I love walking into the kitchen with something in mind (i.e. I wanna have meat for dinner), and then I just start thinking and my mind is racing with so many different ideas. In a way I feel like an artist and food is my design. This all started from a very young age. My asshole of a father (aka sperm donor) used to overbook my mom's medical practice when my sister and I were growing up. He always had to make sure my mom was bringing in the maximum income as a doctor, instead of trying to create a peaceful and loving home environment. But I don't want to talk about my father and ruin this blog because I could be here for hours ranting. So my mom used to work until sometimes 8 or 9 at night. Well most kids like to eat at, I don't know, normal hours of the evening. So for the better part of my childhood if my sister and I wanted to eat at 5 or 6 in the evening we had to pretty much make it ourselves. That's when my creativity in the kitchen really took off. Well that and coupled with the fact that I clearly got the cooking genes. But my sister is a pretty good cook now. Her pastas are really good! So back to my childhood. Instead of sulking about not having my parents around to make dinner I took a stab at the solution. I would watch the Food Network (thank God that was created) all the time. I would literally watch something being made on TV and then go straight into the kitchen to replicate it. And if I didn't have all the ingredients at hand, well I would improvise. The improvising part of cooking is what I like best. That's the part where rules and conventions go out the window and anything goes. Don't get me wrong I do follow recipes all the time, but that's when I'm trying to make something I've never done before. I generally end up tweaking it anyways with a hint of moi. I have a whole bunch of recipes stored on my computer from over the years. My goal is to collect enough one day to publish my own cooking book. Or if anything make my own personal cooking book and distribute them as cheap and friendly Christmas presents! That would be so cool. So too would owning a trendy contemporary French-style bistro one day. French cuisine has got to be my favorite. I think it's because it involves a lot of cream and meat!
Alright well I better get back to the BBQ. The most god awful thing is overcooked meat! I just wanted to share this thought because the smell of BBQ smoke prompted me to.
By the way, here's the recipe for the short ribs I was going to do courtesy of the Food Network. Maybe that will be on the horizon for next weekend.
Bistro-Style Short Ribs
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 pounds short ribs, in 1 long piece or at least in pairs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 large tomato, quartered
3 ribs celery
1/2 head garlic, peeled
1/4 bunch fresh thyme
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
2 cups low-sodium, organic beef stock
4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Cooking Instructions
Preheat a cast iron grill or outdoor grill.
Season the short ribs with salt and pepper, drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil, and brown on all sides.
Place the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, and tomato into a food processor and blend until you reach a consistent, smooth pulp.
Take a large Dutch oven and place over medium-high heat. Add a 3-count of extra-virgin olive oil and add the thyme to infuse the oil.
Next add the vegetable pulp, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and cook for about 10 minutes.
Pour in the red wine and stock and bring it to a boil.
Using tongs take the ribs and nestle them into the braising mix; the liquid should just about cover the meat.
Place the lid loosely on top, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the meat is very tender, approximately 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
When the ribs are about finished, remove about 1 to 2 cups of liquid and strain into a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat the sauce until slightly reduced and thickened, about 5 minutes.
