Everyday Thomas Keller

Being single changes everything in your life.  Suddenly, you find yourself worrying about when the car is due for it's next maintenance check up; and, you research how to save money on the cable bill, which is nearly highway murder; you think about the best way to discreetly run wires from one room to another because you don't have enough power in the apartment for your technology needs; and, you find yourself eating like a single person - standing up, in your underwear, and with less grandeur and table setting as when I was married.

Without a clear understanding of my social status, I took on Thomas Keller's Short Rib's recipe from his Ad Hoc at Home book.   A beautiful book that was gifted to me by my good friend, Drunk Cook #1.

Now, I have made short ribs in my slow cooker in the past to some level of success.  Those short ribs were soaked in goodness and the meat was falling apart soft.  The fat in the meat melts from 4 + hours being slowly coaxed out of the meat fibers, and creates a delicious, velvety, unctuous sauce that is just as tasty alone as it is as the accompaniment to the meat. 

Nothing is as you would expect with Thomas Keller.   He went in the opposite direction. He requires a braise of 2 hours (at most) in a meat and wine reduction with plenty of precisely chopped and cleaned vegetables.  The short ribs, Plather Ranch Organic Beef (pictured above), are deboned, floured and seared in a separate pan to create a lovely crust on the meat.

While the food is simmering, the kitchen is warmed and takes on this lovely smell of cooking vegetables and I think about the book I had been reading by Margaret Atwood ( <3).  It's about an apocalypse and the last man standing.  In the warmth of my kitchen, I stand and I feel.  

The wafting smell of simmering food makes me feel at home, loved, and emotionally comforted.

The recipe is completed late in the evening.  The meat is unbelievably cooked!  It hasn't disintegrated into meat velvet.  The broth is plentiful and light, feathered with whisperers of leek and red wine.  Thomas instructs to cut the meat into perfect chunks and serve it over pollenta or pureed potatoes.

Instead, I make a quick braise of chickpeas and cabbage in the superb broth and place a few pieces of short ribs on top to make a pretty soup.  

This is Thomas Keller, every day, and re-imagined by a single woman.   I ate my short rib version standing... at my kitchen counter.  [not pictured]