braised short ribs and apple upsidedown cake 10/10!

here's a fancy dinner that tom picked out to make for our friends beau and alli. i think it was a hit since all the ribs were gone after dinner! we served it with frozen spinach and creamy thyme polenta and then had an apple upside-down cake for dessert. the cake was sort of a bitch to make because it involves whipping the softened butter for the batter; just took longer than we expected; and while we had guests waiting for us! usually i read a recipe before hand but i forgot this time and got burned! but it came out really fluffy and moist. and we brought it fishing the next day to share with our other buddies. it really was a hit!

braised short ribs

from martha's edf oct 07

serves 8 (or a few big guys) prep:45m total:2 3/4hr

stuff:

1/4c all-purp flour

s&p

4# or 16pcs bone-in beef short ribs

1T veg oil

4 carrots in chunks

2 onions quartered

1 btl dry red wine like merlot

1 14.5oz can chicken broth

4 sprigs fresh thyme (we had to use dry)

1 28oz can whole tomats in puree

do:

1. preheat to 400f. season flour w/ s&p in med bowl. toss ribs in to coat and shake off extra

2. heat oil in dutch oven or pot. brown ribs on all sides ~10m. move to plate.

3. + carrots & onions to pot, cooking til lightly browned ~3-5m. + wine, broth, thyme, tomats, ribs and boil. cover and place in oven. cook 1hr. reduce to 350f. cook til fork tender ~1hr more.

4. transfer ribs to plate and moisten with cooking liquid. cover with foil. strain liquid, + back to pot and boil til reduced to 2c, ~10m. + s&p. serve ribs with sauce.

-the recipe says to discard the veggies but i would never!! we saved them and put them with the extra polenta when the ribs were gone. makes a yummy fall lunch!

creamy polenta with thyme

serves 8 time:20m

s&p

1.25c yellow cornmeal

2T butter

1T fresh thyme (again we used 1/2T of dried)

1. in a big pot + 7c H2O, 2t salt, 1/4t pepper and boil on hi. wisk constantly while adding cornmeal. red to med, simmer polenta, wisk frequently until thick and creamy, ~10-15m.

2. remove from heat. stir in butter and thyme. + s&p. garnish with thyme and serve.

Apple-Cinnamon Upside-Down Cake
from martha edf sept 07

Prep: 20 minutes Total: 2 hours Serves 8

You'll want firm but ripe apples that are sweet, such as Empire or Gala. With the cinnamon in this homey cake, they'll hit the spot. Take a few minutes to arrange the apple slices in neat circles on the bottom of the pan -- when the cake is baked and inverted, you'll find them decorating the top.

Ingredients
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 apples, Empire or Gala (about 1 1/2 pounds), each peeled, cored, and sliced into 8 wedges
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat bottom and side of a 9-inch round cake pan with 2 tablespoons butter; sprinkle bottom with brown sugar. In a medium bowl, toss apples with lemon juice; arrange in prepared pan in two concentric circles (you might not use all of them).
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter with granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until incorporated. With mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture in three parts and the milk in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Spoon batter over apples in pan; smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack, at least 30 minutes and up to 6 hours (if cake has risen above rim of pan, simply push back inside rim).
To serve, run a knife around edge of pan, and invert cake onto a rimmed platter.

looks beautiful when it gets dumped out since the butter is all pretty browned with the sugar n all. the apples didn't add much but they sure looked pretty! i actually used some "older" golden delicious that neither of us would have eaten out of hand because they were a little too soft. they worked great here though! keep eating...