Entertaining

Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs

A few years ago, Sunday Suppers became a tradition among my friend circle. About once a month, we’d gather at someone’s house, usually on Sunday nights (though not always). We all liked to cook, and some of us have big egos and like to be the center of culinary attention (ahem). We set up a rotating schedule which allowed everyone to take a turn in the kitchen, sharing both the responsibility and the glory. We would eat, drink wine, and talk and laugh for hours. Sometimes these dinners would accompany field trips: wineries, farms, orchards, museums, movies, Target.

This is how friends become family.

Sometimes, though, life gets in the way. Condos get purchased, jobs change, schedules get busy, best friends move to Atlanta… until one day you realize there hasn’t been a Sunday Supper in months.

When I decided to reignite my Sunday Supper tradition, it was only fitting to go back to the last recipe we’d made. The faces around my table had changed, but the sentiment is the same: friends sharing a meal, telling stories, and laughing into the night.

These short ribs take a long time, but are relatively hands-off and difficult to mess up. I wasn’t paying enough attention at the butcher’s counter and ended up with boneless short ribs. Both bone-in and boneless work well; if you go boneless, you can probably cut back to 4 1/2 pounds and still have 6 generous servings.

Pat the ribs dry with paper towels, then generously season with kosher salt and pepper.

Sear the ribs in batches, browning all sides.

Cook the onions, celery and vegetables in the pan drippings.

Serve ribs over mashed potatoes, and top with sauce.

Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs

From Bon Appetit

6 servings

5 pounds bone-in beef short ribs, cut crosswise into 2″ pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 medium onions, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 750-ml bottle Cabernet Sauvignon
10 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
8 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs oregano
2 sprigs rosemary
2 fresh or dried bay leaves
1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
4 cups reduced-sodium beef stock

Preheat oven to 350°. Season short ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, brown short ribs on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer short ribs to a plate. Pour off all but 3 Tbsp. drippings from pot.

Add onions, carrots, and celery to pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until onions are browned, about 5 minutes. Add flour and tomato paste; cook, stirring constantly, until well combined, 2-3 minutes. Stir in wine, then add short ribs with any accumulated juices. Bring to a boil; lower heat to medium and simmer until wine is reduced by half, about 25 minutes. Add all herbs, garlic, and stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and transfer to oven.

Cook until short ribs are tender, 2–2 1/2 hours. Transfer short ribs to a platter. Strain sauce from pot into a measuring cup. Spoon fat from surface of sauce and discard; season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Serve in shallow bowls over mashed potatoes with sauce spooned over.

Apple Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce

Do you like bread pudding? It’s a popular dessert, but I was never a fan.

Am I allowed to say that? Is it sacrilegious?

When I think “pudding,” I think… well, PUDDING. A creamy, dairy-based dessert, ideally involving chocolate. Bread has nothing to do with it.

The bread puddings I had tried were either dry, mushy, or both. It was like eating stuffing (which for me, isn’t a compliment), only sweet. The flavors weren’t anything special. With so many great desserts out there, bread pudding never entered my mind as something worth making.

And then a year ago, my best friend made this recipe for one of our Sunday suppers.

All that animosity between me and bread pudding? Gone.

The combination of tangy apples, slightly caramelized pieces of bread from the bottom of the pan, and salted caramel sauce are a nice balance of flavors. The dish stays moist as long as you don’t overbake it.

When I decided to restart my Sunday Suppers, I knew this was a great recipe to kick it off. Assemble it in the morning before you leave for brunch, let the flavors mingle all day, then put it in the oven about 30 minutes before you sit down for supper.

Apple Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce

Adapted from The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, by Amy Traverso

Makes 6-8 servings

Butter for greasing pan
1 loaf (1 pound) crusty white bread, such as Pullman style or Italian
1 1/2 cups caramelized apples (1/2 batch)
3 large eggs
2 cups half and half
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup salted caramel sauce

Butter an 11″ x 7″ baking pan. Set aside. Trim the crusts off the sides and ends of the bread, leaving top and bottom intact. Cut the loaf into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Arrange the pieces evenly in the prepared pan. Tuck the caramelized apples down among the bread pieces.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Pour over the bread. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 8 hours.

Set the oven rack to the middle position and preheat to 350 degrees. Toss the bread cubes and apples with your hands so that all the pieces are moistened. Bake the pudding until the top is golden brown and the custard is set, about 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the salted caramel sauce. Serve the pudding hot in individual bowls, with caramel poured over top.

Mini Salted Caramel and Chocolate Cream Puffs

Happy 2013, friends!

Bite-sized, salty-sweet treats, with just the right amount of chocolate

With New Year’s Eve fresh in my mind, and Super Bowl parties just around the corner, I have party food on the brain. Cream puffs are basically the perfect party dessert. If you make them 1″ or smaller, they’re a one-bit dessert and don’t need silverware. You can play with the flavors, and they look sophisticated and difficult but are actually pretty simple.

Cream puffs are made from pâte à choux, or cream puffy pastry dough. It’s also used to make éclairs, profiteroles, and cheese puffs — which all cover the same basic techniques, just with different shapes and fillings. An eggy dough is
cooked on the stove and then beaten with a mixer, and put in a hot oven to “puff.”

For the filling, sweetened whipped cream is a classic, no-fail choice. If you’re looking for a little more sass (and let’s face it, when is this redhead NOT looking for more sass?), folding something fun into the cream adds an unexpected twist. I used salted caramel sauce, but I think fruit or chocolate would great too.

For a small group, I think it would be fun to turn this into a hands-on, make-your-own dessert — just set out a couple bottles of filling and chocolate, and let guests fill and top their own treats.

Push out as much of the water as possible on the stove, then transfer to a mixer.

The dough is ready when it’s shiny and creates ribbons.

Gently fold caramel into whipped cream, then spoon into a pastry bag or squeeze bottle.

A squeeze bottle makes easy work of filling the puffs.

Drizzle or pipe chocolate on top.

Salted-Caramel Cream Puffs with Chocolate Sauce

Adapted from multiple sources

Yield: about 24 bite-sized puffs

Choux pastry:

1/2 cup + 1 Tbs water

1/4 cup (4 Tbs) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup + 2 Tbs all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

3-4 large eggs, divided

Salted caramel filling:

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup salted caramel sauce, room temperature or slightly cooler

Chocolate sauce:

4 oz. dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 Tbs unsalted butter

To make the pastry: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine water, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in the flour. Return the saucepan to the stove. Continue cooking and stirring so the dough holds together in a single mass and leaves a film of cooked flour adhering to the bottom and sides of the pan. The process takes only about 3 minutes and forces out as much water as possible.

Transfer the dough to a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until slightly cooled, about 1 minute. Raise the speed to medium. Add the vanilla. The exact number of eggs will vary, but start with two. Add eggs, one at a time, until well-incorporated. The dough should have a shiny, smooth appearance, and pull away from the paddle. If necessary, add an egg white or full egg.

Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2” round tip, or use a 3/4” or 1” cookie scoop. Pipe or scoop rounds up to 1” onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Lightly smooth out the surface with a finger dipped in water; this will prevent burning.

Make an egg wash by mixing together 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water. Lightly brush the top of each puff with the egg wash. Bake the puffs for 12 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Rotate the pans and continue baking until the puffs are lightly golden brown, about 12-14 minutes more. The puffs should feel light and fluffy. Immediately transfer from the baking sheets to wire racks to cool completely.

To make the salted caramel filling: in a stand mixture fitted with a whip attachment, add cream and whip until soft peaks form. Fold in the salted caramel sauce. Chill for 10 minutes. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 1/8” plain tip, or a squeeze bottle.

To make the chocolate sauce: Place the chocolate in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, bringing just to a boil. Pour over the chocolate. Add butter. Let the mixture sit for 2-3 minutes, then stir until smooth.

To assemble, poke the pastry bag or squeeze bottle into each pastry puff and pipe in the filling. Drizzle with chocolate. Cream puffs are at their best when baked and filled just before serving, but can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.