AMAZING Braised Short Ribs

OMG.. This is officially on list of  favourites.  To be honest, I have never cooked with short ribs before, I can't believe I lived this long without ever experiencing braised short ribs.  When my roommate and I tasted it that night, we just looked at each other with happiness.  I immediately knew that I will be making braised short ribs more often.  Maybe once a week! I’m just so happy! 

When it comes to cooking savoury food, I tend to not follow recipes to the “T”.  I would go through hundred of sites and watch several Youtube videos and gather the general idea on how to cook a basic dish.  On the other hand, baking is a different story, I always follow baking recipes, if not, they usually tend not to turn out very tasty,.. and that happened a lot to me in the past.  In this particular case, I looked for recipes from the Food Network site and did a general search on Google.  I would also read comments from other bloggers and by readers who have made the dish.  I like reading them because they also usually state the pros and cons of the dish. The result? The usual ingredients are carrots, celery, onions, red wine, short ribs (of course) and seasonings.   General techniques involves browning the meat, and simmering for hours in the oven.  Simple enough =D  However, I decided to just simmer it on the stove cause I don't have any pots that are oven safe.  the result is still great.  I may invest in a oven-safe pot just to see if the flavour is any different, but I found that simmering it on the stove was just fine. 

This is my version of braised short ribs ( did I mention it was AMAZING?!):

Are you drooling yet?

 Yield: 4

Ingredients:

Short ribs 2 strips ( approximately 2 lb each)

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 stalk celery chopped

2 carrots chopped

2 onions chopped

5 clove of garlic, chopped

3 bay leaf

20 sprig of time

2 ½ cup red wine

5 cups Beef stock ( enough to cover the beef)

2 tbsp Worcestershire

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp rosemary

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1.       Chop carrots, celery, onions

2.       Season the ribs with salt and pepper

3.       Coat the ribs with flour

The marbling of fat throughout this piece means that it is flavourful!

                  

4.      Between medium to high heat, sear ALL sides of the meat, this technique is call “browning”. Don’t crowd the pot, you want a good sear on all side. I only had 5 in my pot at a time. When all sides are browned, set aside in a bowl. IF there is a lot of oil in your pan, pour some of it out.

5.       Add carrots, celery, onions, garlic.  Stir while scraping  the brown bits on the bottom of the pot

6.       Add Thyme, balsamic vinegar, red wine and brown sugar.  Stir

7.       Return all the beef back into the pot

8.       Add beef stock and bay leaf( you only need enough beef stork to cover all the beef

9.       Put the lid on and wait till it boils

10.       Reduce heat to low when boil

11.       Cook for 3 hours or until meat is tender!

12.       Remove all the meat into a bowl

13.      Time to reduce the sauce, there is probably a lot of liquid still in the pot.  Turn stove on high and let it bubble till the sauce reduce to half.  Stir occasionally so the vegetables don’t burn.

14.       Serve with your choice of side, I made a plain mash potato!

The best part is that it taste just as amazing (if not better) the next day!

Attempt: Wedding Cake?!?!

First attempted wedding cake

It's been a while since I posted something but I’ve been incredibly busy with my condo...I moved out.  Throughout the week I have been packing, mini moves and looking for boxes.  It makes me sad to know these two cake were the last things I baked this place.  I moved on Saturday.  It won’t be the same cooking and baking in another other house. 

Aside from my personal life, this year is the year of weddings for me.  Four good friends are getting marry and the closest wedding will actually be in March!  They only announced their engagement last month!  This will certainly be interesting and fun, I haven’t attended a wedding in years, not to mention that I will be a bridesmaid.  I wonder what’s that like.....never been before..

Now here’s the crazy part, I even offered to make their wedding cake!! I have never made a wedding cake, nor have I ever learn how to make and decorate a wedding cake in my baking class.  by the way, it was over four years ago when I last took a baking class.  I have confident in myself, and I love a good baking challenge.  I went to the store and found all the supplies I think I needed which are, a Fondant Roller, Fondant smoother, already-made fondant, and gel food colouring.  I already have piping tips and piping bags at home so I thought I was SET!

Bought these fake flowers at the dollar store.. playing around with the design

The internet is such a powerful and helpful tool.  I researched and studied with the help of youtube and blog sites on how to build and decorate a fondant wedding cake.  After buying already-made fondant, I realized that marshmallow fondant its actually very easy to make, plus those who made it say its tastier too.  I was convinced, plus it cheaper too!  I didn’t return the fondant I bought cause I wanted to compare it with the marshmallow fondant.  My verdict is that the marshmallow fondant IS easier to make as well as being yummier.  The major difference between the two is:

Wilson’s fondant	Home-made Marshmallow Fandant
Has a sour smell when smell close to the noise	Smells like sugar up close
Very firm and needed to microwave to soften	Soft, like new Playdough
Due to the firmness, difficult to roll thin	Easy to roll
Just taste sweet but slightly doughy	Much tastier, like marshmallow

I made a simple chocolate cake recipe and after that, I crumb coated  the cake with a simple vanilla butter cream and placed it in the fridge for about four hours for the coat to harden.  What is Crumb coating? I now know that it is important to crumb coat when fondanting a cake.  Basically it is covering the entire cake with a very thin layer of icing to seal in the moister and FRESHNESS.  It also keeps the cake from (excuse my home-make term) "crumbing" and falling apart when you apply the fondant over your cake.

Wilson fondant

This was the result of my first attempt.  I honestly did not know how I should design the cake.  The bride gave me complete design control.  I was glad to have full control, but at the same time I was overwhelm with all the beautiful designs I saw on the internet which made it difficult to decided.  I wanted to gather ideas and did not want to copy someone else's design idea.   Eventually I realized that simplicity is the best.  I would incorporate her wedding theme colour, and flowers into the cake.  

I got alittle creative and decided to add a black ribbon.  Great colour contrast but I debating weather or not I want to add anything non-edible to a cake....

Although this cake has blue roses, I am wishing she won’t have blue roses in her wedding (I over heard her saying she will be holding a bouquet of blue roses, her favourite)  they were extremely time consuming and difficult to make.  And if a professional were to judge these roses, they would definitely criticize their shapes.  They don’t look like true roses.  Oh well I need more practices and I WILL definitely do it the bride wishes.  The second cake I made were decorated with calla lilies.  Much easier to make. 

Second Attempt, with home-made marshmallow Fondant.

 The second cake is a vanilla cake filled with mango buttercream.  It was FANTASTIC.  I had 2 slices of cake that night.  It was soooo tasty, I was surprised.  I just followed a basic buttercream recipe, but incorporated Mango Puree.  Excellent result and it was a hit. 

What I learned was that you can't make flowers with marshmallow fondant.  It will not hold it's shape.  I made one and waited 3 hours for it to harden.  never hardened.  I then did a bit of research and found out that I should be using gum paste, a.k.a sugar paste, a.k.a pastillage.  Apparently its easy to shape and it dries quite quick, which also means that you have to work fast!.  I haven't looked for gum paste recipes yet but I have seen it for sale at Bulk Barn.  I'll probably buy it if it cost less. 

 

 

 

 

 

Applying a border of edible silver beads, so pretty!