New Ingredients from the Farmer's Market

New ingredients:
Sorrel
Beef Short Ribs

Occasions:
Graduation Party (bringing a dish to share)
Dinner with friends at home

On Saturday morning during our semi regular foray to the farmer's market downtown, Eric and I decided to purchase grassfed beef short ribs from Fredericksburg Farms even though I was not sure how I wold prepare them.  I figured mushrooms would go well so I bought some of them too.  Turned out to be a great purchase.

We also were convinced to try sorrel at the tasting booth by this teenager who is part of the Urban Roots Program.  Urban Roots is a a very cool program in East Austin to help young people living on the east side help create positive change in themselves and their community.  For more information, check out this website www.youthlaunch.org/programs/seeds.php  Anyway, this kid told us that he really liked sorrel because it had a sour taste.  Eric and I tried it and we both liked it so we went back to the Urban Roots stand and bought some sorrel.  That night we took a salad to our friend's graduation party.  I made it with lettuce, sorrel, cucumber from our garden, tomatoes from our garden, mint and chives, from our garden, and a homemade dressing also using herbs from the garden (oregano, basil, and rosemary).  I highly recommend sorrel in a salad.  Try it!

Back to the short ribs...
I started looking for recipes online, but didn't want to barbecue the ribs.  Eventually I found this recipe at yummly.com:

2 lb. beef ribs

1 tsp

salt

1 tsp

black pepper (ground)

3 tbsp

vegetable oil

2

onions (diced)

2

carrots (peeled and diced)

2

celery ribs (diced)

3

garlic cloves (minced)

11/2 tsp

dried thyme

2

bay leaves

4 cup

beef broth

11/3 cup

dry red wine

6

plum tomatoes (coarsely chopped)

1/2 cup

fresh parsley (chopped)

I added 1 lb. of baby bella mushrooms and some oregano and rosemary from the garden.

1	Sprinkle the short ribs with half each of the salt and pepper.
2	In a shallow Dutch oven, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat and brown the short ribs.
3	Transfer to a plate and drain the fat from the pan.
4	Heat the remaining oil in the pan over medium heat.
5	Cook the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and remaining salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 6 minutes. (I added the mushrooms, oregano, and rosemary here)
6	Stir in the broth, wine and tomatoes and bring to a boil.
7	Return the short ribs to the pan.
8	Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until tender, 2 to 2-1/2 hours.
9	Transfer the ribs to a plate.
10	Bring the sauce to a boil and boil until reduced to about 5 cups, 12 minutes.
11	Meanwhile, remove the meat from the ribs. (I cut most of the fat off too and threw it away, but you can include it if you want.)
12	Dice the meat and return it to the pan.
13	Stir in the parsley and simmer until heated through, about 3 minutes.
14	Discard the bay leaves.

15 Serve over pasta. (I used pappardelle)

The meal was delicious and enjoyed by the friends as well as by us.