Fettuccine with Short Rib Ragu

The sun is shining, the snow is (almost) gone, spring is near... and I'm making slow cooked braised short ribs.  True to my blog title I'm still hanging on to winter, from a food perspective that is.  In fact I made this more than once last summer and another time early fall.  It's not really a winter dish, but is good on a cold night with a glass of red wine and a fire.

This is the epitome of the type of recipe that my mom would make.  Her menus often revolved around beef and she loved to cook things that she could start earlier in the day and cook for hours and meals that didn't require being served immediately out of the oven.  With five kids and a husband on different schedules I think she appreciated the ease of a recipe that would reheat well and serve a crowd.  This does both.  She would have loved it although I'm pretty sure she would serve it over mashed potatoes instead of pasta.  She was a potato lover but I guess more than anything, the people she was always cooking for, (us kids) were the potato lovers and she always had them on hand.  She would do the same for Beef Burgundy as it always called to serve over egg noodles or a garlic rubbed crostini but my mom always just bypassed that part of the recipe and made her usual mashed potatoes.

I think I just got burnt out on mashed potatoes as a kid because I'm definitely now more of a pasta lover.  It's a lot easier too, but serve it however you like.

This does take a rather large time commitment.  However, do not let that deter you because most of it is 'inactive' time meaning it is just simmering away while you are doing your Sunday chores, a few loads of laundry or maybe more realistically (like me) reading food blogs and watching Food Network.  It starts out this kind of soupy mixture and somehow over the coarse of a few hours transfers into a thick, rich, flavorful Ragu.

I made it recently for a friend who had a baby and Johnny was incredibly envious.  In fact this is apparently my "bring to a friend who just had a baby" dish because I made it last summer for another friend.  It's great for that because it would be fine to make even a day in advance, but also good for entertaining, or you know, just you and your husband on a warm spring day...

Trish's Tips:  If you can't find pancetta or prosciutto you could also use bacon.  The original recipe calls for pancetta, but I've used prosciutto and it turned out great.  If you are feeling adventurous... this recipe calls for a sprinkling of shaved bittersweet chocolate.  I KNOW... it sounds weird, but it seriously is good.  If you grate it on a microplane you won't even know it is there, it just adds complexity.  Kind of like a Mexican mole.  But feel free to omit as well.  As always, really take the time to let the meat brown very well over high heat, this will give it incredible flavor.

Fettuccine with Short Rib Ragu
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
4 to 6 servings


Ingredients:
3 TBL olive oil
2 oz pancetta or prosciutto, coarsely chopped
2 1/2 lb beef short ribs
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, quartered
1 carrot, peeled and very roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves
1 (14.5 oz) can tomatoes (whole or diced)
1 TBL tomato paste
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 TBL fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 cups beef broth
3/4 cup red wine
1 lb fettuccine
4 to 6 tsp shaved bittersweet chocolate (optional)

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat.  Cook the pancetta until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes.  Meanwhile, season the short ribs with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta from the pan and set it aside.  Shake the excess flour off the short ribs and add them to the pan and cook until browned on all sides about 20 minutes total.  Meanwhile, combine the onion, carrot, parsley, garlic, tomatoes and tomato paste in a food processor and pulse until finely minced.  Once the short ribs are browned, add the minced vegetables to the pot along with the pancetta and stir.  Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, beef broth, wine, 1/2 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp pepper.  Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Remove the lid and simmer for another hour and 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Using a slotted spoon, lift out the short ribs and cool briefly on a plate.  Shred the meat with two forks and return it to the pot, discarding the bones.  Discard the bay leaf.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, following package directions.  Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.  Add the pasta to the pot with the short rib ragu and stir to combine.  If needed, add the reserved pasta liquid a little at a time to moisten the pasta.  Transfer to serving bowls and top each bowl with 1 tsp of chocolate shavings and serve immediately.

Banana Bread

Banana Bread showed up pretty often around our house growing up and I would imagine yours too.  I can't think of anyone who hasn't tried it.  It's got to be up there in popularity with chocolate chip cookies, and there has got to be a million different recipe combinations out there, just try googling it.  In general I like a lot of different, bold flavors but when it comes to some things I'm a purist.  Like mac 'n cheese for example (I always like to give examples).  I don't want bacon in it and I definitely don't want peas, just the cheese... and macaroni.  And when it comes to a hamburger, yes I love some caramelized onions and mushrooms but I certainly don't want a 'taco' burger with guacamole and taco seasoning.  I just want the burger.  I'm the same way with banana bread.  I've tried banana bread with lime zest and coconut (which was delicious) but generally I just want the standard, traditional recipe.  If you are searching for the same, you have found it.

As I have learned from making this several times, banana bread is not really bread per se, at least not by my definition.  Bread to me is something that requires copious amounts of time and kneading and rising and basically an incredible amount of patience.  So based on that description banana bread certainly does not fit the bill.   To me it was almost like cake batter and I say that because it is quite sweet.  The original recipe called for over two cups of sugar, but I did take that down a bit.  And as my mom would do, I threw in a little healthy ingredient, some flaxseed meal, but you could leave that out if you don't have it.

I don't know about you but no matter how many bananas I buy at least one goes bad.  How is it that they are green in the store and then two days later they are overripe?  Rather than throwing them away I will just put them in the freezer and when I have enough, will make this bread.  In fact, I don't know that I have ever actually bought bananas for it.  If you use frozen they will defrost in only a few hours or of course you can use fresh bananas just make sure that they are really, really ripe as in more ripe than you would normally like to eat.

I know I was just ranting and raving about being a purist and what not with this but I do love walnuts in it, because to me that's what 'goes'.  I'm a big believer that there are two different types of people in this world, those that like nuts and those that don't.  I am a nut lover so always add them although as a kid I didn't like them.  My mom would always make one loaf with nuts and one without to satisfy everyone's tastes so I tend to do the same if I'm not making it for myself.

This recipe comes from an adorable cookbook I received as a wedding shower gift and has plenty of good, homey recipes.  The authors suggest making one loaf to eat now, then, slicing and freezing the other.  You can take directly out of the freezer, toast it and put peanut butter on top.  I've tried it and it's delicious.  (Okay, so maybe I'm not always a purist when it comes to banana bread.)  So go ahead and start collecting those bananas in your freezer.  If you're as terrible an estimator as me it won't take you long to have enough for this recipe.  It's relatively simple to make and the smell of baking it alone will be reason enough to make it.

Trish's Tips:  Make sure to mash the bananas well or you will have bits of banana show up in the bread, not the end of the world, but not quite the right consistency you are looking for.  I just use a potato masher.  If you are like me, you almost never use buttermilk.  Don't buy it, make it instead.  In a small bowl mix 1/2 cup regular milk with 1 1/2 tsp either lemon juice or white vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes.

Unbelievable Banana Bread
makes 2 loaves
Adapted from Bride & Groom First & Forever Cookbook
by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C walnuts
2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 C canola oil
2 C sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 C buttermilk
2 C very ripe mashed bananas (about 5 small bananas)
Cooking spray
2 TBL flaxseed meal (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Preheat oven in dry skillet over medium heat tossing occasionally until fragrant and golden.  Roughly chop and set aside.

Spray 2 - 9x3 or 9x5 inch loaf pans with cooking spray.  Stir together the flour, kosher salt, cinnamon and flaxseed meal if using in medium-bowl.  Set aside.

Combine the oil and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Alternatively, use a hand mixer and beat on low until combined.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute.

Stir the baking soda into the buttermilk in a small bowl.  Add one third of the dry ingredients to the mixer, followed by half of the buttermilk and mix on low speed until barely combined, 10 to 15 seconds.  Repeat.  Scrape down the sides and mix in the remaining dry ingredients.  Add the mashed bananas and walnuts and mix until just incorporated.  Do not overmix.

Pour the batter into prepared pans.  Bake until the bread is a golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.  (Start checking at 45 mins.)  Transfer the pans to wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes, then remove the loaves from the pans and let cool.