Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, and for many, it’s a chance for one last barbecue or picnic before work and school take center stage. We don’t have any special holiday plans, but it does seem an appropriate time to focus on food. So this week’s blog is mostly local, as they say.
Cooking with the Chief Penguin
Over the course of our marriage, I’ve been the primary cook and my spouse, aka Chief Penguin, the baker extraordinaire. He’s a foodie too and now that he’s retired he’s the one who spends time studying cooking web sites, poring over cookbooks, and collecting recipes we should try. We go to the supermarket armed with a sheaf of papers and usually I decide which recipe I’d be happy to prepare. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a capable cook in his own right and sometimes takes a turn as entrée chef.
Our recent culinary adventure was the result of his finding a Gordon Ramsay YouTube video on how to prepare short ribs. You might say, short ribs in this heat? And you’d be right, but he was captivated and then so was I. Something about Ramsay’s exuberant energetic style and how easy he made it all look. We printed the recipe, shopped (a word about where later), and I got into motion.
The recipe is really fairly straightforward and involved browning the short ribs on top of the stove, then adding and reducing a bottle of red wine before adding beef stock, and then putting the pan in a supposedly slow oven for 3-4 hours. Ramsay’s low slow oven was 338 degrees F. or 170 C. Although the pan was covered, our ribs were more than done in 2 hours—a bit blackened in fact. And the stock and reduced wine were very thin and didn’t ever become thick. But, before serving, the ribs are topped with a marvelous mixture of crispy sautéed pancetta and crimini mushrooms which adds salt and spice and texture. Would I make this dish again? Possibly, but with some adjustment in oven temperature and the amount of stock, for sure, and perhaps an herb or two.
A footnote: some years ago we enjoyed a superb Thanksgiving dinner with friends at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London. It was so wonderful we were at table for four hours. Still sated from the meal, we continued to relax. Then the wait staff pleasantly, but firmly, requested we move to the lounge. There we sat until the noise of a vacuum cleaner around our feet suggested it really was time to depart. A most memorable meal!
Eating Out
Although we like to cook, we also dine out frequently. Last night we tried a new restaurant on Anna Maria Island that was recommended by several friends. Called Eat Here, it’s informal and slightly funky with a very appealing menu. It also happens to be the sister restaurant to the much fancier, more expensive, and excellent Beach Bistro nearby.
Here we succumbed to temptation (multiple ones, I’d say) and ordered the homemade potato chips with blue cheese dip to start—sinfully addictive and easy to transport any extras home since they are served in a small tan takeout box! We also sampled the flounder with a lime butter caper sauce, shrimp served over roasted Brussels sprouts, the house French fries (scrumptious skinny ones!) and their key lime cheesecake. It was a very tasty meal and we will definitely go back again…and again.
Provisions
There is a Whole Foods market in downtown Sarasota, but closer to home are two very good options for fresh produce and meats. Fresh Market on Manatee Ave. in Bradenton is a branch of a North Carolina-based chain and very good for organic fruits and vegetables, meats and fish, with a carefully curated selection of dry goods, everything from nuts and grains to jarred sauces and pasta. We are fans of their roasted chicken salad (light on the mayonnaise) in the deli case and their ultimate crab cakes (a thicker cake with virtually no filler). This is an upscale store and our regular go-to market.
For the aforementioned ribs, however, we paid a visit to the Chop Shop, also on Manatee. It’s a low undistinguished building, doesn’t look like much from the outside, and you might hesitate to go in. But do! It’s a high quality butcher shop and much more with a wide selection and helpful staff. The deli case contains delicious made-on-the-premises ham salad and very good vinegar-based coleslaw. And if you need any unusual jellies, jams, pickles, or sauces, there is shelf after shelf, an eclectic and international array that will surely tempt you (it always does me!) to try something new.
Photo credit: Skinny-fries, www.foodfood.com
