While I was watching one of my cooking shows one day, Mike remarked to me, "You know what I want to see? I want to see one of these TV chefs not excited about one of their dishes. 'This recipe, it's okay, kind of eh'." I laughed and told him I didn't see that happening anytime soon, but it made me think about the joy-factor of cooking. I totally get it! I mean, I get really excited about my own food, and I'm nowhere near Claire Robinson's or Sunny Anderson's level. If I was, I might explode with excitedness. This past week I was more excited than usual about my big dinner of the week, Easter dinner.

I like to call Christmas Jesus' Birthday and Easter Resurrection Day. Here I am, all ready to go to church that morning...
Yeah, my Easter dress is pretty untraditional, but so is my dinner, so it all goes together. See, I'm just the kind of person that likes to break tradition and try different things. I don't even like to make turkey on Thanksgiving (crazy, I know), but I do because Mike insists on having turkey in some form on Thanksgiving. I do like to goose on Christmas, but I refuse to make ham or lamb on Easter. Don't get me wrong, I love both, and I understand the symbolism of lamb, but it's just not my style to do what I know lots of other people will do. Peer pressure has never really had an effect on me. That being the case, I decided on ribs this year. Yes, RIBS!


Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
From Claire Robinson's "Five Ingredient Fix"

4 English cut beef short ribs, trimmed (roughly 8 oz each)
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1 bottle full bodied red wine, such as Cabernet
4 cup low-sodium vegetable stock
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Pat ribs dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper on all sides.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ribs and brown on all sides. Transfer the ribs to a plate, then add the garlic and stir until softened but not brown, about 1 minute. Carefully pour in the wine, bring to a boil and cook until reduced to about 1 cup. Add the ribs and any juices they have released back to the pot along with the stock. Reduce the heat and bring to a simmer, then cover the pot and transfer it to the oven, to braise, until the meat easily falls off the bone, about 3 hours.

Transfer the ribs to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Strain the braising liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a saucepan set over medium-high heat. Simmer the liquid, skimming fat as necessary, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Taste for seasoning and adjust, if necessary. Transfer the ribs and sauce to a serving dish and serve.

Oh. My. Goodness. These short ribs are certified organic and from a local farm called West Wind Farms. They look amazing right from the start. Did I mention that I was excited about this dish? Yeah, I talked about it for days before I actually made it. Sorry, Mike, I could help but be enthused.

Here they are all seared and awesome looking. Remember to let your meat sit out a little and warm up before you sear it. Also pat your meat dry before searing. Both of these things will make it sear that much better.

Garlic, how I love thee, let me count the ways...wait, we don't have that much time. Okay, I'll just count one way. Once my recipes done with these amazing, little cloves, I like to eat them whole.

I love, love, LOVE cooking with wine. There's nothing like it. I really like to use Yellowtail because it's really inexpensive, but good enough quality to drink.

Just a few more steps and we're ready to braise. Look at all that glorious flavor!

Omigoodness!!! These bones are not starting to fall off the bone, they're totally falling off! Awwwwwwwwwwe-sooooooooome.

While my ribby-ribs were resting, I threw together my starch and greens. I have really started to love salad greens (I know I'm cheating on the salad kit, but I also use straight up greens sometimes too, so it balances out). I bought a beautiful loaf of soft, crusty Ciabatta as well and sliced it up for us to sop up all that great gravy.

Mmmmmm, it looks good, doesn't it? It was amazing! The ribs were so tender and flavorful. You will love this recipe, I guarantee. Now, don't think I'm completely uncivilized. I do have a real dining table and I do use it for special occasions. The celebration of Jesus' resurrection is certainly a special event (massive understatement), but my dining room table was somewhat occupied...

...by a thousand books. Can you tell I like to read...a lot? Here's another reason I'm so excited. I finally finished that painting project I mentioned a few weeks ago. It turned out to be a lot more work than I thought and it's actually been in the works for two years, but it's DONE! And you know what my reward for finishing was?

Cue the angelic choir. "Ohhhhhhhhh!" A proper Kitchen Aid mixer!!! I have wanted one of these babies forever, but it has a pretty hefty price tag, so it took a while for me to get one. Even Mike had to admit that he understood why it was so pricey once we pulled it out of the box. You know my recipe next week will feature this little baby.

Bonus Excitedness: The British are coming! The British are coming! Well, one Brit anyway, and she actually identifies herself as English. Sally, one of my best friends in the whole world, lives a whole world away in England, but she's coming to visit in two days!!! I hope you can tell how psyched I am because I cannot describe it properly. :-D

Sometimes I start a blog entry with one idea in mind and, by the end of it, something's changed. Sometimes it changes without me noticing. Last week was one of those times. I mentioned having two recipes for my "Goodbye to Winter (I Hate Snow) Girl's Night", but I ended up only having one. So sorry, I completely forgot to include the second one! That being the case, here it is, part two of the comforting, girl's night recipes.



Spiced Hot Chocolate
6 cup milk (use whatever you like, I use unsweetened almond milk!)
1 tsp store-bought curry powder
2 green cardamom pods, crushed
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup honey
1/4 tsp salt
Marshmallows or whipped marshmallow cream, for serving (optional)

In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, warm the milk, curry powder, and cardamom pods over medium heat, stirring every now and then so it doesn't burn.

Meanwhile, spoon the cocoa powder into a measuring cup. Once you see little bubbles forming around the perimeter of the saucepan, the milk is hot; turn off the heat. Pour a little milk, about 1 cup, into the cocoa powder, and whisk until smooth. Add back to the saucepan, and whisk in the honey and salt. Stir until well combined.

Pour the hot chocolate through a strainer into 4 individual mugs and top with marshmallows, if you like.

I don't have any pictures of the cooking process because, as I mentioned last week, things got busy fast. I served it in my special teapot, though, which I do have a picture of.

Shopping a la Heather led me to this little baby. I picked her up from a consignment shop for $8 because I simply couldn't resist. I love honey and I love the way the teapot looks like a hive. I don't know if you can see, but those are little bees on the side. It seemed appropriate since there is honey in this recipe.

Tangent: Speaking of teapots, I've started a small collection. Mike is so not a fan of this. :-) I have a method to my madness, however. I am only collecting teapots that represent countries of the world.


I love my little teapots. :-D

Okay, back to the food. This cocoa is not like your regular Swiss Miss or Carnation hot cocoa. The cardamom makes the drink a little minty, and the honey gives it a richness that you just can't get without it. It's definitely different, but I like it. Mike did not, but he's a cocoa traditionalist. I know the weather is getting warm now, but give it go before it gets too hot. I think you'll like it.