New Christmas present...

For Christmas every year, I usually end up with a few nice presents, and a couple hundred dollars. For the life of me, I always seem to have trouble figuring out what I want to spend the money on. I usually hang onto the money for a couple of months before I figure out what I'm willing to spend it on.

A few years ago, I bought my Weber Performer grill. I believe I bought it in March. Last year, I think it was March or April when I decided that I had been drooling over a Stihl weed-eater for a while, and I had enough to buy it, so I picked it up. I wish I had bought a Stihl years ago.

This year was different. I went into Christmas with an idea of several items I wanted. I've been watching cooking shows, and it seems that I keep seeing chef's make something in a big dutch oven. I decided that I needed to have an enamel covered dutch oven. I picked up a 6 quart oven last week and broke it in over the weekend. I was craving short ribs, and after looking for a while for a good recipe, I took parts of several recipes, and made my own. We're having it for dinner tomorrow night, but I sampled tonight. Oh, man, it was good.

Since I posted on Facebook earlier today, I've been asked for the recipe. Here it is:

8 beef short ribs (bone-in)
salt & pepper
olive oil (I use a good extra-virgin oil, but honestly, vegetable oil would work fine also)
1 large sweet onion, chopped
a couple cloves of garlic, chopped
2 cups of dry red wine (I used a Cabernet)
1 can beef broth
2 cans diced tomatoes
sliced mushrooms (I used about 2/3 of a 16 oz package of fresh mushrooms)

Trim the excess fat from the ribs. Don't cut all the fat off, just the excess.
Season the ribs with salt and pepper on all sides (liberally).
Heat some oil in the bottom of the dutch oven over medium high (any pot will work)
Brown the ribs on all sides (I did 4 at a time) and put aside.
Saute the onions in the olive oil. When they are about ready, add the garlic and saute another minute or so. Season with a little more salt & pepper while sauteing.
Add the wine, beef broth, and tomatoes, bring to a boil, and let it go for 10 minutes or so to reduce a little, stirring occasionally.

Add the ribs back and add the mushrooms, making sure that the meat is covered. Add some water, wine, or beef broth if you need to.

Put the lid on and put it in the over for 2 or 3 hours or so at 300. Maybe longer at 200 or 250 if you want to would be good also.

The sample of mine was good enough, I'd consider this recipe worth of serving to company.

Tomorrow evening, I'm going to serve the ribs with some mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. I've never cooked the sprouts before, so this will be new. I'm going to cube up some venison smoke sausage and dice some onions. After browning the sausage and onions, I'll cut the sprouts in half and saute them in the pan with the sausage drippings, sausage, onions, garlic, salt, & pepper. Hopefully they are good. If not, it will be back to the drawing board. Hey, cooking is all about trial & error. Find what works and enjoy it.