the sauce needs it)

1 Tblsp. snipped fresh basil or 1 Tsp. dried basil, crushed

1 ½ Tsp. snipped fresh oregano or 1/2 Tsp. dried oregano, crushed

2 Tbsp. flour

S&P to taste

1/4-1/2 C. shredded Parmesan for garnish

1/4- 1/2 C. snipped parsley for garnish

Instructions:

  1. If necessary, thaw shrimp according to package directions.
  2. Cook pasta according to directions and keep warm.
  3. Mix the wine, chicken stock, lemon juice and herbs in a cup or small bowl.
  4. In a large sauce pan, warm the olive oil and place the flour in it along with the garlic and onion. Sauté gently over medium heat till they are translucent (about 3-5 minutes). Then add the mushrooms and keep stirring till they moisten. (another 3-5 minutes).
  5. Add the liquid ingredients mentioned in #3 to the pan and stir over medium heat till thickened and bubbly.
  6. Add shrimp to the mixture; cover and simmer about 2 minutes or if need be, till shrimp turns pink.
  7. Stir in tomatoes.
  8.  Add S&P to taste.
  9. Place the pasta on a pretty dish, top with the shrimp sauce and then a final sprinkling of the Parmesan and parsley.
  10. PS–if you want to make the sauce a bit creamier and richer, add some half-and-half to it at the end.  Be careful to not boil it.
Dec16

Lamb Shanks with White Beans-A Dish to Comfort

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lamb shank with white beans

Lamb Shanks with White Beans

Serves 2-8 if you don’t concentrate on the meat only

Newtown really got me down.  I needed some comfort; so I turned to this recipe.  First of all, it took me awhile to make but yet didn’t take too much concentration so that I could think and meditate about what a tragedy and horror had just happened.  Second of all, once made, it soothed me and helped me heal a bit.  We need recipes like this every now and then—and sadly enough, more often lately than not.  I hope that maybe you may take some solace in this recipe as well——

Ingredients for the White Beans:

  1. 1 Lb. dried white beans (I used the little ones but the larger variety are fine as well)
  2. 4 Cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
  3. 1 C. Cored and chopped tomatoes—(canned and drained are fine)
  4. 1 Bay leaf

Herbs to be used for both the beans and the shanks: 

  1. 1 Tblsp. fresh sage leaves or 1 Tsp. dried sage and some left over for extra seasonings
  2. 1 Tsp. fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 Tsp. dried thyme
  3. A dab more thyme leaves for browning the veggies.

Ingredients for the Lamb Shanks:

  1. 4 Lamb shanks—3/4 to 1 Lb. each (mine in the picture was almost 2 lbs. WOW—what a lamb!)
  2. 1/3 – 1/2 C. olive oil
  3. Flour for dredging
  4. 1 Medium onion rough cut
  5. 3 Stalks of celery rough cut
  6. 2 peeled  carrots rough cut
  7. 1 clove garlic rough cut
  8. S&P to taste
  9. 1 Bay leaf
  10. 3/4  C. red wine
  11. 3/4  C. beef stock
  12. Minced fresh parsley or sage leaves or thyme sprigs for garnish

Instructions:

Cooking the Beans

  1. Quick boil or soak the beans overnight (according to package directions).
  2. Place the beans in a deep pot and cover the beans with water.
  3. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil; skim the foam if necessary.
  4. Turn the heat down so that the beans simmer and add the garlic, tomatoes, bay leaf, and 1/3 of the herbs mentioned in this recipe.
  5.  Cook 1-1/2 to 2 hours —till they are tender.

Cooking the Shanks:

  1. Blender or Osterize chop the celery, carrots, garlic, onion into a small chop.  I do leave aside a couple of carrots and celery large cut just for the look of the dish-but doesn’t feel obliged to do this.
  2. Mix the remainder of the seasonings in enough flour to dredge the shanks a bit and rub it on the shanks.
  3. In a large pot, heat the olive oil and brown the shanks on all sides. (About 8-10 minutes). If you have a lot of shanks, you may have to do this in more than one session.  When browned, set aside on a separate plate.
  4. In the remaining oil (if you need more, pour a bit in), add and stir the veggies with a dab more of thyme over medium heat until they are glistening. (about 7 minutes)
  5. Put the shanks back in the pot on top of the veggies, add the wine and beef bouillon and a bay leaf; simmer covered on very low heat for 3 to 3 ½ hours or till when you insert a toothpick in the fleshy part of the shank, it’ll go in and come out easy (that almost sounds “risqué” doesn’t it.  Oh dear.
  6. Keep an eye on the shanks just to make sure they don’t need more wine or bouillon.

lamb shank with white beans

The Finished Product:

  1. At this point, I like to have a lovely country styled platter to take my beans out with a slotted spoon and some or all of its liquid as well and top it with my lamb shanks, veggies, sauce and all. I then garnish it with the parsley, sage, or thyme.
  2. There are 2 more ways  of finishing this dish so here it is:

Way One

  1. Don’t cook the beans till they are too soft because you are going to place them in an oven proof dish.
  2.  Pour the shank’s sauce among the beans and some or most of the bean’s liquid (depending how much is left), a bit more dried or fresh sage; then nestle the shanks in. Put the dish uncovered in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes.  Then garnish and serve.

Way Two

  1. Cook the lamb as directed; then take it all off the bone and shred it.
  2. Stir it back in the beans and top it with bread crumbs.
  3. Broil it carefully in the oven till the crumbs are light brown.
  4. Voila Cassoulet?

 

Dec12

Caribbean Marinade

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Caribbean Marinade 2 celery carrots caribbeanCaribbean Marinade

Makes about 1/2 to 3/4 cupful

This is a really wonderful marinade to use in cooking pork dishes;  but it also can be delicious used in various vegetable dishes and soups.  I use several teaspoons in my Braised Celery and Julienned Carrots recipe as well as in my Creamy Greens Soup recipe.  I warrant that you’ll find even more uses for it.

  1. 1 head of garlic, peeled
  2. 2 Tblsp. oregano
  3. 2 Tsp. cumin seeds
  4. 1 Tsp. black peppercorns
  5. 2 bay leaves
  6. 1 Tblsp. olive oil
  7. 1 orange—rind sliced off and chopped small; orange juiced
  8. 1 ruby grapefruit-rind sliced off and chopped small; grapefruit juiced
  9. 1/4 C. lemon Juice
  1. In a food processor, put ingredients listed above.  The orange, grapefruit and lemon juice should add up to 1/2 cup total of juice.
  2.  Process so nice and smooth but still chunky.
Dec11

Roast Pork Shoulder with a Caribbean Fling with a Side of Braised Celery and Julienned Carrots Also With a Caribbean Fling

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celery carrots caribbeancaribbean on plate caribben pork in dish

Roast Pork Shoulder with a Caribbean Fling with a Side of Braised Celery and Julienned Carrots Also With a Caribbean Fling

 Serves 4 to 6

Cross country skiing here in Blaine County ID has been so marvelous this December.  Now that I am a Courtesy Patrol Person for the Blaine County Recreation Area, it’s even better because I get to meet all sorts of wonderful people.   However, I must say that I do come home hungry; so tonight, I made myself the most marvelous dinner and one that I want to share with you all.  I started the process this morning before I left for the trails and when I came home—it was a breeze to just stick in the oven and enjoy when done.

I also had some left over celery and one carrot which got me thinking about a nice veggie side dish.  A baked potato to add and that was all that I needed.  Perhaps a sweet potato or yam might have been more perfect—but I didn’t have that and I do enjoy baked potatoes.caribbean on plate

Roast Pork Shoulder Caribbean Style

Ingredients:

  1.  2 ½ lb. to 5 lb. bone-in pork shoulder
  2. 1 medium onion, thickly slices
  3. 1 head of garlic, peeled
  4. 2 Tblsp. oregano
  5. 2 Tsp. cumin seeds
  6. 1 Tsp. black peppercorns
  7. 2 bay leaves
  8. 1 Tblsp. olive oil
  9. 1 orange—rind sliced off and chopped small; orange juiced
  10. 1 ruby grapefruit-rind sliced off and chopped small; grapefruit juiced
  11. 1/4 C. lemon Juice

Directions:

  1. Make several sharp cuts in the pork—all over.
  2. Pam spray a large round Pyrex bowl and place onions on bottom.  Then place pork on top.
  3. In a food processor, put the rest of the ingredients.  (The orange, grapefruit and lemon juice should add up to 1/2 cup total of juice.)  Process to make a nice marinade. Use only 1/2 of it for a 2 ½ lb. roast and save the rest for another roast, pork chops, etc.  Best of all, even if your roast is 5 lbs., save 2 tsp. of it for the veggies mentioned here.
  4. Rub the pork, all over, with the marinade making sure that it gets into your multiple cuts.
  5. Cover with wrap and place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
  6. Now’s the time to go cross country skiing (or whatever).
  7. When you are ready to cook this roast, preheat over to 450. If  you haven’t had time to remove the roast to get it to room temp, cook it at the 450 stage 5 minutes longer.  If it is at room temp  place the pork in the middle rack of the oven for 30 minutes.  After the initial 30 or 35 minutes, turn down the temperature to 325 degrees and cook 30 minutes per pound total—until the internal temperature of the roast reaches 160.
  8. Remove roast from oven; allow roast to rest for 15 minutes before carving and discard onions.

celery carrots caribbean (2)

Braised Celery and Julienned Carrots Caribbean Style

Ingredients:

  1. 5 to 10 leafless stalks of celery—cut into small pieces
  2. 1 to 2 carrots–julienned
  3. 1-2 Tblsp. butter
  4. 1-2 Tblsp. olive oil
  5. 1-2 Tblsp. flour
  6. 1- 1 ½  C. chicken stock
  7. 1-2 Tsp. of the marinade used above
  8. Dash of soy sauce
  9. 1/4 to 1/2 C. slivered almonds which you have lightly browned in 1-2 Tblsp. butter.

Directions:

  1. In a deep wok like pan melt and heat the butter and olive oil
  2. Cook and stir the celery and carrots stirring for about 2 minutes.
  3. Season with S&P and sprinkle with flour.  Cook, stirring for about 2 more minutes.
  4. Add the stock, marinade and soy sauce, stir, bring to a boil then turn the heat to low. Cover and cook until the celery is tender but still a bit crunchy (about 10- 15 minutes).
  5. Uncover and if you think that you have too much liquid, boil off some of the liquid.
  6. When the mixture has a saucy garnish, add the almonds.  Perfection!!!
Dec8

Chicken Ball Biscuit Stew

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Chicken Ball Biscuit StewChicken Ball Bisquit Stew

Serves 4 easily

The name for this dish may sound  unique and it is; but I think that even though it is a bit more complicated in making than most of my recipes, the end result is worth it.  It’s also very versatile and lastly, the “ball” part can be used for any recipe requiring meat balls and the ” biscuits” recipe for any other dish requiring a light and fluffy biscuit topping. You don’t have to serve this dish with the biscuit topping, but I find it awfully good.  Also, I use the ground chicken sometimes, but the ground veal or lamb is even tastier. So, as I said, this recipe is very versatile.  This recipe is divided in 4 parts.

  • Vegetables for this dish
  1. 1 C. julienned carrots (1 large carrot will do)
  2. 1 onion thinly sliced
  3. 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  4. 3 Tblsp. olive oil
  5. 1/2 to 1 C. frozen peas (optional but I like them and the color as well)

Directions:

  1.  Sauté the above ingredients in the hot olive oil in a 10 to 12 inch oven proof skillet over medium high heat for about 5 to 8 minutes–till onions are soft and glossy.
  2. Remove to a bowl and set aside
  • Meatballs

Ingredients:

  1.  1 lb. ground chicken, veal or lamb for this recipe
  2. 1/4 C. milk or cream
  3. 1/4 to 1/2 C. plain bread crumbs (start with 1/4 C.)
  4. 1/4 C. minced green onions
  5. 1/4 C. minced fresh parsley or 1 ½ Tsp. dried parsley
  6. 2 Tblsp. of 1 beaten egg ( I fork beat it in a cup)
  7. 1/4 Tsp. allspice for this recipe (the spice generally used for any meatball recipe can be varied according to what recipe you are making. It can be nothing or contain ground curry, cumin, chili powder, minced mint leaves, cinnamon, dill, etc.)
  8. S&P to taste
  9. 2 Tblsp. butter or olive oil

Directions:

  1.  In a medium sized bowl, let soak the bread crumbs with the milk or cream for 5 minutes.  Start with 1/4 C. crumbs.
  2. When soaked, add the remaining of the ingredients, mix and then add your ground meat and mix well.  If your meat looks too soupy, which ground chicken can be, add up to 1/4 C. more crumbs.
  3. Make 1 ½ inch in diameter balls (there will be around 20 to 24 of them).
  4. In the same oven proof skillet brown your meatballs on all sides in the 2 Tblsp. hot butter or olive oil over medium high heat for around 10 minutes. Watch that they don’t get too brown.  For the chicken balls, make sure that they are not pink inside anymore. (You can also bake the balls in the same skillet in a 400 degree oven until done-15 minutes or so.)
  5. Remove the balls to a platter and place aside.
  • For the stew’s delicious sauce
  1. 2 Tblsp. butter or olive oil
  2. 2 Tblsp. flour
  3. 1/4 C. white wine or vermouth
  4. 1 ½ C. chicken broth
  5. 1/4 Tsp. of the following spices: curry powder, S&P, ground cumin and ground ginger
  6. 1 C. plain yogurt-non-fat is fine

Directions:

  1. Add the butter or olive oil to the same unwashed skillet over medium heat and stir in the flour till it’s well mixed (about a minute or two) and then over medium-high heat add the liquid ingredients and spices.  Once again stir slowly till the ingredients are well melded into the sauce.  At this point add your yogurt and once again stir till well combined and seems very smooth.
  2.  Put the skillet aside while you make the biscuits.  However, if you want to serve it without the biscuits, put the veggies in the sauce and top with the meatballs. Place in 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.  Serve over rice or noodles.
  • Yogurt Biscuits

Ingredients:

  1. 1 C. flour
  2. 1 tsp. salt
  3. 1 ½ Tsp. baking powder
  4. 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
  5. 4 tsp. cold butter—cut into small pieces
  6. 1/2 C. plain yogurt—non-fat is fine

Directions:

  1. In a bowl whisk the flour, salt and powders till well mixed.
  2. Cut the butter with two knives in the dry ingredients. You can also use your blender at pulse to do this.
  3. When well blended use a large spoon to stir in the yogurt until the mixture forms a ball.
  4. Drop tablespoons of the dough on top of the stew.
  5. Now put your skillet in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes.
  6. Serve in the skillet with a pretty napkin tied around the handle.
  7. I serve it with a nice light green salad.
Dec8

Spinach Simmered in Yogurt or Spinach Raita

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Greens Simmered in Yogurt

Spinach Simmered in Yogurt or Spinach Raita

Serves 4 however I can eat almost all of it at one sitting

 

I loved traveling through India.  It’s such an awesome country in every way and I do love their cuisine. It is, I find, a very healthy one.  So, here is one of my favorite dishes.  It’s so easy to make and delicious to eat.  In fact, you can eat a lot and lot of it and not be worried about gaining any weight.  It’s nutritious and perfect for after the holiday extravaganzas.  I hope you’ll enjoy it as I do.

Ingredients:

  1. 1 lb. spinach well rinsed (6 C. of raw spinach = 1 lb.) and coarsely chopped
  2. 2 Tblsp. vegetable oil or olive oil
  3. 3 minced garlic cloves
  4. 2 small dried red chilies(if I don’t have that, I use chili flakes)
  5. 1 Tsp. ground coriander
  6. 1 Tsp. turmeric
  7. 1 C. plain whole milk yogurt (but I have used non-fat) whisked till smooth
  8. Salt to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add the spinach. Cook over moderate high heat, stirring, until wilted.
  2. Place the spinach in a colander and press the liquid out of it.
  3. In the same skillet, heat the oil of your choice and add the garlic and chilies.  Cook over moderate heat about 2 minutes. Add the coriander and turmeric. Cook stirring until it hits your nose—about 1- 2 minutes.
  4. Add the spinach and yogurt. Cook over low heat, stirring until the yogurt just begins to separate-about 3 minutes.
  5. Season with salt and serve.  You can serve this over rice or with Nan of course.
  6.  I have made this with a variety of other greens—so don’t be shy about substituting.  Other greens usually take longer to cook though—so make sure to taste.  As well, you can add or substitute various ingredients such as adding grated fresh ginger or some green chopped chilies.

For easy access and printing of this and past recipes, visit Margot’s blog http://blog.tempinnkeeper.com  Call Margot for personal cooking help or hosting

@ 721-3551.

Margot is a self-taught enthusiastic & passionate cook. Having been an inn-keeper for 5 years at her own inn, she accumulated a lot of good recipes which she loves to share.

 

Nov20

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

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Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

6 Servings (and maybe more)

 All right, this is a recipe where you DON’T look at the potential cholesterol effect.  You just make it every once and awhile and enjoy.  I do have another recipe that I’ll pass on that’s almost cholesterol free, however, this one is so good—anytime of the day—that I thought I would share it with you—as it was shared with me.

Ingredients:

  1. 1 – 1/2 Lb. ground beef (I used some local lean beef)
  2. 1- 1/2 C.  canned drained chopped tomatoes (or fresh if the tomatoes are tasty)
  3. 1/4 C. herbed stuffing mix—1/2 of it crushed in a plastic bag
  4. 1 carrot, coarsely shredded (I used my peeler and left the strips whole)
  5. 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  6. 2 Tbsp. chopped parsley (dry is OK but fresh is better)
  7. 1 egg, beaten
  8. 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  9. S&P to your taste
  10. 1 or 2 heaping tablespoons of shredded Mexican Mix cheese or just cheddar
  11. 4 slices bacon (or you can squeeze in one more if you wish.  I used the thick kind. )

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 375.
  2. In a 8 ½ X 4 ½ loaf pan (any kind because you won’t be baking in this—it’s just to shape the loaf)

Lined with plastic wrap, place your bacon slices side ways (not long ways) with the bacon sides hanging over the dish.

  1. In a good sized bowl, mix all of your ingredients well. I used my hands.
  2. Place the above contents in your loaf pan on top of the bacon slices and when pressed in, fold the bacon edges on top.
  3. Turn over your loaf pan on your desired roasting or baking dish; remove the plastic wrap and place in preheated oven.
  4. Cook for one hour basting once or twice during that time.
  5. After the hour, increase the heat to 450 for 10 minutes longer.

I visualize that this can be served on a pretty platter surrounded by mashed potatoes and maybe peas; however, the Worcestershire in it made me think a bit Asian and I got out my Yakisoba noodles.  This is how I did them:

  1. While the meatloaf was cooking at the very end, I removed about 1 to 2 Tblsp. of the meatloaf juice and put it in a wok.  I stir fried the noodles along with 1 Tblsp. of soy sauce for about 5 minutes.  I then added to the noodles some Brussels sprouts that I had roasted in the oven with a bit of olive oil, lemon juice and sesame seeds for the last 15 minutes of the meatloaf baking to the noodles.

I placed the meatloaf on a nice platter and surrounded it with the noodles and sprouts.  It turned out very pretty and was delicious!!!!

Nov11

Anise-Scented Bonelss Pork Country Style Rib Stew

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anise-scented boneless pork country style rib stew

Anise-Scented Boneless Pork Country Style Rib Stew

4-6 servings

My mentor in cooking is Ina Garten.  I just love her style and recipes so I do enjoy her cook books.  The other cook book I use continually is one that was recommended to me by one of my favorite B&B guests, Ruth.  She led me on to the How to Cook Everything –Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman.  I like it a lot because he kept true to his word: the recipes are simple with a lot of room for variations and YOUR imagination. The following recipe he delegated to short ribs, however, I had just bought some excellently priced boneless pork country style ribs and thought that they would do instead.  And indeed, they substituted just fine and were excellent.  So, I’m passing this on for your culinary enjoyment as well.

Ingredients:

1 Tblsp. peanut or neutral vegetable oil

3 Lbs. meaty short ribs, more or less (I used the boneless pork country style ribs but you can also use lamb shanks.)

Freshly ground pepper or Szechwan peppercorns to taste

1 medium large onion, chopped

5 nickel-sized fresh ginger (I used that) or 2 Tsp. ground ginger

3 cloves garlic, lightly crushed

5 whole star anise

1/2 C. soy sauce (which I used) or fish sauce

1 C. water

1 Tblsp. rice vinegar (I used) or white wine vinegar

2 Tblsp. sugar

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into ¼ -inch thick slices (I didn’t have 2 carrots, so I used one carrot and 1 large celery stalk)

Salt (optional-I didn’t use)

Instructions:

  1. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or similar pot.
  2. Brown the ribs well on all sides, seasoning them with pepper.  Regulate the heat so the ribs will not burn.  This will take about 20 minutes so don’t rush it. (This is the way I did it.) (You can also do the browning in the oven: preheat oven to 500 and roast the ribs, turning once or twice, until brown all over: time will be the same—20 minutes.)
  3. Remove the ribs and pour off most of the fat(I had very little left)
  4. Lower the heat under the Dutch oven to medium and cook the onion, stirring, until they begin to soften –about 5 minutes.
  5. Stir in the ginger and garlic and continue to cook 2 more minutes
  6. Add all the remaining ingredients except for the carrots (celery) and salt if you wish to use that. Bring to a boil and return the ribs to the pot.  Reduce the heat to low and cover.  Cook gently, turning the ribs occasionally, for about 1 hour.  I cooked my ribs for 1 ½ hours.
  7. Then add carrots (celery) and cook for another 30-45 minutes or until the meat if just about falling off the bone.
  8. Preheat oven to 200 about 10 minutes before the ribs with the carrots are done.
  9. When your ribs are cooked in the pot just the way you want them, remove them and the veggies with a slotted spoon to an oven proof dish.  Also discard the ginger pieces and the star anise.  Place the pot in the 200 degree oven to keep ingredients warm.
  10. Turn the heat under the pot with the remaining sauce to high in order to reduce the liquid, stirring, until it is thick and syrupy, about 10 minutes.
  11. Taste and add salt or more soy sauce if necessary and spoon the sauce over the ribs.
  12. Serve with white rice and a side of salad or other kind of veggie.

For easy access and printing of this and past recipes, visit Margot’s blog http://blog.tempinnkeeper.com  Call Margot for personal cooking help @ 721-3551.

Margot is a self-taught enthusiastic & passionate cook. Having been an inn-keeper for 5 years at her own inn, she accumulated a lot of good recipes which she loves to share.

Nov8

The Basic Recipe for Any Kind of Shanks

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beef shank stew (2)

The amount of servings is up to you

I do love, during winter, shanks.  It’s sort of like soul food-the kind that makes you feel good inside.   There are so many different ways of cooking them—stove top, in the oven, and even in the micro.  In fact I once made the micro version that turned out to be the best.  I need to look for that recipe. However, this is a basic recipe which I think always turns out tasty.  This time I used beef shanks because they were so reasonably priced.

Ingredients:

Shanks—any amount that you wish

Flour

S&P

Olive Oil

1 medium onion-chopped

2 large carrots-peeled and chopped in small bits

3 stalks of celery—washed and chopped into small bits

1 or 2 cloves of garlic—peeled and chopped finely

1 bay leaf

Oregano—dry or fresh-about 1/4 Tsp. dry or 3/4 Tblsp. fresh

Thyme—dry or fresh –about 1/4 Tsp. dry or 3/4 Tblsp. fresh

Red wine—probably not more than 3/4 C. for 2 shanks (for 4 shanks could be as much as 2 C.) (don’t forget to pour yourself a little glass as well.)

Beef bouillon—probably not more than 3/4 C for 2 (for 4 shanks could be 1 C)

Directions:

  1. In a plastic baggie, place enough flour, S&P and dried or chopped fresh oregano ; shake well to mix; then place the shanks  in the baggie; shake once more to lightly flour them. Make sure your shanks don’t have too much flour on them.
  2. In a large and semi-deep skillet place about 2 Tblsp. olive oil and brown the shanks on medium high heat on all sides (about 4 minutes per side). Transfer to a plate.
  3. You’ll probably want to add some more olive oil at this point to the hot skillet; add your veggies and the thyme.  Over medium heat  stir and brown your veggies for about 10 -15 minutes or till tender and translucent.  Make sure they don’t get too done.
  4. Put shanks back in skillet on top of veggies, add the wine and bouillon and simmer covered on very low heat (but where you see some heat bubbles rising to the surface) for 3 to 3 ½ hours or till shanks are tender and are almost falling off the bone.
  5. Make sure to keep an eye on this dish and don’t let the liquid evaporate too much.  If need be add more wine or bouillon. I usually add some more liquid about 1/2 way through.

I serve this dish with my no-trick popovers and a nice salad or veggies.  You can also serve it with cauliflower puree or mashed potatoes.   If you wish another variation for this recipe, you could add some chopped tomatoes—either canned or fresh if tasty. Or you can use white wine and rosemary as a seasoning.  Also, you can top this dish off with chopped parsley and even some lightly sautéed in butter mushrooms. Fun to experiment isn’t it?

For easy access and printing of this and past recipes, visit Margot’s blog http://blog.tempinnkeeper.com  Call Margot for personal cooking help @ 721-3551.

Margot is a self-taught enthusiastic & passionate cook. Having been an inn-keeper for 5 years at her own inn, she accumulated a lot of good recipes which she loves to share.