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Due to a hand injury (yes, my right, dominant hand), I haven't done much more than prepare very simple meals for months.  Lots of easy-to-slice avocados in various forms, but mostly on toast.

I'm easing back into civilzed food and kitchen land, albeit slowly and carefully.

This week I made Braised Short Ribs from The Balthazar Cookbook.

Although I streamlined a few of the steps - I stayed with most of the ingredients.  I browned the short ribs in the oven @425F for about 15-20 minutes, turning to get each side nicely coloured.  The original recipe calls for port, which I seldom have around so increased the red wine volume.  A braise works best for me on a low oven heat, here it's 325F which I reduced to 300F after the first 45 mins., and if it requires an extra 40-60 mins., that's just fine. 

Braising is all about long, slow cooking and the results are almost always better the following day, so it wasn't ever going to be a race against time.  When the short ribs were done, I left the pot outside on the deck overnight to cool and chill. The following day, it was easy to lift off the layer of fat and the ribs were ready for reheating and serving.

I love short ribs and really enjoyed this one, while I have two or three other recipes in the repetoire, there's always room for another good one. 

It's been raining and chilly, so the short ribs provided a perfect antitdote.

Hoping to get back to cooking and posting again ... Have you been cooking from your books?

Foodelf, great to see you "back".. injuring the dominant hand is always a nuisance, with impact most noticeable in kitchen and bathroom ;-). I've recently taken to making sure I cook something out of each newly indexed book.. and last night was the Duck & Lychee  curry from Marie Clare's Summer (it's in review). Instead of using fresh duckling (as the recipe suggested) I used a Chinese barbecued duck in honour of Chinese New Year (welcome to the year of the Rumbunctious Horse). Half the fun was going to our local Chinatown to purchase said duck, but the result was a very simple, easy , relatively quick and delicious curry!  I think Donna Hay's "what we're buying" segement was part of that inspiration: lychees are in season here right now.. Happy CHinese New Year everyone!

Chicken Cacciatora (Pollo alla Cacciatora) from Patricia Wells' Trattoria was my selection today.  There are lot of recipes for this dish all over the web, in magazines and books. 

This one is is simple and uncomplicated.  I did add a few things according to my own taste as I had them on hand - mushrooms, a red & yellow pepper, some chopped carrots, a touch of anchovy paste and a glass of white wine.  I like a little kick of heat and so I was generous with the pepper flakes.

I prepped the vegetables last night, included sauteeing the mushrooms making it a breeze to put the rest together this morning.   I used about 3lbs of thighs, bone-in-skin-on, but removed the skin upon completion of the dish. 

I got what I was looking for here - a bright, colourful, rich chicken dish with a nice little hit of heat.   I'm going to have lots of leftovers and it's what I'll be serving for dinner this evening.  I'll probably add some capers and more chopped parsley.

Together w/ a group of friends from work, we were invited to a gathering at a friend's new home for drinks and appetizers on Thursday. 

I struggled to come up with something that I wouldn't have to fiddle with too much, (a week-night, after all) needed to transport well and not need a lot of attention when we got there.

It's a couple of years since I prepared them, but The Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts were the hit of the party, beating out the smoked salmon and the phyllo pastries.  The recipe is easily available all over the web.

I actually no longer have the book which was another victim of lending and not remembering to whom - I don't do that anymore. 

However, let me encourage you to make these for your next soiree.  The ingredients are simple and my only caveat would be - don't dream of skipping the fresh Rosemary and if you're considering dried, don't do it.

Tossing the roasted nuts with the spiced rosemary butter mix, the house smells seductively fantastic and may be responsible when you reach for that nice bottle of wine.

These nuts, prettily packaged, make a wonderful gift, assuring you of grateful and extravagent friendship for the rest of your life.

Since joining EYB I am certainly cooking more again from my books and magazines.  This is how I started out with my cooking adventure in my 20's  and glad I'm doing this again thanks to EYB. 

I wish there was a Japanese language site like this one.  But, I suspect there are not that many Japanese who collects cookbooks because of the space problem in most Japanese homes.

Foodelf - I have made those warm bar nuts a lot for parties and they are always a huge hit.  They are so easy to do - the enjoyment to effort ratio is off the chart.

Yesterday I cooked "Sevtap's Turkish chicken" from Turkish Flavours: recipes from a seaside cafe  which I have just finished indexing - my efforts are being reviewed now. It's interesting indexing books (but frustrating too) because you find recipes you may not have thought to make. This one, however, was OK but nothing wonderful. Chicken thighs cut into pieces, cooked with onion, allspice, cinnamon, a lot of tomatoes (I reduced the amount), chillies, pinenuts, currants and parsley. So a real middle eastern flavour. If I did it again I would leave the pinenuts out, roast them and sprinkle them on top at the end to give a bit of crunch. They were lost in the dish I thought. She suggests serving with rice pilaf (another recipe in the book) but that would be over the top as it also includes pinenuts and currants. I served it with couscous instead.

I bought this book as the author, an immigrant to Australia from Turkey  has a cafe at Yamba, a seaside resort village not far from our own holiday place at Wooli (north coast of NSW) Actually it isn't far if you could fly, by road it's a good hours drive. I used to go there a lot because my aunt lived there until she died a couple of years ago. Unfortunately my aunt didn't patronise Sevtap's cafe Beechwood, but I plan to go there the next time we are at the coast. The book has some interesting dips and cakes, and a recipe for sheeps testicles (now you don't get that in many recipe books, do you??)

Margaretsmail -

Don't you just love the unexpected journeys and winding paths in which our coolbooks take us?  Not always where we expect, but always fascinating - even better if there's a story!

The "unexpected journeys" experienced through using EYB to select "random" meals over the last few weeks had my husband exclaiming that EYB was the best on-line investment we've made! The search and filter facility has delivered some wonderful meals this week! Some from books dormant on my shelf for a while, others from online recipes in books I don't (yet) own... ;-) Has anybody done anything with the "new" gathered recipes that Christine posted through recently?

Rediscovering hidden treasures within our cookbook libraries may be, for me, the most important element of EYB. 

Deb - I've begun to take a look at the featured books and recipes and will focus on trying something for the coming week, good idea!

On the go at the moment, Split Pea Soup with Ham from The New Basics there's a link to the online recipe, if you're interested.

It's not a new recipe to me - I've lost count of the number of years I've been making this soup, but it shows up at least twice each winter.  I have a friend who saves me the bones from her holiday hams and in return she gets a quart of this soup each time I make it.  I usually prepare the hocks, split peas, etc., in advance and finish the soup w/the vegetables on the day I plan to serve it. 

I've never needed to use two ham hocks as they seem to be pretty big here in Vancouver.  If possible, ask your butcher to split the hock(s) for you.  The hocks are encased in a thick leather-like skin (lot of flavour) which is easily removed before shredding the meat - don't be intimidated.

If you have the sherry, it adds a gorgeous element to the soup, and an elegant touch may be added by serving a glass of it along with the soup.

I reserve the spinach, which I chiffonade, until just reheating the soup to serve - then scatter into the soup so it barely wilts.

Thanks  for tonight's random rancipe Foodelf! We shall be giving that soup a try .. just defrosting the Christmas ham bones as I type.. and it should be perfectly accompanied by Graham's first sourdough effort since his course last week in the Hunter Valley! Maybe even a nice Hunter Valley semillon to accompany!

On my horizon this week are two pork recipes, both tenderloin and I have to make a choice.

1. Thai Grilled Pork from Leite's Culinaria


2. Skillet Pork Medallions in Mushroom Marsala Sauce from Seasons & Suppers

I think it's going to be the skillet pork as I have all the ingredients and there's something about a Marsala sauce, deeply rich and flavourful, but approachable for a mid-week meal.  I'm considering pairing it with Smashed Green Beans w/Potatoes & Pancetta from The Glorious Vegetables of Italy which I sourced from Christine's Featured Cookbooks & Recipes.

I'm seeing more reference on using short ribs and I'm not sure what they may be called in our area - San Francisco Bay Area.  We have bone in beef short ribs and what we call Asian style flanken(??) bone in short ribs, but what lot of these recipes call for is boneless I think.   Any ideas?  Where would I look? 

Hi, Rinshin -

I think if you post a link to a recipe you're considering, we may be able to point you in the right direction.  Short ribs come in cuts both thick and thin and the approach is different for each.

Personally, I think bone-in is the only way to go, the most flavourful & tender, too.

I made the skillet pork I mentioned up-thread and it was simply delicious.  This was really easy to prepare and may be served very speedily, fast enough for a weeknght dinner. 

Pork tenderloin can be a little bland sometimes so it's the sauce (naturally) that makes this dish great, elevating a humble pork tenderloin to something elegant, sophisticated and rather subtle at the same time.  The tenderloin doesn't even get a marinade which I'm used to using, so you don't really even have to plan ahead for this one. 

A couple of my guests brought accompaniments - Crash Hot Potatoes, an arugula salad and a home-made baguette, so I didn't make the green bean/potato dish.  It's still on my horizon, though - and I have some of the pork medalions left w/sauce, so I may do it within the next couple of days.

This recipe reminded me why shallots are such an integral part of cuisine.  I've been guilty in the past of substuting half an onion when not conveniently (forgotten) available.  Please don't do that here.  And - yes, it was definitely company-worthy; it got great reviews from my guests, eyes-closed and a little discreet humming from one of them!

I made that soup you nominated a few days back ;-) With a few modifications as in I had some stock made from leftover smoked turkey carcass which added a nice smoky note,  and I only had red & gren lentils on hand ...;-) the addition of the vegetables was a nice variation on my usual pea and ham soup! Thanks for the pointer! Tonight's recipe for me is from next months Australian Gourmet traveller (in indexing at the moment).. Duck roasted in lambrusco with blood plums and bay (p.110) .. I decided to brine the duck first as I'm fast becoming a fan of such treatment after reading many notes and my first brine effort following reading Diana Henry's Salt, Sugar, Smoke this time last year! Hopefully, my husband's second attempt at sourdough (baking presently) will be a useful side for the anticipated sauce!

Funny, there's a thread right now on the chow forum about whether anyone really uses shallots.  I haven't weighed in, but recently had the same experience as you, FoodElf -- using them as specified in something I've made more often with onions and finding the taste a revelation. There's something about the way they combine with the taste of wine that's very distinctive. So where they're called for in sauces and vinaigrettes, at least, I comply.

This year I might try growing them again; I did that 30 years ago in my first garden, planting sections of a grocery-bought shallot.  The mulitplication was like growing money on trees <g>!  And the harvest raised the level of my poverty cuisine significantly...

You're absolutely right, Ellabee - there's no mistaking the subtle influence of shallots especially in vinaigrettes and sauces.

They vary so much in size, or at least they do here in Vancouver, it's not always clear whether to two or three, but if you think you've erred on the generous side, just scoop a few out to use in your next dish.

Now you have me thinking about growing some, too!  My garlic crop failed over the last two seasons, so I'm ready for something different.

Deb - it sounds like you have a wonderful variation of the soup and I'll bet it was delicious.  And - that duck? Well, looking forward to hearing your impressions.  I haven't prepared duck for ages and I think it may be time to correct that.

This week I prepared Indian Spiced stew w/Chicken & Potatoes in a Creamy Tomato Sauce and WOW! 

I made a serious mistake - falling asleep during the braising process and overcooked the chicken thighs.  Well - at least they weren't chicken breasts which would have been awful.  I decanted the chicken and added the potatoes to the sauce for about 40 mins. 

If you're in the mood for something bright, spicy and full of amazing flavours, this is the dish to choose.