What's Cookin' {Braised Beef Short Ribs}

Yesterday I attempted to make Braised Beef Short Ribs from Esquire's cookbook Eat Like a Man. Preston loves ribs. I wanted learn how to make ribs to please him {and to cut back our Chile's bill}. In our deep freeze I found a package of Lawson Angus short ribs. Baby Back Rips... Short Ribs, final conclusion must be similar and equally delicious.

Actually I don't like ribs. I don't know how to negotiate around the bone. I only eat boneless chicken for this reason as well. But I do like BBQ sauce. Instead of surfing the web for a short rib BBQ recipe I decided to go the old fashion route and find a recipe in one of my cookbooks. Ribs, Eat Like a Man, Esquire, dish for Preston = best place to start.

After I spent about 2 hours trying to track down the ingredients {and looking for the perfect flowers for the front yard}

{Love the Colors}

{Purple}

{Favorite, Pink!}

{Uproar Rose Zinnia}

I got down and dirty. I had never braised meat. It was super easy. Actually the entire cooking process was easy. The ingrediants were a little weird especially since the recipe was in a man's cookbook.

{Braising Meat}

{Braised Meat}

{Cooking the Vegetables}

{Picture from the cookbook}

{My Picture}

As you can tell, my picture is very different looking than Esquire's. Cooking time was bout 3 hours in all. The house smelled great and Preston came home after winning a pool tournament ready to chow down.

The dish was an epic fail. The meat fell off the bone, literally, like it was supposed to but the sauce was odd and out of place. I knew the cut of the meat was fatty, but it was extremely chewy. Too chewy. Preston was grateful for the attempt of a home cooked meal, but we ended up dumping out the sauce and saving the bones and meat for the dogs. 

Next time I am going to try cooking short ribs in a crock pot with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce. My BFF tells me it's amazing.

The recipe was so bad, I'm not even going to share it with you.

Our Weekend Adventure

Preston and I decided we couldn't wait two whole weeks for the lake. We thought we would try out Lake Meredith. We got our fishing poles ready, bought a fishing license and packed a cooler full of beer. With the dogs in tow we left early Saturday morning.

Preston & I pulled up to Meredith and immediately became enticed by the water. A wake boarders dream- calm, clear and lots of it.

Without even thinking twice (or realizing that there were no other boats insight) we set out to put our boat on the water. Next thing we know our boat, trailer and diesel truck is stuck in the mud in some very shallow water. Luckily some Chevy men pulled us out, while having a chuckle at our expense I am most positive.

We hightailed it out of Meredith, a little embarrassed, and headed over to Lake Henry. This time we preceded with caution and actually got in the water to test the depth. If it had not been for our mishap at Meredith I am sure we would have been enjoying a day of fishing and wake boarding on Lake Henry with only 2 other boats.

Instead we headed on down the road to La Junta and visited Preston's brother and family and hung out by their pool.

The highlight of my day was this very fascinating bait shop in Ordway, Colorado. They sold everything from chickens, to quail, to lamas, to goats to gold fish. Very country. Any where else this bait/animal store might have seemed out of place but in Ordway, Colorado it fit right in.

What's Cookin' {Picante Fritatta}

Hey y'all. It's been awhile. I follow this blog called Bon Appetempt. It is so different from any other blog that I follow. It kinda reminds me of the movie Julie and Julia. Amelia, the blogger, writes about her experiences or attempts in recreating extravagant dishes from her collection of cookbooks.  

It's funny to me that what made me want to blog is this dish I made the other night. I loath cooking {baking is a different story}. However, ever since my family and I have started taking cooking classes from Grammie {we call this monthly gathering "Cooking with Grammie"} I have started to find myself in the kitchen thinking. "what can I make from scratch?"

{Cooking with Grammie: Lesson in Pie Making}

Last night I decided to make Picante Frittata out of Tosca Reno's The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged diet/cookbook. Preparing the ingredients for the dish was super easy and fast. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't burn the bottom of the eggs or under-cook the middle of the dish; it came out perfect. I topped my Picante Frittata off with homemade guacamole and this wonder new salsa I found at the super market- Tostitos Simply Natural Black Bean & Corn Salsa . I love it because I can pronounce the ingredients and it has 0 calories like all salsa should. 

If you skim through Bon Appetempt's blog you will understand why I took these pictures. Actually I think I was more excited to try and recreate the actual picture in the cookbook than I was cooking the dish!

{Onions, Red Pepper, Spinach}

{Frittata cooking on the stove}

{My Finished Product}

Picante Frittata via Tosca Reno's The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged
1 serving

Ingredients
1 tsp evoo
1 Cipollino onion, peeled and minced {I have no idea what this is. I used a yellow onion}
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and devened, cut into thin ribbons
1 cup baby spinach leaves, finely chopped
3 egg whites + 1 whole egg
1/4 cup skim milk
Pinch cumin
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Optional 
Salsa
Guacamole 

Method
Preheat ovent to 350 degrees. Make sure oven rack in the center of the oven. In a medium ovenproof skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add vegetables to skillet and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Wile vegetables are cooking, combine eggs, milk, salt, cumin and pepper. Whisk well. Pour egg mixture over cooking vegetables. Cook until edges are set and center is just beginning to set. Transfer to heated oven and bake another 5-8 minutes or until center is firm. Transfer cooked frittata to heated plate and serve.

Calories: 267
Protein: 24g