Happy Food is Homemade Food
The cold weather makes me crave warm, hearty, comforting soups. This particular pick is a very meaty and savory soup filled with, you guessed it, Sausage and Kale and white beans! I take delight in finally sharing this yummy concoction
Cookies and Cream is one of those flavors that is just nostalgic to childhood. School lunches and birthday parties — it seemed like everyone had oreos or chocolate cream cookies. I think it is one of those great flavors that everyone likes and I think …
Maybe it is just me, but the title alone has my mouth drooling a bit already! You too? Keep reading!
Bone in beef short ribs are one of the cuts of beef that mystified me for a long time. I did not grow up eating a lot of different cuts of meat, and this is one I only tried in the past five-ish years. Let me say though–I was REALLY missing out on this tender and tasty cut! You will be out of excuses by the end of this page!
Prepare to have your taste buds changed forever–YUM
In my opinion, the beef short ribs you want are the ones that look like they have a nice beef/fat marbling and seem to have a small bone compared to the overall size of the cube. When I buy these it seems most often the best looking ones will be between 1/2 to 2/3 pound each. I used six today and it is more than enough for four really good portions once cooked (though I would say easily six portions if you had all 2/3 pound pieces). Usually I get these directly from the meat counter at my grocery store 🙂
I prepared these with a bit of asian flare today. I seem to be on a bit of a kick with this at the moment actually! The super simple combination of Soy Sauce, Honey, Garlic, and Grated Ginger is wonderful and aromatic. (Plus–this combo works well with many cuts of both beef AND chicken!) I add the beef broth for use in the Instant Pot to ensure there is enough moisture for cooking.
Beef broth tip: when opening a large container for a recipe, portion out then freeze the excess in cup and 1/2 cup increments for future recipes!
So pretty much how you make these ribs is: 1) brown beef on all six sides (Instant Pot Saute function works well) 2) prepare your sauce 3)add the ribs, sauce, and stock to the Instant Pot (Pressure cook – Beef – High – Time 1 hour 15 minutes) 4) set the timer 5) wait 🙁 6) open and enjoy!
Sounds easy, right?
Since I am working with these Asian Inspired flavors, it only made sense to serve this beef as a rice bowl. Plus, it is super easy way to serve dinner–the hard parts are prepping the beef and waiting 🙂 I like to use my rice cooker and make runny eggs with my Joule Sous Vide (you should get one!). I top the dish also with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.
Of course you would make a great tasting dish with just the beef ribs, rice, and a spoonful of the cooking liquid, OR you can add dried seaweed strips or even more yummy veggies to the plate.
Now I did present this recipe today as an Instant Pot meal. You can VERY easily make this in a slow cooker too! You will want to still brown the beef before adding all the ingredients to the slow cooker, but you will need to plan extra time–probably four hours on high or six to eight hours on low.
Ingredients
I would love to know how this works out for you! Comment below and let me know 🙂
We all enjoy a good movie night or binge watch our current favorite TV show from time to time. The best movie snack (in my opinion) is a hot/big/fresh bowl of popcorn, and homemade is thee way to go 🙂 I grew up with microwave …
Could it really be that easy, to pour a quart of your favorite store bought chocolate milk directly into an ice cream machine? In preparation, I actually spent a LOT of time thinking about this video and how to compare chocolate milk against a chocolate …
OMG Bacon!!! Bacon is so diverse with so many amazing preparations. This is everyone’s favorite part of pork, and if anyone says differently, there is a good chance they are lying. I honestly had to seriously edit down my intro in my video because I may have lovingly word vomited all of my many many favorite bacon-food combos in what started as nearly five minutes of my passion for bacon.
I honestly don’t think I am the only person to randomly crave a piece of bacon in the middle of the work day or in some place inconvenient to having an ability to prep food; Let me say: Bacon Jerky is the perfect solution! It stores for up to two weeks (if it even lasts that long!) in room temperature containers–longer in fridge/freezer in airtight vacuum bags.
Plus, Bacon jerky is super portable-I even enjoyed some mid flight on my way to the World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon while editing this video 🙂 and a bit more just now in my hotel room writing this post!
*drooling*
But really, this is such an easy one ingredient recipe. The hardest part for me is allowing the bacon to become jerky without me snacking it all away!
First, choose your favorite thick cut bacon. I recommend the unpackaged kind from the meat counter, and if possible look for bacon with more red meat and less white fat (too much fat and the bacon will not cure super well) .
Next, bake the bacon! Normally I bake my bacon for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees to make it super crispy for breakfast or sandwiches. For Jerky, we want to fully cook the bacon BUT we do not want it crispy. I did about 15 minutes at 350 degrees, turning the bacon once. The bacon needs to have retained some flexibility when you take it from the oven while also have had a chance to cook out and render a lot of the fat.
*note–if you are using any kind of bacon with sugar (like my maple cured bacon or one of my other favorites-brown sugar bacon) then you need to pay extra close attention to the baking process. Sugar cured bacons have a tendency to become crispy (or burnt) more quickly than other bacons.
Hard part: do not use this delicious smelling bacon as a snack!
Before going in the food dehydrator, you want the bacon to be dry. I use paper towels and roll it up like a bacon burrito and squeeze. The now dry bacon is to be laid in the food dehydrator.
Use your dehydrator to the manufacture specifications, and check on it regularly. The temperature I used in my Nesco FD-60 Snackmaster was 160 degrees. I used the paper towel burrito method to remove more rendered fat and oil at the one hour mark and again at the two hour mark.
Obviously you must go against my previous advice to not snack on the bacon and try it when you are checking on the jerky process. I felt this batch was ready to go at the two hour mark but some of my previous batches were better at the 2 1/2 hour mark. I think it all depends on exactly how thick your bacon is as well as the fat to meat ratio and how much fat was able to render out in the oven…so there are multiple variables to pay attention to!
I really hope this one ingredient recipe finds a way into your kitchen! Once jerkified, this bacon is so portable! You won’t be disappointed!
I am sure I am not the only person that hates the super hot, humid, muggy days of Ohio summers. I am also sure that I am not the only gardener that has had too many zucchini ripen at the exact same time and needs …
Spring has Sprung! This also means grocery stores and farmers markets everywhere are again able to stock super fresh and seasonal and local produce. I can never seem to fully appreciate the extra sweetness and flavor of the ripe berries when they come in season …
So Pizza Friday is basically a rule at my house. In some fashion, we are having pizza on Friday. Sometimes we make pizza, sometimes we have Stromboli filled with many meats, and sometimes the dirty dishes have overflowed the kitchen and we go out for pizza. It is easy to plan, fun to look forward to, and honestly helps limit us (my husband) away from pizza every day.
My husband considers Pizza a meat delivery device. And in many instances, I agree. I especially agree with this pizza inspired burger. This burger combines some of my favorite things: Pork, basil, and pizza. Really though, can you truly go wrong combining a warm loaf of Ciabatta bread, a quick tomato marinara, juicy Italian sausage (burgers), lots of melty provolone cheese, and an awesome basil pesto! I don’t think so! This sounds (and is) so yummy!!!
Burgers do sometimes have a short-falling in flavor if you forget to season the burger meat. I make this burger easy, basically because Fridays are meant for winding down from a busy week. I love my cheat: I use store bought Italian Sausage links and reshape the links into burger patties!
Overall, this is such a simple recipe for a Friday night! The basil pesto can be made ahead of time. My standard basil pesto recipe is 2x what you need for this set of burgers. Plus, I almost always have extra pesto saved in my freezer in silicone ice cube trays. The sausage is a snap. The bread I use is a ‘take and bake’ variety from the grocery store (which I buy on sale, freeze, then bake from frozen for a few minutes longer than the package suggests). And the sauce I show you how to make is at least double what you will actually need.
So short story, if you make everything fresh this Friday, then you will have extras of both the basil pesto and the quick marinara sauce ready in the freezer for next Friday!
Italian Sausage Pizza Burgers
I really hope this recipe helps feed many happy bellies at your home! I would love to hear your success stories and comments!
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What can be better? Warm creamy soup, soft bites of potatoes, and bacon. SO MUCH BACON! Potato soup is something that makes me think of spending time in the kitchen with my parents, specifically with my Dad. I don’t know where DOD (Dear ‘Ol Dad) …