Braised Beef Short Ribs, Chinese Style, from this recipe.
i have no idea why theirs looks so beige, since there’s a lot of soy sauce in this. and I used cubed stewing beef instead and cut the recipe way down, especially the sugar. Main flavors are star anise, ginger, and garlic. Still maybe a tad sweeter than I wanted, but overall a keeper. Just love that mahogany color on the beef. Smashed cukes on the side.
I am making this for a side for the Christmas meal . Was planning on blintzes with caviar. Searched all the two stores here in town for any caviar. Thanks . This will go great with the rotkohl , and elk .
The effect looked as if you have used red wine to braise the meat. Maybe you’ve used dark instead of light soy sauce?
We were expecting a fastball from Mother Nature in the way of Arctic cold–but got a Curve ball instead, 58 degrees and bright sunshine. Soup was the plan for dinner; and soup it stayed despite the spring-like temps…
Amped up Navy Bean Soup:
Yum—thanks for sharing. Haven’t had this in forever. Navy bean soup is a worthy contender for a spot in my upcoming Wonderful Winter of Soup lineup.
Meanwhile, I have been making this Red Lentil Soup with Lemon from the NYT because it’s a quick fix and I could use stuff already in the house. I substitute a thick Middle Eastern hot red pepper sauce (shatta, Ziyad brand) for most of the tomato paste and use a ras al hanout blend In place of the spices called for. A handful
or so of frozen chopped spinach goes in at the end if there’s a bag in the freezer.
It was a simple egg pasta.
Thanks! I made with kitchenmaid and finished with hand.
you are soooo right, i did! it’s all I had. However, the friend who posted this dish on FB, hers was also this dark, and she said she couldn’t understand why theirs was so light. She didn’t mention using dark soy, but maybe she did too… but after all, it does braise in the liquid for 2.5-3.0 hours…
Light soy sauce doesn’t colour much, just gives a slight beige, however it is very salty. Dark soy sauce is not very salty and a bit sweet, the use of it to give colour to the cooking.
now i’m going to have to ask my friend if she used dark or light. Thanks!
Yum!
That looks wonderful! Not shy with the mushrooms
Mrs. P went all out for our Christmas eve dinner. Below is a link to the details and photos.
Gumbo.
Too bad daughter doesn’t like shrimp, and husband likes his well done. 
. Oh well. I’m enjoying it while he goes to pick her up at the airport.
That gumbo broth looks like it had great depth of flavor. Scrumptious.
Last night friends hosted us for Christmas Eve dinner. Duck rillettes, shrimp cocktail, and ricotta cheese dip to start, followed by homemade fettuccine alle vongole. Brownie cheesecake and rainbow “cookies” for dessert. A mix of homemade and purchased, and all tasty. It tasted even better not to be cooking!
Thank you! Shellfish stock from the first of this year’s Dungeness Crabs, and Alton Brown’s oven roasted roux .
Sounds like your picky family’s loss!
A very quiet day. I watched the “Downton Abbey” movie during the day. I enjoyed it a LOT and gave me closure on the characters.
Midday appetizer of a charcuterie plate with proscuitto, manchego, membrillo, Marcona almonds, brie, cheddar, grapes, dried apricots, and crackers. I didn’t eat it all. I just can’t make a platter for one. It was served with a Cranberry Cosmo.
Dinner was late, as I planned poorly on the timing. I made a variation of this for Mom and me for about 10 years: beef tenderloin with cognac sauce, roasted baby potatoes with s/p, rosemary, and parsley, and asparagus with roasted chopped pistachios.
There was wine pre- and during dinner.
Dessert will be an apple crostata with Madagascar Vanilla Bean ice cream. “Die Hard” to go with dessert. And it IS a Christmas movie! 
