So Kool or Not Kool? Maybe Kool
Picky Eater's Opinion? Kool
Will this Make the Future Chef's Menu? To be determined
We do not eat a ton of red meat in our house... for two reasons... the healthy factor and the cost factor. We got our ribs at the Dekalb County Farmer's Market and the ribs alone were $24. Throw in some prosciutto for $3, some fresh herbs for $3, some carrots, shallots, and onions and this was a very expensive meal. Cooking a meal that is expensive stresses me out from the get go. I am not a great chef and I hate to be wasteful with money, so that puts the pressure on. I cooked up the prosciutto and tasted it because this is the first time I have ever done anything with it... that was very tasty. At this point, I was the only one in the house, so I enjoyed this little treat without little hands grabbing for it.
I did somehow, skip a step in the directions in that I forgot to double dip the ribs in flour before I cooked them. That may have improved the outcome had I actually followed directions (now you see why I get stressed when cooking with expensive ingredients).
Cooking the celery, onions and shallots (again... a first for me).
Adding some red wine and broth... yummy...
And adding the fresh rosemary (not sure why mine looks white here). I added thyme, but I did have to go back and remove the dill that I accidentally added that you see in this photo...
I let them cook for the appropriate amount of time and they were very tender and they were good, but I wouldn't describe them as great. The other issue I had with this recipe is that it took FOREVER for the whole thing to come together between the prep work and the cooking time and I just don't have that kind of time during the dinner hour in my house...
The sweet face that I got to see when they got home from the gym (after he had gotten into the blueberries). He would DEFINITELY not eat any of the ribs because he is a vegetarian...the only one in our family :)
I don't remember if I double-dredged these, either. Ours were good -- very good, actually -- but I totally agree, this is an expensive meal and you want it to come out right the first time. (I was also nervous about the gazillion steps, and that's why I cooked with the iPad and the actual blog entry and not the printed recipe. The step-by-step "it should look like this" was helpful. Not so helpful that I didn't still manage to burn the pancetta, but still -- helpful!)
ReplyDeleteAlso, Mick got the ribs on clearance at Kroger (and I have since learned that you should always ask the butcher if there are any on clearance, and sometimes he can and will hook you up). AND, since I have learned from some other recipes that the seasonings are not as "punched up" as we like them, I was generous on the salt and pepper before dredging -- almost, but not quite, too generous. We danced right up to that line, in any case, but I do think it helped.
But the whole point of my commenting was to say that you forgot to link this! Good thing I follow your blog!
hahah! see you soon, I hope!
Hi Kristin! Oh I wish my kids ate blueberries like that, I love them! I agree, it was a pricy dish, but since it's just the hubby and I eating at home now, it worked out since we got 4 meals out of it. We likely won't have it again either because of the time it takes to cook it.
ReplyDeleteJen... I burnt my pancetta also :) Kerry.... I agree, the time took FOREVER... I am a 30 minute prep girl and by prep I am including cooking it :(
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