Why we love meat: Wine-braised Beef Short Ribs with Parsnips

Beef short ribs are slow braised with red wine, beef stock, parsnips, shallots, onion, garlic and anchovies (for added umami). Recipe below.

CHICAGO OFFERS A WEALTH OF OPTIONS for carnivorous home cooks. Besides the usual supermarkets, there are Mexican carnicerias, Korean markets, old-fashioned butcher shops, new-fashioned locavore snout-to-tail butchers… When we were looking for short ribs last Saturday, we reacquainted ourselves with yet another source, Peoria Packing. Continue reading “Why we love meat: Wine-braised Beef Short Ribs with Parsnips” →

Beef meets beer goggles: Beer-braised Beef Short Ribs

Short ribs braised in stout get extra flavor from garlic, shallots, carrots, mushrooms and chestnuts. Recipe below.

Beer and I don’t have a happy history. I love wine. I love cocktails. But I’ve never acquired a taste for the suds. When my brother was living in England, I visited him for a month once, during which we drank in approximately all the pubs in England, Scotland and Wales. Also during which I suffered through countless pints of stuff that was not only beer, but was thick, dark and room temperature—you could actually taste it fermenting in your mouth. My brother, of course, was in heaven. Continue reading “Beef meets beer goggles: Beer-braised Beef Short Ribs” →

The winter of our meaty content: Korean Oven-braised Short Ribs

Korean-style beef short ribs become tender and flavorful when oven braised with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, fresh pear, carrots, scallions and daikon. Recipe below.

One of the best things about exploring other countries’ cuisines is shopping. Saturday found us at H Mart in suburban Chicago, conveniently at lunchtime. We headed straight to the food court, where we ordered generous, steaming bowls of pork and kimchi dumpling soup. H Mart is an Asian-inspired supermarket chain that started in Queens, New York.

The name is short for “Han Ah Reum,” Korean for “One Arm Full of Groceries.” You’re lucky if you can get out of this sprawling treasure trove of all things Asian carrying just one armful of groceries. The vast produce section has beautiful examples of all the usual suspects as well as things hard to find elsewhere—lotus root, enoki mushrooms, turmeric (not the powder, but the actual gnarly little rhizomes), tiny, speckled fresh quail eggs… The specific ingredient I’d gone in search of was Korean-style beef short ribs. We left, of course, with our arms more than full. Continue reading “The winter of our meaty content: Korean Oven-braised Short Ribs” →

Let us now braise inexpensive cuts: Oven-braised Asian Short Ribs

Slow oven braising and plenty of garlic, scallions, star anise and pan-Asian ingredients turn inexpensive beef short ribs into a tender, exotic main course. Recipe below.

The first time I tasted steak I was in college. Cheap cuts of meat were what we ate in my working class family when I was growing up. Chuck roast, pork steaks [as opposed to the leaner, more costly chops], beef stew, burgers made from fatty ground chuck… We also occasionally had short ribs, but only as an ingredient in a beefy vegetable soup.

I relate this personal history with cheap cuts not as a tale of woe and deprivation. These cuts are often more flavorful than their pricier brethren and probably largely responsible for my love of all things meaty. But they’re usually tougher than the more expensive cuts too. I remember many happy, chewy meals.

Braising takes care of the toughness issue. Slow, moist cooking breaks down connective tissue and melts some of the fat also present in most inexpensive cuts of meat. The result is wonderfully flavorful, juicy meat that is almost falling-apart tender. Continue reading “Let us now braise inexpensive cuts: Oven-braised Asian Short Ribs” →