Richie's New Dish

Without breaking my elbow patting myself on the back, let me just say that teaching Richie to cook was a stroke of genius.  He has progressed to the point where he can look at a recipe, read the ingredients and sense how they would all work together.  He now reads cook books with the same enthusiasm I do. 

He clipped this out of the LA Times and made it last night.   A woman wrote the Times, asking for a specific recipe from the Music Center restaurant.  The restaurant was willing and the Times printed it but they admitted adapting it in some way so I don't know how close the following is to what the woman wanted or remembered.

KENDALL'S BRASSERIE BRAISED BEEF SHORT RIBS

6 14 oz. beef short ribs
pepper to taste
1/2 cup oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled
2 T tomato paste
1 T flour
2 cups dry red wine
2 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
1 sprig rosemary
6 cups beef broth, divided
2 T butter
12 cups assorted mushrooms, cleaned but left whole
1 cup heavy cream - this is optional.  He didn't use it and it was never missed.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.  Pepper the ribs, add the oil to the Dutch oven and sear the ribs.  When they're done, set them aside.

Put the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in the now-empty pot and cook stirring frequently.  They should be carmelized in 10 to 12 minutes  Skim any fat off.  

Stir in the tomato paste, then stir in the flour.  Add the spices and red wine and put the ribs back in the pot.  Add beef broth to cover the meat, cover the Dutch oven and bake until the meat is tender - about 2 1/2 hours.  Keep checking to make sure liquid covers the meat.

In a separate skillet, melt the butter and cook the mushrooms.  When they're done, put them in the platter you're going to serve the ribs - the ribs will be on top.  Reduce your red wine sauce to about four cups and serve as gravy for the meat.

If you do use the cream:  reduce the red wine sauce to about 4 cups, drain it (discarding all of the lovely vegetables.)  Add the cream and simmer until it thickens, then put the meat back in the pot and serve it. 

It turned out really well lovely and it smelled mouthwatering all afternoon.  The ultimate chef's compliment around here is "You should make that for company!" and I meant it when I said it after my first bite. 

Serves six and has 580 calories per serving, less without the cream.