Braised short ribs and thank-yous

Did I mention that I went in with a coworker on a metric tonne of beef? Well, it was really just like half a grass-fed/finished beeve (yes I learned that term from Michael Pollan) from Mt. Vernon, WA. But the point is I have all this meat in my (non-storage-sized, just regular household kitchen-sized) freezer. I’m still working through the lamb from last winter. But I digress…

The good thing about being on the Pill (besides not producing ill-timed, shit-smearing monsters) is that I know exactly when I’m going to start my period. More importantly, I know when I’m going to get all cunty and stabby. Then I can braise some short ribs on the weekend for a quick weeknight reheat, and I can avoid the stabby part. The cunty part, I can’t help. I just gotta be me.

So on Sunday, I gave these bad boys a nice long braise. I had to trim them pretty good first, to get rid of some of the shitton of tallow these had coating them. Salt, pepper and dried thyme. That was really it. Sear for some maillard, brown the mirepoix in the rendered beef fat (and what the hell, a little bacon fat for extra hugs), deglaze with a splash of red wine and cover in beef stock. Oven for two hours. Tonight all I had to do was boil some potatoes. A spoonful of creme fraiche on top makes the drippings into a creamy sauce.

Note the lack of greenery, save a sprig of parsley. This makes six days in a row that we have had red meat for dinner, and I think I’m growing a goiter. Lighter suppers the rest of the week! I’m serious, too – we’re expecting a heat wave this Friday. Straight from 60 degrees to 90 FUCKING DEGREES. We got screwed out of a springtime just like we got screwed out of autumn. Fuck you, climate change!

But onto nicer things, like people who like me (who really, really like me)! I got a couple of awards from my co-bloggers. Awards I absolutely do not deserve. The first one was the You Make My Day award, gifted to me by Judy of No Fear Entertaining. I can’t imagine really making her day, since she has it all (plus 2 wunderkind daughters and a greenhouse!). Thank you, Judy.

The other award came from Amy at We Are Never Full (I assume her hubz Jonny concurs? God I hope so). If my purpose is to be a source of cursing and half-assed food photography, then I guess I deliver. I kid. I’m going to be sincere for a moment, here. I really wish I could do nothing else but think of recipes, cook and shoot them in daylight, and write about it. The catch? I like my salary and bennies. A lot. Maybe if I ever I have a (non ill-timed, non shit-smearing) kid I can do this for real. Until then, I’ll do my best to keep blogging purposefully.

This sounds trite, I know, but I’m just going to give these awards back to all of my readers (and the people on my blogroll in particular). None of you do this without giving a shit (even just a little). You are all committed, and give as much time and attention as you can afford. Thank you for being a part of my community! Do you want to gouge your eyes out with a grapefruit spoon yet? No? Good. Watch this video.