Gremolata

I made braised short ribs for dinner tonight, something I've been meaning to try at home since I noticed that Trader Joe's offers boneless short ribs. The up side of boneless is that they cook relatively fast - these got about three hours in a slow oven, and were very tasty even without the overnight treatment the recipe calls for. The down side is that, without bones, the braising liquid doesn't get that glossy sheen and doesn't really thicken up without help.

I served the short ribs over egg noodles, topped with gremolata, that fantastic (and practically effortless) combo of parsley, lemon zest and garlic. Gremolata is a standard accessory for osso bucco, but, as Michael Ruhlman points out, it's equally at home on beef. It's also ridiculously simple to make: mix three parts minced parsley, two parts minced lemon zest, one part minced garlic. Done! Sprinkle it over each serving of short ribs or steak or chicken or shrimp or grilled fish. A tip: make twice as much as you think you need. Ruhlman's basic recipe (three tsp parsley, two tsp lemon zest, one tsp garlic) says it'll cover four servings, but it was gone in a heartbeat.

The short ribs were good, and I'll make them again - but almost anything braised in wine all afternoon will be worth eating. The real treat was the gremolata, and I'll be making more of that very soon.

Cheeseburger Potstickers?

I've GOT to try these: cheeseburger potstickers. I think they'd be even better with a chipotle-mayo dipping sauce. And bacon.

I don't know about making the dough from scratch, though.... Has anyone made dumplings at home?

Mother's Day Menu

An all-request dinner for Liz:

Bacon-wrapped Filets Mignon
Grilled sweet onions
Tuscan potatoes
Sauteed spinach with garlic & fennel seeds
Grilled garlic bread

I'm not a big fan of filets - I much prefer something with a bit more fat, such as a rib-eye. These were terrific, though: the bacon added flavor, fat and protection from the flames.

After wrapping with bacon (secured by toothpicks), I gave them a liberal coating of my tri-wizard rub and left them on the counter for about 30 minutes. The steaks got about 4 minutes per side on a hot (500F) grill, then another two minutes off the flame, but still in the heat, until interior temps hit about 120F. I let them rest, loosely covered, for about 5 minutes while I made the spinach. The result: a nice crust, beautiful medium rare inside, tender and flavorful.