Braised Short Ribs

Last weekend, we went out to dinner with friends and I tried a meal that included braised short ribs, some fish and polenta. The fish was okay, but the short ribs were amazing. I decided that it was a meal that I would love to make at home. So, as I tend to do, I did a search on the internet. No one recipe that I found was really quite what I was looking for, so in my typical style, I combined several recipes to get to one that worked for me.

I forgot to buy the polenta, so we served it with rice and corn on the side. I used the braising liquid to make a quick gravy to serve as a sauce for the meal. The meal was met with great feedback from the whole family.

I think that next time, I might swap out my braising liquid and use 1 cup strong coffee and 1 cup beef broth or 1 cup red wine and 1 cup beef broth. I definitely will try making it with polenta too.

Braised Short Ribs

Ingredients:
2 pounds boneless beef short ribs
1/4 cup flour
salt
pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 medium onion, diced
10 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme
12 fluid ounces soda pop
1/2 cup beef broth

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.

Dry the ribs off, season with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.

Pour the olive oil into a skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the ribs, about 5 minutes on each side.

Place the garlic, onions, tomatoes, and thyme in the bottom of a roasting pan.

Top with the ribs and then pour in the pop and beef broth.

Cover tightly with foil.

Place in the oven for 3 hours. Allow the meat to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

Disclaimer

Oreo Cream Cheese Cookies

My husband is a big cheesecake fan, but it isn't always the easiest dessert to take with you to a gathering. So, when we were invited to a gathering and he mentioned wanting cheesecake, I decided to find a portable version and discovered these cream cheese cookies. They sounded delicious, so I gave it a shot, making a few adjustments including increasing the batch size.

Now, clearly, they don't have that silky texture of a cheesecake, but from a flavor perspective they definitely are a cream cheese cookie and deliver the flavor. Everyone loved them and I think they were even better the second day (I had left some of the batch at home for us).

Oreo Cream Cheese Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter softened
6 ounces cream cheese softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups Oreo Cookies, crushed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed, cream together butter and cream cheese until thoroughly combined.

Add sugar and vanilla, mix well.

Add flour one cup at a time and mix on low just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.

Pour Oreo crumbles into a bowl. Scoop dough out and roll into roughly 1.5" balls, then roll in cookie crumbles, coating thoroughly. Be sure to cover the dough balls really well in crumbs, as this is what holds the cookie together while baking.

Space cookies about 1-2" apart on sheet. Bake on center rack about 14-15 minutes and allow to cool on sheet several minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

I actually ran out of Oreo cookie crumbs the one time, so I swapped out the end of the batch to graham cracker crumbs. They were equally delicious in my opinion.

Disclaimer