Valentine's Feast

This post is ridiculously, embarassingly late. It is clearly well past Valentine's Day as I publish this post. However I have been a traveller of late. The last two weeks have seen me in New York, Houston (shooting for the Houston Grand Opera!,) Atlanta, back in Midwestia, and now preparing for an upcoming return trip to NY. The trips were wonderful but I'm pretty tired and in need of some serious nesting (at least for the next few days until I leave for NYC.)

Due to being on the road so much in February I didn't have a chance to share my Valentine's feast recipes. So, perhaps you will be inspired by the following recipes to cook up a very special dinner for some other occasion. Here's the menu: Braised beef shortribs with truffle mashed potatoes, baby root vegetables, brussels sprouts, French chocolate cake with raspberry coulis.

I will give you the recipe for the short ribs, and the baby root veg in this entry and the cake with sauce in the following. I must give credit for the ultimate short ribs recipe to my dear friend Claire. I have followed it almost to the letter, save for the very end where I omitted some extra butter and added a dash of something special...

ULTIMATE BEEF SHORT RIBS

2 Tbsp Vegetable oil

6 short ribs

s&p

1 med onion coarsely chopped

1 med carrot coarsely chopped

1 med celery rib coarsely chopped

3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 bottle dry red wine

4 Cups chicken stock

1 tsp black peppercorns, ground

2 sprigs thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

1 dried bay leaf

1 Tbsp barbeque sauce (I used the one from Trader Joe's) note: this is optional. I added it because I thought the recipe needed a soupçon of sweet and smoky and this did the trick.

Preheat oven to 300.

In a large, heavy bottomed casserole or oven-proof sauté pan with lid, heat oil over med-high heat. Season the ribs with salt and pepper. Cook in batches until nicely browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Pour off all but 3 Tbsp of fat. Return casserole to med-high heat and add onion, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring, until nicely browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the red wine and cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add stock, peppercorns, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf and bring to boil. Return short ribs to casserole and cover tightly.

Move casserole to oven. Braise until short ribs are tender, about 2 hours (I think it often takes longer-2.5 hours worked for me). About 15 minutes into cooking time, check to make sure the liquid is barely simmering, and reduce oven temp if necessary. When tender, transfer ribs to platter. Cover with alum foil to keep warm.

Let braising liquid stand off heat for 3 minutes. Skim off fat that rises to surface. Return casserole to stove and bring to boil over high heat. Cook until sauce is richly flavored and reduced to about 1.5 cups, 10 to 15 minutes (probably longer). Off heat, whisk in barbeque sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

TRUFFLE MASHED POTATOES

1.5 lbs. potatoes

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup sour cream

s&p to taste

Peel potatoes. Cut into large chunks. Add to boiling water and cook until tender. Remove potatoes from water (you may keep the water boiling for the baby vegetables) and move to a large bowl. Add sourcream, s&p and mash using favorite method (mine's to use a potato ricer.) When well mashed add truffle oil.

BABY ROOT VEGETABLES
Baby root vegetables: 12 oz parsnips, peeled
12 oz baby carrots, peeled
salt and pepper

Bring large pot of water to boil. Add parsnips and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to bowl. Cover to keep warm.

Add carrots to boiling water and cook until tender, about 6 minutes. Drain and keep warm with parsnips. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve: place a mound of mashed potatoes in center of warmed dinner plate. Lean a short rib up against potatoes. Spoon sauce around potatoes and garnish with turnips and carrots.

Bon Appetit!!!