The Arrogant Chef Braised Ribs

Ingredients:

6-8 beef ribs

Vegetable or canola oil (enough to generously coat bottom of large frying pan)

2 leeks sliced white parts only

3 large onions chopped

5 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed

2 stalks of celery sliced thinly

3 carrots sliced thinly

Dijon mustard

2 ½ cups of red wine

Beef stock

2 sprigs of thyme

2 bay leafs

Instructions:

1.Chop up the vegetables for the mirepoix.

2. In a large frying pan add vegetable oil and brown the ribs on all sides. Be sure to brown well.

3. Remove the ribs and set aside. Add the vegetables to the pan and cook until well browned. Add 2 ½ cups red wine and reduce by half.

4. Empty vegetable into a large Dutch oven add some fresh parsley and a couple of sprigs of thyme and place ribs bone side down on top the mixture.

5. Pour in enough beef stock to almost cover the ribs but not quite.

6. Cover with a lid or tin foil and place into a cold oven and turn on the oven to 225F. Cook for about 4 ½ - 5 hours.

7. Remove the ribs set aside and cover with foil.

8. Strain the vegetable through a colander into one pot and then strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a large pot. Bring to a boil to reduce. While it is boiling carefully skim off any fat from the surface.

9. When it has sufficiently reduced add half a cup of wine to your large pan and pour in the reduction. Add a few squirts of Dijon mustard to the pan. Reduce until your liquid starts to form a glaze. If you need to you can add some corn starch mixed with a little water to thicken up your glaze.

10. Once you have a nice glaze return the ribs to the pan and turn in the glaze until nicely coated and warmed through.

11. Put the ribs on top of mashed potatoes or rice and drizzle with the glaze.

Chili Dogs

Chili dogs are a true comfort food. Just follow the recipe below.

Chili Con Carne for Chili Dogs

Ingredients.

Fat, 2 tablespoons
Onion, chopped, 1 cup

Green pepper, chopped, 1

Red pepper, chopped, 1

Garlic, chopped, 1 clove (optional)

Ground beef , 1pound
Tomatoes, 2 ½ cups

(No. 2 can)

Kidney beans, 21/2  cups (No. 2  can)

Salt, 2 teaspoons

Chili powder, 1 teaspoon

Cayenne pepper ½ teaspoon

Dash of hot sauce (Frank’s)

Melt the fat in a heavy skillet over low heat , add onions,  peppers  and  garlic, saute gently about 3 minutes, or until soft and slightly browned.  add remaining ingredients.

Cover   and   simmer   over   low   heat   about 2 hours.

Steam your hotdogs. Cover with chili, chopped onion and mustard. Serve with a side of slaw and fries.

Fish and Chips

Nothing I like better than fish and chips. Here is my fish batter recipe. It has been modified.

Beer Batter for Fish

One egg

Beer (If you want a really thick batter that will puff up like crazy use about a half can of beer. I use almost the whole can and I still get a pretty fluffy crust on the fish)

1/2 cup milk

1 1/3 cup of pastry flour or regular flour (I use regular flour.)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 pound of cod or haddock fillets

 In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Mix in beer. Stir in flour mixture. Season with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.

In a deep fryer heat oil to 375°. Coat fish with batter and submerge slowly in hot oil. Fry until golden brown about 4 to 5 minutes. I flip it at the half way point.

Smoked Salmon Pizza

Well here it is folks. Smoked Salmon Pizza. It was surprisingly good. I've included the recipe below. It is from the LCBO Food and Drink magazine.

Pizza with Smoked Salmon

½ cup of cream cheese...
1 chopped green onion
2 tbsp caper
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
¼ teaspoon chili flakes
2 tbsp olive oil divided
2 tbsp sesame seeds
¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
Thinly sliced smoked salmon
1 cup baby arugula

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese with green onion, caper, dill and chili flakes. Set aside
Preheat oven to 425F

Divide dough into 2 equal balls. Place on oiled pizza pans. Brush olive oil over both pizzas, and sprinkle sesame seeds around the edges of pizzas, pressing gently so they stick. Scatter red onion over both pizzas. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

While still warm spread cream cheese mixture ove the inner circle of pizzas. Arrange the salmon so that they cover both pizzas. Scatter arugula over the salmon.

Veggie Pizza Heaven

I know some people insist on having meat on their pizzas. But this veggie pizza was delicious. It has sliced onions, red pepper, mushrooms, zucchini. The dough recipe is below. It is one I have used before.

I love making pizza. I am really trying to find a really good dough recipe. I tried this out tonight. The dough was thicker than my usual thin crust dough and was quite tasty. Take a look at the recipe. If you think I should be doing something different let me know.

Thick Pizza Dough
Recipe

Ingredients2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1.In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.

2.Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

3.Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.

4.Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
5.Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Tuna Melts

Got this recipe sent to me by a friend. Great tuna melts. Even better with a side order of duck fat fries.

Tuna Melts

INGREDIENTS:

2 (6 ounce) cans solid white tuna in water,

drained

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

3/4 teaspoon red wine vinegar  1 pinch salt

1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

4 slices seedless rye bread

8 slices ripe tomato

8 slices Swiss cheese

paprika, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1.       Preheat the oven broiler.

2.       In a bowl, mix the tuna, mayonnaise, celery, onion, parsley, and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

3.       Place the rye bread slices on a baking sheet, and broil 1 minute in the preheated oven, until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and spread with the tuna salad. Place 1 cheese slice over the tuna salad on each piece of bread, layer with a tomato slice, and top with remaining cheese slices.

4.       Return layered bread to the preheated oven, and broil 3 to 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Perfect Prime Rib

This was a roast that I made for my birthday. First I brought the roast to room temperature and rubbed with pepper, and thyme and then slathered it with unsalted butter. I then covered it with onions and put it in the oven at 475F for fifteen minutes then lowered the temperature to 325F until I got an internal temperature of 135F. I remove the roast from the oven and let it rest for approximately 15-20 minutes covered in  tinfoil. It was delicious.