Coffee and Chili Braised Short Ribs; Scalloped Potatoes; Acorn Squash Veloute; Broccoli Rabe

This is my third short rib variation. They have all been delicious. This one was especially flavorful. I made scalloped potatoes because the meat didn't have much sauce, and broccoli rabe as a strong-flavored veggie to hold up to the intense chili flavor of the meat. The acorn squash veloute we began with had the delicate flavor of this interesting squash with a zingy cayenne twist.

My excuse this time for the imperfect pictures is that we just plain forgot to take them until we were halfway through eating. Sorry.

We started with a glass of
St George Absinthe

Acorn Squash Veloute

with a swirl of cream

This recipe is from Epicurious.

You'll need (serves 8):

2 large onions, chopped
2 large acorn squash
2T freshly grated ginger
5c chicken broth
2T tomato paste
cayenne pepper to taste

1T cumin seeds
1T mustard seeds

Peel, clean and chop squash into 1" cubes. This is a pain in the ass.

Saute onion 10 minutes. Add squash and ginger, saute 5 minutes. Add 4c broth. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, 20-30 minutes. Puree.

Stir in tomato paste and cayenne and simmer 10 more minutes. You can make soup ahead until this point. Add more broth to thin soup when you reheat it.

Saute cumin and mustard seeds in oil about 2 min. Sprinkle on top of soup to serve. (The seeds aren't just decorative-- they add a lot of texture and flavor.)

Coffee and Chili Braised Short Ribs

there was not much left when we
remembered to take a picture...

This is loosely based on a Mark Bittman recipe. You can use whatever kind of chilies you want.

You'll need:

short ribs, either English cut or Flanken cut. You'll need about 1 per person. I normally use English cut; I got Flanken by mistake, but it wasn't a problem. Be sure to cut off all the visible fat; it's unnecessary-- especially the huge layer on Flanken-cut ribs.

1 large onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 dried chipotle chilies, seeded and chopped as small as possible
2 dried gaujillo chilies, seeded and chopped as small as possible
1T ancho chili powder
1 1/2c dry red wine
1 1/2c strong coffee (not espresso)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Salt and pepper short ribs. Brown in hot grapeseed oil on all sides. Remove from pot when browned. If necessary, clean out black bits with a paper towel and/or add more oil. Saute onion, shallot, garlic, chilies, and chili powder over medium-low heat, about 20 minutes. Add wine and coffee and reduce by half.

Return browned ribs to sauce. Cover pot and place in oven about 2 hours, turning ribs halfway. There shouldn't be too much liquid left at the end, but make sure the ribs don't dry out while cooking.

Scalloped Potatoes

variation: layer swiss chard leaves between potatoes

You'll need:

3lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, cleaned and sliced into rounds as thin as you possibly can. A mandoline is useful for this; I wish I had one.

1/2 onion, super thinly sliced
2T chopped fresh thyme
2T butter
1/4c parmesan
2 1/2c half & half or cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

each layer should look like this

Place potato rounds in a thin layer in the bottom of a well-buttered gratin dish. Top with salt, pepper, onions, thyme, and a spoonful of cheese. Continue layering until you run out of potatoes. Pour half & half on top. Top with more parmesan and any leftover thyme (not onions). Bake, covered with foil, until potatoes are tender, about 1 1/4 hours. Then uncover and put under broiler, or crank up oven heat, to brown top.

Broccoli Rabe

You'll need:

2 bunches broccoli rabe, or broccoli raab, or rapini (it's all the same thing)
2 shallots, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1T chili flakes
4T olive oil
grated cheese to top-- I can't remember the name of the cheese I used, but it should be hard and nutty, with enough flavor to hold up to the greens.

Clean broccoli rabe-- remove thick stems and wash well. Place in boiling, salted water for 2 minutes. Drain well. At this point, you can put the blanched greens in the fridge 'til you want to serve them.

Just before serving, heat oil and saute shallots, garlic, and chili flakes for 2 minutes. Add broccoli rabe and warm through. Top with grated cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

The Cheese

When I went to the Cheeseboard to buy the cheese for the broccoli rabe, I couldn't help getting an oozingly ripe Chatelain Brie, some Montagnolo (I promise: even if you don't like blue cheese, you'll like this one), and some other one whose name I forget. So we had a cheese course, too.

The Wine

This was the first wine. I thought it
went really well with the soup.

This was the second wine. It is as old as I am.
The cork was disintegrating. It was delicious.
If only women aged like wine.

Thanks for the wines, Mr. Anonymous.

Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is really very cool, and a nice lighter, healthier alternative to pasta. Of course, it doesn't taste like pasta-- in fact, it doesn't taste like much at all-- so whatever you put on it is going to stand out. I chose a combination of sweet, bitter, and spicy here-- using Aidell's Apricot-Ginger sausage, broccoli rabe, and hot peppers.

You'll need (serves 2-3):

1 spaghetti squash
1 long sausage (like Aidell's apricot-ginger) or 2 normal sweet italians
1 bunch broccoli rabe (this bears very little resemblance to broccoli. You can substitute any cooking green.)
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1T cayenne
1T crushed red pepper
1/2c red wine or Madiera
4 anchovies
1T tomato paste
1c baby roma or other grape tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
2T grapeseed oil
grated pecorino to top

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Poke holes in squash with a skewer or knife and place whole squash in baking dish with some water. Bake about 1 hour until soft. Cut in half to open. Scoop out seeds. Using a fork, pick out the flesh (it should magically turn to long pasta-like strands) and place in bowl. Set aside. (You can do this in advance, which would make this a good weeknight dish.)

Blanch broccoli rabe in salted water to remove some bitterness, if you want.

Slice sausage (you want meaty slices-- about 1/4-1/2"). Heat oil until almost smoking in a not-nonstick pan. Add sausage and cook until brown. Scoop out with a slotted spoon or spatula and set aside.

Add sliced onion to oil in pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring, until fond (browned bits from the sausage) is absorbed by the onions. Add anchovies, cayenne, red pepper, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and cook 2 minutes. Add tomato paste; let brown before stirring in. Add garlic and broccoli rabe; cook 2 minutes. Add reserved sausage and wine. Stir, scraping anything stuck on the bottom of the pan. Add tomatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed and tomatoes are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add squash and stir to combine. If there's still liquid in the pan, continue cooking until all liquid is absorbed. Serve topped with lots of grated pecorino.