Tom Colicchio's Braised Short Ribs

Made these for dinner the other night. Delicious!!! The recipe calls for marinating overnight Doh! What if you don't have overnight? I marinated mine for about 5 hours during the day. They were still superb!

I served them with PW's Creamy Herbed Potatoes- which totally deserves a post of its own. Heaven on a plate.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola oil
6 flanken-style short ribs with bones, cut 2 inches thick (about 4 pounds); see Note (I used regular short ribs and they were great!)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, sliced
3 celery ribs, sliced
3 garlic cloves, thickly sliced
One 750-milliliter bottle dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
4 thyme sprigs
3 cups chicken stock- I used beef because thats what I had.

Directions
1.In a large skillet, heat the oil. Season the ribs with salt and pepper. Add them to the skillet and cook over moderate heat, turning once, until browned and crusty, about 18 minutes. Transfer the ribs to a shallow baking dish in a single layer.

2.Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic to the skillet and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Add the wine and thyme sprigs and bring to a boil over high heat. Pour the hot marinade over the ribs and let cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning the ribs once.

3.Preheat the oven to 350°. Transfer the ribs and marinade to a large, enameled cast-iron casserole. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover and cook in the lower third of the oven for 1 1/2 hours, until the meat is tender but not falling apart. Uncover and braise for 45 minutes longer, turning the ribs once or twice, until the sauce is reduced by about half and the meat is very tender.

4.Skim off as much fat as possible, serve

Make Ahead:
The braised short ribs can be prepared through Step 4 and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Notes: Flanken-style short ribs (short ribs cut across the bones instead of parallel to them) can be ordered at butcher shops.

White Bean Chicken Chili

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups diced, cooked chicken meat
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups good chicken stock
1 (18.75 ounce) can tomatillos, drained and chopped
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes- I use roasted, diced tomatoes
1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed- I use fresh cilantro instead
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (15 ounce) can white beans- I use white kidney beans
2 ears fresh corn, husked and cut from cob- I use 1 cup of frozen corn when I cant get fresh
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1-2 whole jalapeno's, sliced
1 small red or green bell pepper, chopped, optional

Ideas For Garnish:
sliced limes
sour cream
shredded cheese, my favorite is Jack
thin baked corn tortilla strips
avacado slices
thin sliced green onions

Heat oil, and cook onion, bell pepper (if using) and garlic until soft.
Stir in broth, tomatillos, tomatoes, chilies, jalapeno slices and all spices, (except fresh cilantro, add this at the very end).
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
Add corn, chicken, and beans; simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with garnish choices

Chicken Scampi from Spain

This is the last of my fav's from the Holidays. I don't have a picture of it.. but it is beautiful, healthy and o-so delicious. This is a recipe from my sister in law, Cristy, who prepared it for our lunch one day. Cristy got this recipe while living in Spain. This recipe is very lemony. This is not a problem for me, because I happen to think there is no such thing as too much lemon. But You may want to add the lemon juice a little at a time to suit your taste.

1 Chopped onion
5 Garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup Olive oil
4 tbs Butter
3 Chicken breasts, chopped to bite size pieces, uncooked
Juice of 3 lemons
12 Mushrooms, sliced
4 Tomatoes chopped
salt and pepper
Cooked Penne Pasta enough to feed 4-6

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and butter. Add onions and mushrooms. saute until onions are translucent and mushrooms are a bit browned. Add garlic and saute for 45-60 seconds, do not let burn. Add Chicken and cook until no longer pink. Add tomatoes, juice of 3 lemons and salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over pasta
Serves 4-6

Red Beans & Rice

Living in Texas adds so many different flavors to my cooking. We have southern food (I tried, for the first time, black-eyed peas and collared greens on New Years Day). We have Tex-Mex, and being from California originally, it has been pretty hard to get used to.
I often find myself looking at the menu I had planned and just don't feel like making it. When I came up with this recipe, I was looking for something to make with a new Wild Rice blend I had found at the grocery store. I really loved the flavors of it all - and thought I would share with you!

Red Beans & Rice
1 cup Wild Rice (I used a white, brown, red, & wild rice blend)
1.5 cups Chicken Stock
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Garlic Cloves, minced (or more if you like!)
1/2 of an Onion, diced (any kind you prefer, I used red in this)
1 Rotisserie Chicken
1 can Kidney Beans, drained & rinsed
-- Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium saute pan and bring to a boil. Then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
--While the rice is working, cut up the rotisserie chicken into bite size pieces.
-- Once rice is done, add the chicken and beans, stir to combine. Then cover over a small flame for another 5-10 minutes.
--I served this with tortilla's, chopped cilantro & diced tomatoes. I think a grated pepper jack would be delicious, even some sliced olives.
Or go a different way and drizzle with some BBQ sauce and grated cheddar cheese.

Lemon Chicken Soup

It got down to a bone chilling 64 degrees here in California yesterday, ha! Coming from Colorado I have to laugh at the weather forecast here. Today we are having a "Serious Weather Warning, in fact it was even broadcast during the first 5 minutes of the Today show. It's raining and the wind is blowing, scary!

Anyway- I woke up yesterday craving soup and sniffling from a cold we are trying to fight off.. so here is what I made for dinner. Play with the lemon's in this recipe if you aren't sure you like a strong lemon flavor. I do, and so I used 2 lemons in mine and added a slice on top. but I'm just wierd.

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tbs Olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1 dried bay leaf
1 (2-inch) piece Parmesan cheese rind, optional * I used a handful of shredded parm cheese
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
1 celery stalk, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup minced onion
1 cup small pasta. I used whole wheat pasta circles
2 cups diced cooked rotisserie chicken, preferably breast meat
1 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt
Black Pepper

Directions
In a large stockpot, saute in 1 Tbs olive oil- carrots, celery, onion and bay leaf. Stir and saute until onions turn transparent and veggies start to get tender.
Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, and parmesan rind, if using, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn the heat down and let simmer for 8 minutes.
Add the pasta and cook until the pasta is tender, for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken and heat through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and the parmesan rind and discard. Stir in 1/2 of the cheese and the parsley. Season with salt, to taste. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
adapted from a Giada DeLaurientiis recipe, Food Network

Tilapia with Green Beans, Corn & Pesto

3-4 Tilapia fillets
salt and pepper
1 T olive oil
1/2 lb green beans (i used frozen green beans, about 2/3s of the bag)
1/2 bag frozen corn
2 green onions, sliced thin
store-bought pesto


heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
season fish with salt and pepper
place fish in skillet and cook on one side for 4-5 minutes (until golden brown)

flip the fish, scatter the green beans and add 3/4 cup water. cover and let cook for another 5 minutes. the vegetables should be tender and the fish opaque throughout.

place the fish on plates, leaving the green beans and adding the corn. cover and let cook another 2-3 minutes. finally, stir in the pesto and green onions. (ok, i only added the green onions after i plated the kids food...)

serve the fish and vegetables with an additional dollop of pesto.

---seriously, i made this meal in about 15 minutes, from start to finish. super easy, super fast and super delicious. my husband told me a few times how good it was, especially with that pesto! a great summer meal!

adapted from real simple, august 2008

Poppyseed Chicken

My family has been sick with some kind of virus for the past 2 weeks, over and over and over again. It has left me searching for some serious comfort food. This is one of my favorite comfort foods and although it has sour cream, seems to have soothed some aching tummy's.

2 cups sour cream (16 oz)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 ts. poppy seeds
2½ cups cubed cooked chicken
1¾ c. butter flavored cracker crumbs
½ c. melted butter
In bowl, combine sour cream, soup and seeds. Stir in chicken and pour into a greased baking dish. Combine cracker crumbs and butter. Sprinkle over top. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
I serve mine with steamed or roasted asparagus and a salad.

Recipe from Milcy Paris

ROSEMARY CHICKEN WITH ZUCCHINI

1 lb new potatoes, quartered
2 carrots, peeled and cut into match stick-size pieces
2 small zucchini, cut into match stick-size pieces
3 T extra virgin olive oil
3 T whole-grain mustard
2 T fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
salt & pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Heat oven 400 degrees.
Mix potatoes, carrots and zucchini in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together extra virgin olive oil, mustard, rosemary, salt and pepper. Reserve 1/3 of the mixture, and mix remaining 2/3 mixture with the vegetables. Place chicken into a pan sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray. Pour remaining 1/3 mustard mixture on top of the chicken. Pour vegetable mixture on top.
Roast for 15 minutes. Toss the vegetables and turn the chicken. Continue roasting until the chicken is cooked through, 10-15 minutes more.