Note: I just published the same basic blog, but omitted the pictures of our special guests for Monday night dinner. Please read this version, instead.

October 21 – October 27, 2024

Monday:                   Ultimate Beef Stew

Tuesday:                   Glorious Leftovers

Wednesday:            Cheesy White Beans and Kale

Friday:                       Jamaincan-Style Chile-Lime Fish Stew

Saturday:                  Bacon, Pineapple and Jalapeño Pizza (alas, no picture of this beautiful pizza)

Sunday:                     Ragù Cilentano with Cavatelli

Old Friends and, yes, more Ina

Last Monday we had a reunion at Casa Stuarti – 4 members of the CCHSFC (Central Catholic High School Forensic Society) met at our house for dinner.  My friends, Al, Chris, Paul and I put in many hours after school and on weekends and travelled the country and had a lot of head-swelling success, and laughed together about as hard as is possible to laugh without internal injury.  Al and Laura descended from the sophisticated latitudes of Connecticut to Pittsburgh and we had a chance to gather.  I had some fun cooking for this group who came bearing wine, cakes and chocolate.

Above is a picture of the four Musketeers.  I’m not sure which of us is D’Artagnan, except that it can’t be me since Chris refused to enter the world for a full ten days after I was born, possibly in protest. 

While It’s difficult to describe what it’s like to get together with colleagues and friends of 58 years.  I’m sure you know the feeling, including that moment when it feels as if you’re picking up where you left off all those years ago.  It is a constant source of astonishment to me that this can happen and a great encouragement to visit old friends.

I can’t deny that I’m in a bit of a cooking rut, but it’s a good rut and I’m heading in the right direction and, frankly, it’s none of your business, and it’s my rut and I’m staying in it.  All of which is a roundabout way of saying that this week we’re featuring yet another dish from Ina Garten, making that three Ina’s in a row, and we may just achieve a quartet of Ina dishes next week.

Here are some other reasons for cooking this recipe:

My great, near life-long friend, Chris will order short ribs any time he sees it in any form on a menu.  I have not seen him eat tofu with short ribs, but I wouldn’t put it past him.

Short ribs are magnificent.  (And, it seems they are having their moment in American grocery economics.  Our favorite local butcher at Wagner’s Market, tells me that I don’t need to call in my order for anything less than one ton of short ribs, since he always has them on hand.  They are, in a word, a gold mine for butchers.  And for the time it takes you to read this post, would you please ignore the fact that they may also be a gold mine for cardiologists in the long run?)

So – to get back to Ina – when I saw her recipe for Ultimate Beef Stew (with short ribs as the beef), when I noticed that it was fall,* a time that calls for warm and comforting food, and when, in honor of Al being in Pittsburgh, we invited my old friends, including Chris, the short rib afficionado, over for dinner, Ina’s Ultimate Beef Stew seemed the natural choice for a main course.

Boy, that was a long way around to introducing this week’s recipe.  I’m a little out of breath, but in a few minutes I’ll recover and give you a careful and comprehensive guide to making this dish, with a couple of tips as to how to spend all the time you’ll have to hang around waiting for it to cook.

*Apparently it has been Fall for about a month, but I’m retired, rarely know what the precise date is and often have to be reminded what day of the week it is.  Don’t laugh – if you’re lucky, this will happen to you, too.

Ultimate Beef Stew

(adapted from Ina Garten)

Timing:                                                 3 – 3 ½ hours

Note:  the time span depends on whether you trim

the short ribs – you should – and how many batches

of trimmed rib you have to sear – I had 3 batches

And each batch takes about 10 minutes

Ingredients:

3 pounds boneless short ribs cut into 1 ½-inch chunks (I bought a bit more, knowing that I would be trimming a good amount of fat from the beef)

4 ounces small-diced pancetta (Ina suggests the 4 ounce package of Citterio pancetta which you can find in most grocery stores, pre-diced)

2 cups chopped yellow onions (1 of those titanic onions they sell at Giant Eagle ought to do it, though you may need a bit more)

2 cups chopped fennel (1 giant bulb or two medium)

1 pound carrots, scrubbed and cut 1/2 – inch thick on the diagonal

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed, 1-inch diced

3 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup Cognac or brandy (this really adds to the flavor)

1 cup hearty red wine (we used a chianti)

2 tablespoons minced garlic – we used maybe 1 teaspoon

1 can (14.5 oz) of diced tomatoes and their juices

2 tablespoons tomato paste (be generous)

2 cups beef broth

10 ounces frozen peas

Kosher salt and pepper

Prep:

Preheat oven to 300 F

Trim the short ribs – carefully pare away the hard fat – even if you end up with pieces smaller than 1 ½-inch.   This will reduce the greasy taste too much fat can impart and eliminate the need to skim the fat.

Chop the onions and fennel and mince the garlic

Measure out the cognac and wine

Open the can of diced tomatoes

Assemble the other ingredients.

You can cut the carrots now or do so while the rest of the stew is cooking – they don’t get added until the stew has cooked for 1 ½ hours.

Don’t dice the potatoes until 5 minutes or so before you put them into the pot.

Get a large Dutch oven onto the stove – there are a lot of ingredients, you need some space, the larger the surface of the Dutch oven, the shorter the time it will take to sear the beef.

Cook:

Heat the oil in the Dutch oven over medium.  When rippling, add the pancetta and cook for 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned.  Transfer the pancetta to a plate lined with a paper towel and set aside – you won’t be adding this back in until just before serving.

While the pancetta is cooking, season the short rib chunks all over with pepper and salt.  When the pancetta is removed from the Dutch oven, brown the meat over medium, turning until browned all over – about 7 – 10 minutes.  You’ll need to turn the meat, but let it sit for 3-4 minutes after you put it into the pan so that it will release easily when you turn it.  Transfer the meat to a large bowl, as it is done, and brown the remaining meat in batches and add to the bowl.

Turn off the heat and add the Cognac and 1/3 cup of the wine to the Dutch oven, scraping up any browned bits.  Simmer over medium for one minute and then add the onions and fennel and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender – about 8 or 9 minutes – then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute before adding the tomatoes with their juices and tomato paste.  Stir these into the vegetables.

Add the remaining 2/3 cup of wine, the beef broth, the seared meat and juices, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper.  Bring to a simmer, cover and bake for 1 ¼ hours – check after 30 minutes to make sure the liquid is still simmering.

Degrease the stew, if you feel it is necessary, then stir in the carrots and potatoes and bake for another hour, until the vegetables and meat are very tender (test with a fork).  Taste and correct seasoning.

You can let the stew sit off the fire and then it reheat while arranging the rest of your dinner or serve right away, after adding the reserved pancetta and the peas.  If you’re going to let the stew sit for a while, don’t add the pancetta and peas until just before serving.

Serve hot in shallow bowls.

I would serve this with a simple salad and some good baguette or crusty bread and some salted, whipped European butter (Kerry Gold or Plugra will do nicely).

End note – some suggestions on how to spend your time while waiting for the meal to finish cooking:

Read Thomas Carlyle’s The French Revolution – interesting history from a contemporary point of view (contemporary to the revolution) and rich, gorgeous eccentric prose.

Go for a brisk walk or spend an hour at the gym in anticipation of having to process this rich meal.

Listen to your favorite music.  I’ve recently been turned onto a Latin soft jazz group called ‘Pink Martini.’

Kiss you spouse or your kids and pet your dog.

Do the NY Times Crossword Puzzle, but only after you achieve ‘Genius’ status on Spelling Bee.