DH, the little one and I had one of those weekends you really don't want to end. Alas, Monday morning has arrived along with a cold blast of wind, thankfully we have the better part of a delicious apple pie in the kitchen... mmm, can I have pie for lunch? I'm getting ahead of myself. Sunday afternoon we took the little one to the Del Ray Halloween Parade. We had planned to watch but somehow got caught up in the excitement and found ourselves marching along with the hundreds of other families in costume. I think I've mentioned that we recently bought our first home in a neighborhood that I would describe as being one part Austin circa the 1980's -- small, eclectic and artsy-- mixed with one part Norman Rockwell painting. We have kids and dogs everywhere. On our very tiny block alone there are three family's expecting a baby this winter.
I'm not one for exposing photos of DH or our son online but I couldn't help but add this one picture. He's dressed up as a tiger. The costume, which is on loan from a friend is absolutely precious and when you squeeze the paw, it raaarrrs. How cute is that? Yes, I think both DH and the little one were tired of mommy squeezing the paw every 5 minutes but thankfully they are both pretty patient with me.
We had a great time at the parade and party afterwards. I was shocked by how many adults got into the spirit as well. There were strollers, wagons and dogs all dressed up. It was quite a site. We even ran into friends whose daughter was dressed up as a frog and they'd constructed a lily pad platform on top of (I'm guessing) a wagon complete with a pink floral chair on top for her to sit. I mean wow! That's dedication. I hope they won for best decoration!
Once we got home, it was time for me to get cooking! I think by now you know how much I love to cook, especially when I can play around in the kitchen with new ingredients. This weekend's "experiment" turned out to be a very tasty success so I thought I'd share it with you.
While I mostly stick to family favorites or things I can whip together in under 30 mins during the week, I love to take some time on Sunday to make dishes requiring a little more focus, effort and time. We'll see how this goes once baby deux arrives ~ 2 weeks to go ~ but I'm sure once we get back to a semi-normal routine with him we can resume our Sunday night dinners.
During our weekly trip to the neighborhood farmers' market I picked up some of our regular favorites-- green beans and apples but I also grabbed a bunch of Diakon Radishes. I didn't even know what they were and had to ask the farmer what they were called and how he'd recommend using them. While he was very friendly I didn't get a good idea of how to use them other than pickled or in a slaw, neither of which I particularly like.
I looked around in my cook books and online for suggestions. I found one recipe for Korean short ribs with diacon radishes and there was my inspiration. Now, I didn't have a tenth of the Korean ingredients needed nor did I have the 8 hours needed to prepare the dish. Well I guess technically I had the time, but realistically that was never going to happen.
Come Sunday I started playing around with my favorite Braised Short Ribs recipe from the Joy of Cooking and came up with the one I'm sharing with you today. It was delish! (hat tip to Tia for my new favorite word-delish).
And to top it off, since I had about 8 lbs of apples --- yes yes I sometimes get a bit carried away at the farmers market-- I decided to make an apple pie. I'm sharing this recipe with you too because it's soooooooo easy. I would like to note for the record I'm a horrible baker! Seriously, awful! Baking requires mathematics, exact measurements and following directions. Frankly, none of these are skills I possess. I much prefer cooking where I can play around with a recipe or forgo it altogether in lieu of tasty ingredients I find in my pantry. So when it comes to baking I need all the shortcuts and "easy" recipes I can find. This one DEFINITELY fits into the easy category. And yes, this is an actual picture of my pie from last night!
I hope you are able to try either one or both of these recipe's this fall.
Braised Short Ribs with Diakon Radishes
Serves 2-4
3lbs Bone-in Short Ribs, trimmed of excess fat
2 TBS Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Dried herb of choice (I used sage)
3 medium Diakon Radishes, peeled and chopped into bite size cubes
2 medium sweet onions, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
3/4 C red wine
1-2 Cups water
Season Ribs with salt & pepper and a dash of herb. Heat dutch oven over medium high heat, add olive oil. Once hot, brown ribs on each side till they get a nice crust. Brown in batches if necessary to avoid over crowding the pan.
Remove ribs and set aside. Add onions, garlic, diakon radishes, dash of salt & pepper and herb to the dutch oven. Cook over medium for about 10 mins or until onions are translucent and begin to brown. Add wine, water, bay leaves and ribs to pot. Bring to a boil then lower heat to simmer for 2 - 2 1/2 hours till the meat is falling off the bone.
Once cooked, set aside ribs to let cool for a few minutes. Return pot to a boil and let sauce thicken for about 10-15 mins. Remove visible fat and connective tissue from meat and then return to pot once sauce is desired consistency. Serve over orzo, mashed potatoes, grits or rice.
Super Simple Apple Pie
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Pie Pan (9-9 1/2 inches)
Pie crusts (I bought mine at Trader Joe's - 1 pkg has two pie crusts)
3 lbs apples, peeled cored and sliced (I used granny smith and honey crisps)
1 C Sugar, plus extra
3 TBS flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 TBS butter
2 TBS milk or cream
Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt together and sprinkle over apples, mixing well.
Place one pie crust on the bottom of pie dish. Add Apple filling and dot with small pieces of butter. Top with second pie crust, crimping edges the top and bottom pie crusts together along the rim of the pie dish. Brush the top of crust with milk/cream and sprinkle with a couple of TBS of sugar. Using a small knife, make 5 or 6 slits along the top center of the pie crust to allow steam during cooking.
Cook for 15 minutes on bottom rack. Remove pie and cover edges with aluminum foil. Lower oven temp to 350 degrees and return pie to oven, cooking for about another hour or until crust is evenly golden brown and apples are tender. Cool before serving.
Happy Cooking!
Cheers,
Ouiser
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