Happy Sunday!
What are you up to this weekend?
Ada Hayden Park/Lake – November 5, 2016
(This post may contain affiliate links)
We're having a quiet weekend. After a busy week of juggling work, life, and too many bags of groceries, it feels so nice to switch gears
A few of the highlights
A 4-hour kickboxing fundraiser(!)
Practicing for Puppy 2 graduation. Sit, down, stand? No worries. Leave it? Best practiced with walks around campus after a football game. Stay? We're getting better, as long we don't see a kitty or anything shiny.
Loose-leash walking? Not so much
The days I wake up knowing it will be seventy degrees in November. I remind myself to savor the minutes. Late this afternoon, as my step-mom and I went for a walk around the lake, I couldn't help but think
Life is so very good
Whatever you're up to, I hope you have a good one!
Harry – 5 months old – November 2016
For the weekend, a few fun links from around the web
Portraits of 50 Year Marriages (they're beautiful) [via Pulptastic]
Because it'll be here before we know it: Think through Thanksgiving now. Put Your Feet Up Later [via Food52]
So much love and respect for Michelle Obama [via The New York Times]
In case you (like I), need more to follow: 8 Cool Instagram Accounts [via Cup of Jo]
How Boeing Builds a 737 in Just Nine Days [via Hiut Denium Co.]
President Obama's Essential Reading List [via Wired]
“Dear Mom and Grandma, Just a little swim in the lake before we head home? Pretty please?” ~ Love Harry & Sally
I'm thinking about starting a Cookbook Club; it sounds like a lot of fun. I've been reading tips about how to bring a Cookbook Club to life and Why Cookbook Clubs should be the way we entertain [via Food52 and Serious Eats]
Most recent cookbook purchase? The latest by Ina Garten. It'll make you want to peel apples, turn them into a pie, make chicken stock, and marry someone named Jeffrey all at the same time
Marie Forloe's interview with Seth Godin: Stop Waiting for the Right Moment [via Marie Forloe]
How to Lose Weight in 4 Easy Steps (one of my favorite medium pieces) [via Medium]
25 famous women on dealing with anxiety and depression [via NYMag]
A few gems from Bon Appetit: Stop roasting your veggies in a steaming hot oven, and The secret to an evenly cooked roast chicken [via Bon Appetit]
Toward the end of August, a generally hot and sticky month here in Iowa, I spied a slow-cooker recipe for short ribs, aromatics, and veggies served over the largest fettuccini-style noodles one could get their hands on. Grated Parmesan and parsley to finish
It sounded so good that I made it the next night for dinner
Even though it was ninety degrees out. Even though it seemed like a deep-in-the-winter kind of dish. Even though I'd been to the pool that afternoon. I regretted nothing.
Although it requires a bit of planning when it comes to the cooking time, putting it together is quick and easy. Short-ribs are a great addition to any incarnation because the bones lend incredible flavor as the meat breaks down.
It makes for a warming, non-coma-inducing meal. One that'll be on our rotation all winter long.
As it found its way onto the menu this week, I began to wonder. What is the difference between a ragout and a ragù?
“They’re both saucy, both hearty and both pronounced the same way, but ragù and ragout are not the same things. Let’s break it down: Ragù is a class of Italian pasta sauces made with ground or minced meat, vegetables and, occasionally, tomatoes. Bolognese, for example, falls under the ragù umbrella. Ragout, on the other hand, is a slow-cooked French-style stew that can be made with meat or fish and vegetables—or even just vegetables. You can eat it on its own, or with a starch like polenta or couscous or pasta” ~ Food and Wine
Enjoy!
xoxo
ps: The ragout would be just as great over creamy mashed potatoes as it is over pasta.
~ Adapted from Cooking Light
Slow Cooked Short Rib and Tomato Ragout
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 (6 oz) bone-in short ribs, trimmed
- fine grain sea salt + freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups finely chopped onion
- ¾ cup finely chopped carrot
- ½ cup finely chopped celery
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 cup red wine (or additional stock or water)
- splash of soy sauce, optional
- splash of Worcestershire, optional
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 (28 oz.) can whole tomatoes (or diced tomatoes)
- 12 oz uncooked pappardelle or whole-wheat fettuccine (or the widest fettuccine type noodle you're able to find)
Instructions
- Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat.
- Sprinkle ribs with a strong pinch each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Add the ribs to pan; cook 10 minutes, until they've browned on all sides
- Transfer the ribs to the slow-cooker
- To the dutch oven, add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic; cook ~ 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the beef broth, wine, soy sauce, Worcestershire, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and tomatoes, gently breaking up tomatoes with a spoon.
- Add the tomato mix to the cooker, along with the ribs.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 7 ½ hours
- Remove the ribs and discard the bones. Shred the beef with two forks.
- Add the shredded beef, along with another pinch each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper back into the slow-cooker.
- Increase the heat to HIGH and cook, covered for 30 minutes
- Cook pasta according to the package directions
- Serve beef mixture over pasta, topped with parsley and grated Parmesan
13 Comments
Wow. Now this looks incredible. Such a sophisticated and delicious meal made easy by the slow-cooker. This one is a MUST try, for sure!
This looks incredible! I’m a huge pasta fan, it’s probably my favourite food! I’ll certainly be trying this
I think you should definitely try a cookbook club as it is something I feel you would be great at hosting I know it! I love the sound of the tomato ragout x
This looks so good! I love the flatlays btw. They just make the food you’re cooking look that much more delicious!
A cookbook club sounds so interesting! This recipe looks delightful and oh so saucy ?
Looks like a great tasting beef ribs recipe. I love slow cooker recipes because it cooks on its own, therefore allowing me some time to do other things. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
You had me at short rib! I have been mdying to purchase a slow cooker, they are so or seem like a great conveinent way of cooking. It can be something that you pop on at night, before you go to bed and by the time you wake up, the house smells geat and lunch/dinner is ready. x
You had me at ‘slow cooked’, and then I instantly fell in love with this post when I saw ribs and ragout! This is such an amazing dish and a perfect recipe for me to try. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
This sounds so delicious! Far outside my normal menu options but I’ve been looking for a way to switch things up a bit and this may be just that – in the most yummy way! Thanks so much for sharing!
Four hours of kickboxing, wow that sounds intense. These ribs sound really good x
I love short-ribs, and I love slow cookers so that I don’t have to turn up the heat during the hotter days either! This looks so delicious!
This looks incredible! I love any kind of slow cooked meat as it’s always so tender and tasty.
Sounds like a great recipe. I have never made short ribs, I know, crazy! but I know that my husband would really enjoy this recipe for dinner one night. Going to add it to our meal plan!