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Italian Sunday

Update (1/22/11): This short rib ragu won Food52‘s contest for Your Best Short Ribs, and will be included in their next cookbook, out later this year!

Maybe it’s the tomato tooth I was born with instead of a sweet tooth, maybe it’s the towering heels I rock when my old bones let me, or maybe it’s only that Marcello Mastroianni was perfection on two legs, but I’ve always wanted to be Italian, just a little bit.


Exhibit A: Photographic evidence of alleged perfection, minus corroborating proof of two legs.

It isn’t that I don’t love a good bowl of shrimp & grits or that I don’t get a nostalgic glow from a breakfast of couche-couche and cane syrup, but polenta has been my go-to corn base of late. And after a long work week, what could be a more welcome sight or more soul-satisfying over cheesy, buttery polenta than a ragu of braised short ribs, I ask you?

It’s a dish that’s nearly impossible to mess up, […]

Advent Calendar, Day 25

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We wish you a Merry Christmas …
and a happy new year! Take care, everyone, and thanks for stopping by.

For all Advent Calendar posts, click here.

recipe after the jump

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For the love of onions

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Honestly, is there anything better than caramelized onions?

Debate amongst yourselves, but NJ, you can just stifle over there with your wails of, “Chocolate! WHY must you always gloss over chocolate?!” cuz I don’t want to hear it. Oh sure, bacon is a wondrous thing — a taste sensation I’m quite fond of, as you know — but it’s a star that can easily upstage other elements of a dish. But onions, well, onions are real background players — they aren’t glamorous or sexy. They’re rarely the object of a photographer’s love and don’t seem to star in food porn too often. They may be under-appreciated and content to play a supporting role, but with a little love and devotion they can go from bit player to the star of the show. In fact, I built my whole meal around caramelized onions yesterday. I could eat them like candy. Keep your Halloween treats — all I want are sweet, savory, amber-colored onions!

What better way to let these beauties shine than to serve them with plain, hearty fare like bangers and mash? And so I started the onion gravy, cooking it slowly to build flavor. While […]