Braised Hoisin Short Ribs

First and foremost, I LOVE braised meat. When it's so tender it falls off the bone, you know it's the most tremendous comfort food. This recipe, by David Leiberman in Dave's Dinners, is a fantastic way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon, prep is only a few minutes for the ribs, and you can work on the sides within the last 30 minutes of the main's cook time.



Ingredients


For the ribs:

• 3 pounds beef short ribs, about 10 ribs
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 10 to 12 garlic cloves smashed
• 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
• 12 ounces good ale (recommended: Bass)
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 cup hoisin sauce

Directions



Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.


Season the ribs generously with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy pot with a lid (Dutch oven) over high heat. Brown the ribs on all sides, in batches if necessary. Remove the ribs and pour off all but a couple tablespoons of the rendered fat.


Return the pot to the stove, lower the heat to medium and saute the garlic and ginger for about 3 minutes. Add the ribs back to the pot. Add the beer and the vinegar. Stir and then cover and bake for 2 hours.

Remove the pot from the oven. Pour the hoisin sauce over the ribs, return the pot to the oven, and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Remove ribs and ginger from sauce. Strain fat from the top of the pot so that you're left with just the good stuff.








Serve with Creamy Mashed Yukons and Sesame Snow Peas.

Sesame Snow Peas

Sesame Snow Peas:

• 1 pound snow peas


• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil


• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil


• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds


• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar


• Salt and pepper

Rinse the peas and trim off the ends.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the oils and heat.

Add snow peas and saute until bright green, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and toss.

Orange Chicken

I love Chinese food to a fault, and this is one of my favorite simple dishes to make. Nice and spicy with a sweet tangy sauce, it makes even my picky brother-in-law happy to eat something outside of his comfort zone.


















Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound chicken breast (cut into bite-size cubes)
• 5 dried red chilies (cut into 1.5 inch length, seeded and soaked in warm water)
• 1 teaspoon minced orange zest
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 inch ginger (minced)
• 2 teaspoons oil
• Oil for deep frying

Orange Sauce:

• 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tsp chicken broth
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp Chinese rice wine
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 5 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp corn starch
• Salt to taste
  

Frying Batter:

• 1/2 cup water
• 2 oz. all-purpose flour
• 1 oz. corn starch
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 egg
• 1 teaspoon cooking oil
• 1 small pinch of salt

Directions:

Mix the orange sauce ingredients and set aside.Mix the frying batter and dip the chicken meat into the batter. Heat up a pot/wok of cooking oil. When the cooking oil is hot enough for frying, drop the chicken pieces into the oil and deep fry them until they turn golden brown or crispy. Transfer them out onto a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.








In a wok, add 2 teaspoons of cooking oil and quickly stir-fry the minced garlic and ginger until aromatic. Add in the dried red chilies and toss around until you smell the spicy aroma. Follow by the minced orange zest and then chicken. Quickly stir the chicken around before adding the orange sauce mixture. Continue to stir-fry until the sauce thicken. Dish out and serve immediately with steamed white rice and steamed broccolli.

Peanut Noodles with Chicken, Cabbage, and Peppers

From my friend over at Jennifer's Cooking, Jennifer has recently received a new DSLR, and her pictures are just gorgeous! I drew inspiration from her newly posted Sesame Peanut Noodles, and decided to make some Peanut Noodles with Chicken, Cabbage, and Peppers.





Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 8 oz of chicken breast, chopped into bite size pieces
• 8 oz of cooked spaghetti, drained
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
• 1/4 head of green cabbage, finely sliced
• 1 bell pepper (I used an orange bell pepper), chopped
• 3-4 tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp walnut oil
• Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• Cilantro leaves to garnish
  

Season the chicken breast cubes with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp of the oilve oil in a pan and brown the chicken over medium heat until cooked through.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Add the other tbsp of olive oil to the pan, and add the chopped shallot, and pepper to the pan. Saute until the shallot is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the cabbage to the pan and heat and turn until wilted.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, add the peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, walnut oil, soy sauce and red pepper flakes, and whisk together until smooth. Toss the noodles and the sauce with the chicken and the cabbage mixture.

Garnish with cilantro leaves.