I got this recipe from the Scaling Back blog, which is the best blog you are probably not reading. I met the author Tina Jeffers at a food photography workshop, but when you read her blog you may be inclined to agree that she probably doesn’t really need food photography classes because her pictures are gorgeous, mouth-watering, and instructive all at the same time. Her tips and recipes are well-chosen, not too difficult, and they work. Subscribe, follow, or just check in from time to time, but for goodness’ sake don’t miss out on this site. It is hands-down one of my absolute favorites, which in the crowded world of food blogs is saying quite a lot.

I reproduce the recipe here because I simplified some steps and made some small changes. As is reflected in the recipe, I do not recommend eating this the day you make it- it tastes infinitely better if you let it sit in the fridge for a day or two or three and reheat it. Enjoy – and thank you Tina for the inspiration.

Recipe: Butternut Squash & Short Rib Chili

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Tblsp live oil
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless short ribs, trimmed of most of the fat and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (ask your butcher to remove the bones for you)
• 1 large onion, chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
• chili flakes, cayenne, or hot spice of your choice to taste (I used a large pinch of very hot Chinese chili flakes and a large pinch of cayenne)
• 2 Tblsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 28 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
• 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
• cilantro leaves, crumbled queso fresco, and avocado slices to serve

method:

• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season beef with salt and add to pan. Cook about 8-10 minutes, browning on all sides.
• Add onion and cook another 8-10 minutes, until onions are soft and translucent. Add tomato paste, garlic, chipotle, cocoa, and spices and cook another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add wine, beans, and tomatoes with juice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover. Simmer for 1 hour.
• Add butternut squash and simmer for another hour, until beef and squash are tender. Cool slightly, then cover and rest in the fridge overnight.
• To serve, reheat on the stove and serve with cilantro, queso fresco, and avocado.

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A few notes to make your life easier: since you are supposed to puree the Asian pear, you might as well take advantage of the food processor for other parts of the prep. So I used the shredding blade to julienne the onions, carrot, and garlic first, then dumped those out and switched to the normal blade to puree the pear. This cut down significantly on prep time. The brisket can be tough to slice but it’s easier if you stick it in the freezer for about 30 minutes and sharpen your butcher knife well. And do make sure you get really good-quality buns.

I also cooked up most of the shredded carrots with the meat (they were stuck to it anyway.) This turned out to be a great idea because they got very dark and caramelized and added a lot of depth to the sandwich.

Last thing: the recipe tells you to butter the toasted buns. In fact, I forgot to butter them but the sandwiches were still very rich and definitely not lacking for fatty goodness. I can’t believe I’m going to recommend this, but… I don’t think you need the butter. I would skip it.

(Somewhere, a pig just flew. Probably through a very cold and ice-filled Hell.)

Here’s the recipe: this one gets top marks from me!

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I absolutely love flavorful, slow-cooked, melting-off-the-bone short ribs, and have tried several recipes (including the Thomas Keller version, which paled in comparison to these.) This recipe has been adapted, over five years or so, from a recipe that David Chang supplied to the New York Times several years ago, pre-Momofuku fame and fortune. To my mind, they are the best short ribs I have ever eaten.

Although I’m usually not a fussy cook, the end result of a fabulous pot of short ribs is totally worth it. There isn’t a ton of fussing around, but you do have to hang out for about 3 hours while they cook in the oven. You can prepare them most of the way the day before, and finish them the next day before serving. Because they have an Asian-ish flavor, I think they pair best with a side of rice, but mashed potatoes work well too.

A note: if your proportions of apple juice, sake, and mirin are not exact, it’s OK. I usually buy a sake bottle that ends up having a little more than a cup, and a bottle of apple juice that has a little less than 1 1/2 cups. As long as the total of apple juice, sake, and mirin equals roughly 3 1/2 cups, you’ll be OK.

The Best Short Ribs You’ll Ever Eat
serves 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 – 3 Tblsp vegetable or canola oil
• 7 to 8 pounds “English cut” beef short ribs, cut into pieces with one-bone each
• 1 1/2 cups apple juice (flat or sparkling)
• 1 cup sake (filtered – not nigori)
• 1 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 Tblsp sesame oil
• 10 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 large carrot, roughly chopped (you don’t need to peel it)
• salt and pepper

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 350. Season short ribs with salt and pepper.
• Put oil in a pot that’s 6 quarts or larger and heat over high heat. When the oil is hot, add ribs to brown on one side (you will need to do this in batches.) After 4-5 minutes, turn the ribs to brown on another side. Remove from pot and put on a plate. Repeat with remaining batches of ribs.
• Meanwhile, put apple juice, sake, mirin, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and garlic in a pot and heat just to a boil. Turn off heat and set aside.
• When all of the ribs are cooked and out of the pot, add onions and carrots to the pot and cook 3-5 minutes to brown, stirring often.
• When onions and carrots are browned, add short ribs back to the pot. Pour the liquid over and try to get the ribs completely covered by the liquid. (It’s OK if a few of them are poking above the liquid a bit.) Cover with a lid and put them in the oven. Cook for 2-3 hours, until meat is soft enough to pull easily from the bones.
• (At this point, you have 3 choices: start the next step right away, wait about an hour so things cool down a bit before you handle them, or put the whole pot in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight, and pull it out to finish the dish about 30 minutes before serving. If you choose the latter, you can easily remove the hardened fat layer before proceeding.)
• Remove the ribs from the pot (I use tongs for this) and remove the bones (they should just fall out easily.) Discard the bones and set the meat aside.
• Strain the liquid, reserving all of the liquid in a bowl. Discard the solids (or, save them for later–they taste pretty good tossed with pasta the next day.)
• Return the strained liquid to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the sauce so it thickens a bit, about 20 minutes. Add short ribs back to the liquid to heat through. Serve immediately.

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Every day it seems like there’s more troubling news about protests in Syria. I have a soft spot in my heart for the country and the people, since I went there on my honeymoon and found it to be one of the most magical, welcoming, wondrous places I’ve ever been. It’s hard to think of Syria without remembering the mouth-watering food we ate there.

I present an example that illustrates Aleppo’s primacy in Syria’s food culture: when the Four Seasons opened a hotel in Damascus, they opened Al Halabi, one of the fanciest and highest-rated restaurants in all of Syria. The scouting team went to Aleppo and poached the city’s best chef to helm their flagship restaurant. Al Halabi, of course, translates to “from Aleppo.” The food at Al Halabi is exquisite–especially the kebab karaz.

Even the kids in Aleppo are serious about their food.

Other Syrian cities boast excellent food, too. On a rainy day in Hama, we had a hard time mustering enthusiasm for the creaky wooden windmills for which the city is famous, but we do fondly remember the city for this friendly fried chicken shack. We were two honeymooners huddled under the awning out of the rain. The effusive counterman gallantly brought out a plastic table and chairs and insisted we make ourselves comfortable.

His hospitality and the warm, crispy chicken and super-thick fried potatoes saved the day.

In addition to the aforementioned Al Halabi, Damascus is full of fantastic food from the low end to the high end. The shawerma shops at the western end of the old souq–where you can have a few bites of heaven for under a dollar–were a favorite of mine.

The sweet shops, proffering pyramids of sticky pistachio-studded pastries, are hard to pass up, even with some minor misspellings.

In Syria, fine cooks use sour cherries and pomegranate molasses to make kebab karaz. I adapted the recipe with fresh or frozen cherries and pomegranate juice because I find the taste is comparable but the flavors are a little brighter.

Kebab Karaz

serves 2

Ingredients:

• ½ lb. ground lamb
• 1 small yellow onion, minced finely (you can use a food processor)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
• 1 cup pitted cherries, fresh or frozen
• 2 tablepoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• small handful of toasted pine nuts

Method:

• Combine lamb, onion, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon with your hands or a wooden spoon. Put lamb mixture in fridge, covered, for at least an hour, as it will be easier to form patties when chilled.
• Preheat broiler. Put a piece of foil on a cookie sheet and spray with nonstick spray.
• Form 1-inch meatballs with your hands and place meatballs on foil. Broil 3-5 minutes on one side, then use tongs to flip meatballs over and broil another 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
• Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine juice, cherries, remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, then mash cherries with a potato masher. Scrape down sides and continue simmering about 10 minutes more, until sauce is slightly thicker and syrupy.
• Gently add meatballs to sauce and stir to coat. Warm if necessary.
• Remove to serving bowl and garnish with pine nuts. Serve with warm pita bread and thick plain yogurt on the side.

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1. Buy a good quality steak. I like a steak that has fat in it and around it, because it helps to keep it juicy and tender during cooking. My favorite cut to use is a ribeye, with or without a bone. If you can get a grass-fed steak it will most likely taste better than a traditional grain-fed steak. If you have lots of disposable income or someone in your life who thinks a box of frozen meat makes an ideal gift, I highly recommend placing an order with Oliver Ranch. Not only are they the best steaks I’ve ever, but they arrive in the mail with dry ice so you can do science experiments in your kitchen.

2. About an hour before cooking, take the steaks out of the fridge and put them on a plate or on top of their butcher paper. Sprinkle them heavily with a coarse sea salt or kosher salt on both sides. Two things are important here: the first is to use a lot of salt (as in the photo) and the second is to use a salt that has big grains, not a fine-grained table salt. I learned this tip from Jaden at Steamy Kitchen, who uses it to turn cheaper steaks into something better. I prefer to start with a great steak and then apply this technique, for maximum deliciousness!

3. When you’re ready to cook, heat a pan to very very hot over the highest heat your burner can muster. Some people prefer cast-iron, some prefer a grill pan, I prefer a nonstick skillet. (I don’t believe the pan affects the taste, but there are some who feel adamant that it does.)

4. While the pan is getting super duper hot, rinse the salt off of the steaks and dry them well with paper towels. Season on both sides with a normal amount of salt and pepper.

5. Hold the steak with a pair of tongs above the hot pan. Find the edge of the steak that has a strip of fat on it. Hold the fat-covered edge of the steak in the pan with the tongs until it releases some grease and browns. (I praise the day nearly 10 years ago when I read about this Alain Ducasse trick in the New York Times.) Then, lay the steak on a flat side and cook it for a few minutes, until it browns. Flip it over and cook it on the second side.

6. Don’t cook the steak to the desired temperature–it will continue to cook as it rests, which it must do before serving. For example, if someone likes medium-rare, cook it to rare. How do you know when it’s done? This is the trickiest part and ultimately takes a lot of practice, unless you are one of those folks who puts faith in their meat thermometer. If you’re using a thermometer, the rule of thumb is 140 degrees for rare, 160 for medium, and 170 for well-done. I personally use the finger test, which is well explained here on Simply Recipes.

7. When the meat is almost done (not all the way, since it will keep cooking even after the heat is off), turn off the pan and leave it sitting on the stovetop. If there is not a lot of juice/grease in the pan, add a small knob of butter to the pan and swirl it around. If there is a lot of  meat juice in the pan you can skip the butter.

8. Rest the steaks for 5-10 minutes before serving. Eat. Swoon. Savor. Drool.

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A new kitchen deserved only the best, and by many accounts, Keller is the best! I almost never do Keller recipes because he is so not for lazy people, but this was a special occasion. The recipe sounded great and it smelled fantastic while cooking. It was a bit more fiddly than the Chang short ribs and required multiple pots and pans but it wasn’t terribly annoying or difficult to make.

In both recipes, you brown the short ribs, you make a liquid, you cook the heck out of the short ribs in the liquid in the oven, you fool around with straining vegetables out and skimming fat off, and you reduce the sauce. It’s essentially the same process, although Keller’s calls for an overnight marination in red wine and other stuff.

The verdict: Chang by a landslide! Keller’s ribs were good enough, to be sure, but nowhere near the complex, salty sweet deliciousness of Chang’s. Someday I may be tempted to try another luminary’s short ribs vs. Chang’s in a second round of battle, but for now, I’m sticking with my tried and true.

Here’s the losing Keller recipe, and here’s the David Chang ringer. Do you have a favorite short ribs recipe I can pit against Chang’s in the next heat?

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It added preserved lemons, which seem gross on their own but are fantastic as a seasoning. They also came from Williams-Sonoma and were super overpriced, but now my Dad and I are trying to make our own preserved lemons so once we’ve perfected that process I will share it.

One of the best things I learned in cooking school was to mise en place (French for “put in place”) – you know, to get all your ingredients out and measured before you start cooking, like they do on TV. I used to think it was silly to do that, but once you get in the habit you soon learn that it makes everything go much more smoothly and quickly. In this case, something possessed me to lay out all my mise en place on this nice plate, but I don’t normally mise en place with such an attention to aesthetics.

Moroccan Lamb Tagine

serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 2 onions, chopped finely
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
• 2 inch piece of ginger, chopped finely
• 1 cinnamon stick
• pinch saffrom
• 1 Tablespoon coriander seeds, cracked
• 1 1/2 lbs. lamb cubes
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 12 pitted prunes, cut in half, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, and drained
• 8 dried apricots, cut in half, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, and drained
• 4 strips of orange peel (no white part)
• 2 Tablespoons preserved lemon, chopped
• handful of chopped cilantro for garnish

Method:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. (Or use a tagine, if you dare.)
• Add pine nuts and toast until brown, stirring often. (It will happen fast.) Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, to soften them.
• When onions and garlic are soft, add ginger, cinnamon, saffron, and coriander and cook 1 minute to release the fragrances.
• Add lamb to pot with the wine and enough water to cover the lamb. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pot and cook about 1 1/2 hours.
• Add the prunes, apricots, orange peel, and preserved lemon and stir to combine. Cook about 20-30 minutes more until sauce is thickened and has a jammy texture. Remove cinnamon stick. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
• Serve over couscous and garnish with cilantro.

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Here’s the how to: Chop potatoes and steak (or chicken, pork chop, meat loaf, whatev) into roughly equal size cubes (1/2 inch-ish). Chop a couple shallots or onions finely. If you’re like me, then for some odd reason your leftovers also fortuitously include a ziploc containing 5 cooked bacon slices and you should definitely chop those up as well. If you’re lucky enough to own a vegetable, like a bell pepper or broccoli or something, well then your fridge is better stocked than mine. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back, then give that the chop chop as well.

Heat some butter (or lard, duck fat, olive oil, whatev) in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the potatoes- those should get crispy so they need to cook the longest. If you have some hard vegetable like broccoli then throw that in with the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Toss or stir to brown the potatoes on multiple sides. When you’ve got some nice browning on at least a couple of sides, add the shallots (and your softer vegetable if you’re using one: I’m talking bell pepper or zucchini-type stuff) and cook another couple minutes until the shallots soften but not so long that they brown. Add the meat(s) and cook just until heated through, tossing or stirring, a couple minutes. Check the seasoning and adjust. If you really want to clog your family’s arteries, fry some eggs and put ‘em over the top. What the hell. You only live once.

I like to eat this with some Greek yogurt mixed in, but then again, I’m weird like that.

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I used my new favorite thing, quinoa spaghetti from Whole Foods. It tastes almost exactly like regular spaghetti but imparts the nutritiousness of my favorite pseudocereal. One more note: the recipe combines many meats (3 to be exact) but you could just use all beef if you like. Although secretly, I would judge you from afar if you did that. Not really. OK maybe a little.

Spaghetti and Meatballs
This will serve 4-6 easily.

Ingredients:

for the meatballs:

• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 slices bread (any kind) crust removed, torn into pieces
• 1 Tblsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 Tblsp roughly chopped Italian parsley leaves
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound ground veal
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano
• salt and pepper
• vegetable oil

for the sauce:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped finely
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 20 ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
• salt and pepper

Method:

Make the sauce:

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook a couple minutes, until soft and opaque.
• Using your hands, pull the tomatoes out of the liquid in the can and crush them up with your hands a bit before adding them to the pot. Add about a cup of the liquid from the tomato can. Season with salt and pepper and cook at a simmer for about 20 minutes, at which point the sauce should get thicker.
• Reduce heat to lowest possible setting and cook another 20-30 minutes. Taste sauce and add more salt and pepper if necessary. If desired, add in some chopped fresh basil or oregano at the end and stir in.

While sauce is cooking, make the meatballs:

• Put milk in a large bowl and add torn bread pieces to soak. Set aside.
• Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and parsley and cook until soft and opaque, about 8-10 minutes.
• Add onion mixture and all meats into the large bowl with the bread and milk, along with the egg, parmigiano, and some salt and pepper, and mix with your hands until mixed together. (Reserve the onion pan for cooking the meatballs.)
• Preheat the oven to 350.
• Heat about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in the onion pan over medium high heat. Form meatballs that are between the size of a baseball and a golf ball. Brown them on all sides, about 15 minutes total.
• Put about 1/4 of the sauce in a 9×13 pan. Add meatballs. Put another 1/4 of the sauce over the meatballs. Put into the oven and cook for about 15-30 minutes, until they are cooked through.
• Meanwhile, cook your noodles as directed.
• When the meatballs are done, mix the drained noodles with the remaining 1/2 of the sauce. Spoon the meatballs on top of the noodles and sprinkle with extra parmigiano if desired.

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The sauce comes out incredibly rich and flavorful, as well as very ORANGE. While I absolutely loved the taste and texture and everything else, Ross kept saying “this dinner is so ORANGE. Great, but, like, really ORANGE.” And it is. It kind of looked like the color of liquid Doritos. Not that that’s a bad thing. I love Doritos, and this sauce. (Objects in pictures may look less orange than they appear in real life.)

Find the recipe here and enjoy!

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