Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs

By Paul Briand

This is a wonderful recipe, courtesy of Bon Appetit.

I would describe it as a stew, but the fact that it bakes for so long in the oven puts it more in the category of a bourguignon, but with pork instead of beef.

The recipe calls for beef ribs, but I substituted pork ribs. They were a little harder to handle to cut up, but, when done, the meat fell easily from the bone.

It is rich and it is full of flavor, helped in heaping amounts by the Cabernet Sauvignon that slowly cooks down in the pot.

Ingredients

5 pounds bone-in beef short ribs (or pork ribs), cut crosswise into 2- inch 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 bottle dry red wine (preferably 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 low-salt beef stock

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and season short ribs with salt and pepper;

2. 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;

3. Transfer short ribs to a plate. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of drippings from pot;

4. Add onions, carrots, and celery to pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until onions are browned, about 5 minutes;

5. Add flour and tomato paste; cook, stirring constantly, until well combined and deep red, 2-3 minutes;

6. 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;

7. Add all herbs to pot along with garlic. Stir in stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and transfer to oven;

8. Cook until short ribs are tender, 2–2 1/2 hours;

9. Transfer short ribs to a platter;

10. Strain sauce from pot into a measuring cup. Spoon fat from surface of sauce and discard;

11. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper;

12. Serve in shallow bowls over mashed potatoes with sauce spooned over.

Click here for recipe card.

Grilled Steak with Thyme Butter, Mushrooms and Onions

By Paul Briand

It’s grilling time, boys and girls. This is all done on the grill. It’s simple, easy clean-up, and - most of all - very tasty.

Ingredients
1 ½ pounds of Porterhouse or T-Bone steaks, enough steak for four
1 sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil
1 medium sweet onion, cut in half, thinly sliced
1 8-ounce package of mushrooms
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
2 tablespoons butter, cubed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Directions
1. Heat the grill to medium high;
2. Place onion, mushrooms, pepper, butter, and thyme in center of aluminium foil;
3. Fold the foil over the mixture, creating a packet;
4. Grill, turning occasionally, for 20 minutes;
5. Season the steaks with pepper and salt to taste and grill, turning once, to desired doneness;
6. Serve each cut of steak topped with buttered thyme and onion mixture.

Click here for recipe card.

Beef and Black Bean Chili

By Paul Briand

I love chili. I rank the dish up there with meatloaf as one of my favorite comfort foods and believe, like meatloaf, that you can’t have too many different recipes for it.

I have a quick chili that I’ve made for years using jarred salsa -- my so-called Easy Chili.

And, over the years, I’ve played with other recipes involving chili, including:

Cornbread-Chili Casserole

Kielbasa Chili Dogs

Italian Chili One-Pot

Southwest White Chicken Chili

As I said, you can’t have too many chili recipes.

This one is thick Texas-style chili with meat and beans.

It comes courtesy of Relish magazine, which is inserted into many newspapers across the country, including the newspaper where my wife works. She’s good enough to bring Relish home for me on a regular basis, knowing I’m always on the look out for good recipes, especially chili

Ingredients

3 teaspoons olive oil, divided

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup water

1 (28-ounce) can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons honey

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Directions

1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add beef, and sauté, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no pink remains, about 5 minutes;

2. Using a slotted spoon, transfer meat to a small bowl. Sprinkle with salt, and set aside;

3. Drain liquid from pot, and add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil. Add onion and sauté until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes;

4. Add garlic, and sauté 1 minute more;

5. Stir in chili powder, cumin, oregano and cinnamon. Cook together 1 minute;

6. Add chicken broth, water, beef, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and honey;

7. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally;.

8. Add beans and lime juice and cook 5 minutes.

As for toppings, I lean toward shredded sharp cheddar. Other possibilities include sliced avocado, sour cream, diced green onions, chopped cilantro, even roasted pumpkin seeds.

For a recipe card click here.

Grilled Peppers and Onions

By Paul Briand

This is more about technique, and less about a recipe. It's an alternative to sautéing as way to prepare peppers and onions for addition to your spaghetti sauce and chili or as a topping or side dish.

Don't get me wrong, I love to sauté fresh vegetables using a bit of olive oil, then using them as part of a red sauce or chili. But, if you have the time, grilling the vegetables then cutting them up as an addition to your sauce or chili gives you a crunch and heartiness that really stands out in your recipe.

Here's a recipe I use for grilling peppers and onions, with the addition of some other ingredients that I use as a topping for hamburgers, tacos, burritos or as a side dish with sliced avocado or with guacamole.

To do this recipe you'll need a means to grill -- such as an outdoor grill or even that panini maker you hardly ever use. I use a wonderful grilling skillet, a gift from daughter.

Ingredients
1 sweet onion
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 12-ounce jar of roasted red peppers
2 cloves of garlic
2 baby carrots
Lime juice
Cilantro
Black pepper

Directions
1. Peel and cut the onion into quarter inch slices, as you would if you were going to use them as a burger topping;
2. Clear the green and yellow peppers of seeds and membrane and cut into quarters;
3. Over a medium hot grill, sprayed with a little olive oil, grill the onion and peppers, just enough to get a little bit of a char on both sides. They should be just barely limp;
4. Remove to a cutting board and slice into bite size pieces, set aside in a mixing bowl;
5. Add two whole cloves of garlic to the grill and cook 30 seconds on each side (easier with a grilling skillet than your outdoor grill);
6. Remove garlic to cutting board and mince, set aside in mixing bowl;
7. Dice the red peppers from the jar and add to the mixing bowl;
8. Julienne the baby carrots and add to the mixing bowl;
9. Add lime juice, cilantro and pepper to taste and mix together;
10. Let stand for 15 minutes, then serve.

By Paul Briand

Italian Sausage Skillet with Caramelized Onions, Tomatoes and Peppers

Here's one more recipe from the "Flat Belly! Diet for Men" that I've been playing with for a couple of weeks, with some success. Without being on the diet, but eating some of what the diet recommends I've managed to lose a few pounds.

I have to confess to a Fat Belly diet the day of the Super Bowl, which impeded some of the downward progress.

What strikes me about some of the recipes in the diet -- this one included -- is that they're actually pretty hearty, and I wonder how there can be so few calories. This particular recipe of pan-seared Italian sweet sausages with vegetables purports to be only 304 calories per serving. The hard part, as I've said earlier, is keeping it to one serving.

Ingredients
12 ounces Italian sweet sausages
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 red bell pepper sliced
1 green bell pepper sliced
3 cloves garlic sliced
3 plum tomatoes cut into 16 pieces each
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions
1. Pour the water into a skillet over medium heat and add the sausage;
2. Boil the sausage, turning often, until the water boils away, then brown all sides of sausage until thoroughly cooked through;
3. Transfer sausage to a cutting board and let cool;
4. Cut sausage into half-inch thick slices;
5. Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat;
6. Add the onions, sugar, basil and oregano. Cook until it begins to caramelize with a nice brown color;
7. Add the peppers and cook another 3 to 4 minutes;
8. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute;
9. Add the tomatoes and cook 3 to 4 minutes;
10. Stir in the sausage, vinegar, salt (always optional with me), and pepper;
11. Heat through and serve.

Makes four servings.