We recently bought half of an organic, grass-fed cow. That’s, like, a whole freezer full of meat, and my mind is reeling at all of the unfamiliar cuts. (My meat selection growing up was limited to ground beef, steak, roasts, and boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I’ve come a long way!) Beef short ribs is one of those cuts, so I wandered around Tasty Kitchen looking for recipes. When I saw TK member Shelbi Keith’s recipe for Crockpot Korean Short Rib Tacos, I knew it was going to be a winner.

Why?

1. Unfamiliar cuts of meat + slow cooker = deliciousness
2. Tacos make my world go round. I love them almost as much as my children.

Let’s start!

Gather up the ingredients for the sauce that goes in the slow cooker with the short ribs: soy sauce (I used tamari), rice vinegar, sesame oil, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger, and brown sugar (I reduced it to 1/3 cup).

Peel the garlic and ginger and roughly chop them both. For the ginger, I just cut the skin off with a sharp knife. Yes, you may lose some ginger in the process, but the thought of scraping it off with the back of a spoon makes me crazy. So, I slice it off.

Put the garlic and ginger in a food processor and give it a few pulses until it’s nice and minced. You could also mince it really well with a knife. Or use a Microplane grater.

Transfer to a medium-ish bowl. Preferably one with polka dots.

Add the soy sauce …

And the rest of the ingredients: brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and crushed red pepper.

Give it a stir. You can make this sauce ahead and keep it in the fridge for several days.

Unwrap your beef short ribs.

Grab the slow cooker your mom used when you were a kid. (Those are the best kind! The newer ones cook way too hot.) Place the ribs inside. I used a 4-quart slow cooker, and it did wonderfully.

Pour that sauce over the ribs, put the lid on, and walk away.

For about 10-12 hours. It took my ribs 11 hours to loosen up and start falling off the bones. It was a lot longer than I anticipated.

So, instead of having these for dinner, I took the meat off the bones, poured the sauce into a container, and went to bed. That’s why the fat is so hard in the photo above. It was nice, though, to be able to remove so much of it. And it made for a nice, quick Saturday lunch the next day!

I had to show you this. This is what the sauce looked like when I removed the fat, after it had sat in the fridge all night. Sort of like a beef broth-soy sauce gelatin. *shudder*

No need to fear, though. I threw the meat into a skillet with about half of the gelatin-ized sauce and after a few minutes it got all juicy-like. Meat’s ready!

Now let’s make the carrot-cucumber slaw to go on top. Don’t slack on this. This taco needs this slaw.

Peel a carrot and a cucumber. (I made more slaw than the recipe suggested and used every bit.)

Julienne them both and place them in a bowl. You can do it by hand or use a julienne blade on a mandoline slicer. I really, really love my mandoline. It’s a dangerous thing for me to have, given my track record with sharp objects, but it makes thin, beautiful, uniform cuts. Totally worth the risk.

The dressing for the slaw is simple: just rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and some crushed red pepper flakes. Combine them in a bowl …

And pour it over the carrots and cucumber. You can do this a couple of hours ahead of time, but if you do it earlier, the cucumbers might get soggy. Toss it around, and it’s ready!

Grab some tortillas and assemble the tacos, placing some slaw over the shredded meat. Top it with some chopped fresh cilantro and you are in business, my friends.

Thank you, thank you, Shelbi for making these tacos a part of my life! They were fantastic and every solid-food-eating member of my family loved them!

Be sure to check out Shelbi’s Tasty Kitchen Recipe Box and her blog, Look Who’s Cookin’ Now for more great recipes! (Her Lime Grilled Steak with Smoky Cilantro Butter is calling my name.)

Printable Recipe

Crockpot Korean Short Rib Tacos

by Shelbi Keith on February 13, 2012 in Main Courses, Slow Cooker February 13, 2012 Main CoursesSlow Cooker

See post on Shelbi Keith’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 15 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 7 hrs

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 3

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After taking one bite, my husband proclaimed this his new favorite meal!

Ingredients

• FOR THE KOREAN SHORT RIBS:
• 5 cloves Garlic
• 1-½ whole Inches Of Ginger, Peeled
• ¾ cups Soy Sauce
• ½ cups Plus 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 6 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
• 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 3 pounds Beef Short Ribs
• FOR THE CUCUMBER SLAW:
• ½ whole Hot House Cucumber
• ½ whole Carrot
• 4 teaspoons Rice Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 2 pinches Salt
• 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes
• FOR SERVING:
• 4 whole Tortillas
• 2 Tablespoons Cilantro For Garnish

Preparation Instructions

For the Korean short ribs:

In a mini food processor, blend garlic and ginger until minced. Mix with soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes.

Place short ribs in crockpot and pour sauce over ribs. Turn crock pot on low heat. Cover with a lid and cook for 6-8 hours.
Remove meat from pot, discard bones. Place in the fridge to chill to touch.

Meanwhile, skim fat off the top of the sauce. Place in a sauce pan and simmer until thickened.

Once meat is cool to touch, pull apart with your fingers. Pour about 1/2 cup of the sauce back into the meat. You may serve the extra sauce on the side or discard it.

For the cucumber slaw:

Peel cucumber and chop into matchsticks. Peel carrot and shred.

Mix carrot and cucumber with rice vinegar, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes.

Serve meat on a warm tortilla topped with slaw and cilantro.

 
 
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Be sure to check out Natalie’s own beautiful food blog, Perrys’ Plate, where you can see her growing collection of lovely recipes. There’s always something new to see there. Go visit now!

 
Heather Christo’s recipe box is full of recipes that I want to make. This one, for Spicy Pickled Cucumbers recently caught my eye because it is perfect for days when you want something refreshing and chilled that you can mix and match with so many other dishes.

You start with: a large cucumber, rice wine vinegar, sugar, kosher salt, and crushed red pepper flakes. This would also be nice if you added some fresh herbs at the end!

Start by thinly slicing the cucumbers, as thinly as you can manage. Set them aside.

Pour your rice vinegar in a saucepan.

Next add the sugar.

Then the salt!

Then the red pepper flakes for a little kick.

Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and whisk until the sugar and salt dissolve fully.

Remove the pot from the heat and let the liquid cool completely.

Then place your cucumbers in a bowl and pour the pickling liquid over them.

Stir them well and let them sit in the refrigerator, making sure to stir them every so often so that the flavors really blend together and the cucumbers pickle evenly.

This dish is wonderful with some chunks of tofu, or a medley of other summer vegetables. It could also be a condiment on a sandwich or stored in a jar for a rainy day.

Thank you to Heather for another winner. Check out her website for more recipes and home entertaining tips!

Printable Recipe

Spicy Pickled Cucumbers

by Heather Christo on May 2, 2012 in Sides May 2, 2012 Sides

See post on Heather Christo’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 7 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 5 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 8

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You can eat these just as a little salad, or as the perfect crunchy, sweet, salty and spicy addition to a sandwich.

Ingredients

• 1 whole Large English Cucumber
• 1 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
• ¼ cups Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Preparation Instructions

1. Thinly slice the cucumber, and set aside.

2. Warm the rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan. When you have brought it to a simmer, whisk well to make sure that the sugar and salt have dissolved.

3. Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool completely.

4. When the liquid is cool, add the cucumber slices.

5. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

 
 
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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful books Girl Hunter and Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

 
Is there anything that epitomizes autumn more than soup made of sweet potato or butternut squash? After a brisk walk through crunchy leaves, bright colors muted and cheeks pink with the chill, nothing warms you to your toes more than a bowl of hearty soup. And the beauty of this Roasted Sweet Potato & Quinoa Soup from Tasty Kitchen member Tara Noland? There’s no cream, so it can be filed under the comforting-bu-healthy category.

Now, let’s get cooking.

Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe: a large sweet potato, olive oil, carrots, half of a sweet onion, garlic, vegetable broth, quinoa (though it’s going to be pre-cooked, unlike what’s shown in this picture), a little butter, panko breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. Oh yes, and some salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Peel and dice the sweet potato (about ¾-inch cubes).

Place the cubes on a baking sheet and give them a nice little rub with some olive oil and salt.

Roast the sweet potatoes in the oven until they are tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Add the chopped carrots, sweet onion and garlic, and sauté until the vegetables are tender. Add the sweet potatoes and stir to combine.

Pour in the vegetable or chicken broth and give it a stir. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are very tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

Now it’s time to pull out the blender. But first, allow the soup to cool for at least 10 minutes. Believe me, you don’t want to skip this step. (Hot, pureed sweet potatoes do not look good on the ceiling when the lid of the blender blows off!) Of course, you could also use a handheld blender for this job.

Puree the cooled vegetable mixture until it is smooth.

Return the pureed soup to the saucepan, stir in the cooked quinoa and add salt and pepper, to taste.

And now for a quick topping. Don’t skip this step; it really adds some great texture to the soup.

Melt a little butter in a small skillet. Add the panko breadcrumbs and cook, stirring frequently, until light golden brown. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.

Divide the soup between bowls and top each portion with some of the toasted breadcrumbs and minced parsley. Serve it up!

Thanks so much to Tara for this recipe. Be sure to check out Tara’s blog, Noshing with The Nolands for more mouthwatering recipes (I have my eye on her apple crisp with caramel sauce).

Printable Recipe

Roasted Sweet Potato and Quinoa Soup

by Tara Noland @ Noshing With The Nolands on August 28, 2012 in Soups August 28, 2012 Soups

See post on Tara Noland @ Noshing With The Nolands’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 7 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 50 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 4

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This is where healthy and tasting great meet!

Ingredients

• 1 whole Very Large Sweet Potato
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil, Divided
• ½ whole Large Sweet Onion, Diced
• 2 whole Carrots, Diced
• 1 clove Garlic (large), Minced
• 32 ounces, fluid Chicken Or Vegetable Stock
• Sea Salt And Pepper, To Taste
• 1 cup Cooked Quinoa
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• ½ cups Panko Crumbs
• ⅓ cups Parmesan Cheese, Finely Grated
• Parsley, To Garnish

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Peel and large dice sweet potato. Place sweet potato on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sea salt. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

In a large pot, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil and saute onion, garlic, and carrot until tender. Add potato to the onion mixture and add the chicken stock. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until all vegetables are completely tender. With a hand blender or standing blender, mix until pureed. Adjust seasoning. Add quinoa and reheat.

For the panko topping, melt the butter in a small fry pan and add the panko and cook until lightly browned. Add the Parmesan and stir to combine.

Top each bowl of soup with the panko crumbs and garnish with the parsley.

 
 
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Dara Michalski is a doll and a sweetheart who clearly knows her way around the kitchen. She blogs at Cookin’ Canuck, where she shares her flavor-packed recipes and fun, engaging writing. The photography’s pretty incredible, too.

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  Since moving to Texas, I’ve fallen in love with the breakfast taco and all of its many possibilities. But these Best Breakfast Burritos by ever-entertaining TK member Bev Weidner caught my eye because of the beautiful mound of spinach on top. That is not something I’ve tried before and I decided it was time. […]

  Is there anything more perfect and pretty for a Sunday brunch than quiche? Probably not. But let’s be honest, if you’re going for easy, making a quiche ain’t it. On most Sunday mornings—when I’m still trying to wake up—pastry dough isn’t something I want to deal with. So when I saw this recipe from […]