Showing posts with label smoked paprika. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smoked paprika. Show all posts

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Zinfandel & Bloody Mary Braised Short Ribs w Bacon, Button Mushrooms, Shallots, Shredded Carrots, and Rosemary

(Copyright © 2010 Someday Gourmet)

Prep Time: 30 minutes (before goes into oven)
Cook Time: 3 hours total (2.5 hrs in oven, 30 minutes stove-top)
Difficulty: Level 2
Yield: 5-6 Ribs, 2-3 Cups Sauce

Ingredients
  • 5-6 larger high quality beef ribs
  • 2 ½ cups favorite bold red wine (we used Ravenswood Lodi Zinfandel)
  • ½ cup Mr. & Mrs. T’s Bold & Spicy Bloody Mary Mix
  • 1 cup Swanson low sodium chicken stock
  • ½ package of bacon sliced into ½” pieces
  • 1 med. package of white button mushrooms
  • 1 cup loosely packed shredded carrots
  • 8-12 pearl onions or 4-6 shallots
  • 2 tbsp minced garlic
  • 2 twigs of Rosemary or 2 tablespoons dried
  • 3 tbsp coarse salt
  • 3 tbsp coarse pepper
  • 3 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1-2 tbsp red pepper flakes (to taste)
  • 4 tbsp slurry (2 tbsp corn starch + 2 tbsp hot water) – prepare @ hr 2.5 of baking
  • Dutch Oven

Directions

Remove meat from refrigerator and place on counter still wrapped to allow to warm to room temperature.

Preheat Dutch Oven to medium heat (6) and add bacon. Cook until brown and crispy. Remove and dry on paper towel lined plate. Drain bacon grease except for 3 tbsp and return to heat.

While bacon is cooking, clean and rough chop mushrooms then peel onions and cut in half (slice shallots if using). Combine Salt, Pepper, Smoked Paprika and Red Pepper Flakes in a small dish. Remove the ribs from the package and place on a cutting board bone side down. Remove any easily accessible pieces of fat and then rub in a heavy coat of the spice mix on all 5 non-bone sides of each rib. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty on this step, you really want to rub it in there.

Once the bacon is cooked and removed, add the ribs to the pan in 2 batches (3 at a time is usually right) bone-side up. Proceed to cook each of the 5 meaty sides for 4 minutes each until golden brown. Once placed, DO NOT MOVE THE RIB until time to turn; this will ensure a golden crust. After all the ribs have been completely browned, set aside. Do not drain!

Next add all veggies and garlic to the Dutch Oven and cook over medium heat until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Stir frequently.

Preheat oven to 300.

Add 2 cups of the wine, all the stock, Bloody Mary mix, and Rosemary and turn heat up to high and bring to boil stirring gently but frequently. Reduce sauce by 1/3 – 1/2. Add ribs and ensure fully covered by the liquid. Place a piece of aluminum foil over the Dutch Oven and then cover with the lid to securely seal the steam in.

Bake for 2.5 hours. Remove from oven and transfer the ribs and any bones that have fallen off to a serving dish. Cover with foil and set aside. Bring the remaining sauce over high to a boil and add the slurry and the rest of the wine. Reduce by 1/3 or so until just slightly thicker, pour over ribs, and serve immediate.
Chef’s Notes
  • This sauce would taste good over anything! Consider using over oven-roasted chicken breasts (40 minutes @ 350) or even basted over a London Broil
  • Embrace the Bloody Mary Mix. Nearly every recipe out there calls for tomatoes in some form or another for braising. In this case, we get our tomato base but even more layers of additional flavor that just melt nicely into the background of the wine.
  • Good meat in, great meat out. Bad meat in, mediocre meat out. You get what you pay for on this meal and picking up high quality, low fat ribs from your butcher will go a long way. 

Monday, January 25, 2010

Cajun Dry-Rubbed Buttermilk Fried Chicken


(Copyright © 2009 Someday Gourmet)

Prep Time: 50 minutes + 8 hrs marinade
Cook Time: 90 minutes
Difficulty: Level II
Yield: 7-10 pieces

Ingredients
  • 2-3 lbs of any variety of bone in chicken (I prefer split chicken breasts and drumsticks
  • 3 cups Buttermilk (low fat variety ok)
  • 1 1/2 cups All-Purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups Panko Breadcrumbs
  • 3-4 cups of oil
  • 2 tbsp Coarse Salt
  • 2 tbsp Black Pepper
  • 3-4 tbsp Hot/Buffalo Sauce (optional)
  • Cast Iron Pan (recommended)
Someday Gourmet's Sweet & Spicy Dry Rub

Equal parts of the following:
Recommend 1 tbsp of each per lb of chicken
  • Cayenne Pepper Powder
  • Garlic Powder
  • Smoked Paprika
  • Seasoned Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • White Sugar
Instructions

24 hours before you plan to make the chicken, clean each piece and loosen the skin being careful not to pull it off completely.  Pat dry and rub in salt and pepper under the skin.  Place chicken in a dish or bowl to marinate and cover completely with buttermilk.  Refridgerate chicken in the marinade at least 8 hours.

Add enough oil to your frying pan to fill 3/4 inch.  Preheat oil over medium (6) heat for at least 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

In the meantime, mix the flour, breadcrumbs, and dry rub together thoroughly in a deep bowl.  Once the oil is ready, begin an assembly line:  drain the buttermilk from a piece of chicken, coat it in the breadcrumbs, add it to the oil.  Repeat.  Cook chicken in batches for 5 minutes on each side - it is not unusual for the chicken to become darker brown than expected.  Blackened, not so much.  That said...hang in there for the full 5 mins, it's worth it to have a nice crispy skin. 

As the chicken finishes cooking on both sides, transfer it to a large baking pan with a greased metal rack or alternatively onto a greased broiling pan (my favorite tool in my kitchen).  Once each piece is fried and transfered onto the baking sheet, place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve immediately with a knife, fork, and bottle of hot sauce.

Chef's Notes
  • Do not cook more than 2 split breasts or 4 drumsticks at a time. Overcrowding may cause the temperature of the oil to drop too low causing the chicken to cook unevenly
  • Don't forget to roll the chicken on its side for a while to crisp all sides of the piece.
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