Pot Braised Ribs

I love eating ribs...the meat is especially tasty and tender. Probably because of all the fat...but whatevs. If you're going to eat ribs, it better be fatty and good. Just don't eat it often. I cut up the ribs into two's and then boiled it in water for ten minutes to get rid of some of the fat and scuz. Then I drained the ribs and in another pot, started the marinade in which I'll eventually braise the ribs in:

Onion - sauteed until almost carmelized
Tomatoes
Paprika
Bbq sauce
Ketchup
Sirracha
Honey
Chicken stock
Apple cider vinegar

The ribs simmered in that sauce for...I dunno....40 minutes? Until the meat was soft and everything smelled heavenly. Then it was served and paired with the Beet and Brussel Sprouts salad.

I liked the sauce with onions and tomatoes more than I liked the ribs...but I think that's account my pregnancy tastebuds still throwing off the taste of meat. One day...in five months or so...this will taste as good as it smelled.

Kimchi Israeli Couscous

What do you do with some leftover kimchi juice that is too good to pour down the drain? This!

Kimchi juice
Pork belly
Green onions
Turnip
Chicken stock
Israeli couscous

I probably could've used more kimchi juice but hey, use what you've got. And I happily didn't have to waste any of its goodness. I started with browning the couscous slightly with green onions. Then threw everything else in (measuring enough liquids for the amount of couscous I used), and covered the pot until it was done. Or until the pork belly was done. It was super flavorful and definitely will make it into rotation (when I use up the next bottle of kimchi). Enjoy!

Lamb Shank

I've always wanted to try cooking lamb shank...so when I saw it go on sale at T&T I picked up a package of three shanks. When I opened the package, I found the shanks were covered in silverskin. From watching cooking shows, I remember chefs always had to cut this chewy stuff off before cooking it...so I proceeded to wrestle with cutting/shaving/ripping/tearing the skins off. I got the shanks about 85% clean before giving up....I needed to get these cooking else we wouldn't have dinner on time.

Lamb shanks
Onion, Shallots
Garlic
Carrots
Tomatoes
Potato
Cumin
Rosemary
Thyme
Basil
Chicken Stock
Rice Wine

I rubbed cornstarch on the shanks and then started to sear them in a big pot with onions. Once browned, I deglazed with rice wine, threw everything else in, added chicken stock and covered the pot for a good simmer. Once the carrots were soft, I moved the shanks to one side, stuck in my immersion blender and pureed some of the veggies to make a thicker sauce.

 

 

It was only cooking for about 50 min before we had to eat....so though it was cooked...and tasty...it was not fall-off-the-bone soft. Resimmering the leftover shank for an hour the next day did the trick however. Will definitely be making something like this again!