A New Month of Recipes in My Mailbox

It’s magazine fundraiser time at my daughter’s middle school, which is never a problem in this house because I love my cooking magazines. I always subscribe to Food & Wine, Gourmet, and Bon Appetit. Occasionally I foray into Cooks Illustrated, Cooking Light, Cucina Italiana, or another foodie mag, but the first three are my triumvirate. Each has its own personality, and I anticipate their arrivals. I can’t claim to make a ton of the recipes from all three every month, but I pour through them, claiming for myself a few quiet minutes of indulgence and inspiration.
First I page through the whole magazine, getting a lay of the land, dog-earring what merits further attention. Then, over the next weeks, I read the articles that appeal to me more carefully and absorb the details. Some months, one book will have twenty dog-ears, and another might not have any.

This month, Food & Wine especially grabbed my interest and set my cooking goals for the month. I couldn’t wait to dive in to the wine and food pairing guide, so the first recipe I tried was Syrah-Braised Short Ribs, p. 32. Short ribs are a big family favorite in this house. There are two recipes I usually make, my grandmother’s that I grew up with, and a really lush, complex one from a cooking magazine a few years ago. But I couldn’t wait to try this month’s F&W version because it looked incredibly simple, in trim one-paragraph format, with a tempting photo of them served over soft polenta.

The recipe called for simply seasoning the beef, frying up some bacon, browning the ribs, sauting onion, carrot and celery, combining everything with a lot of wine and some beef broth, and then putting it in the oven for 4 hours, letting it tenderize and thicken into a warm comforting meal. I actually did all the active prep in the exact 30 minutes the recipe advertised! I didn't have a bottle of Syrah, so I used a nice Chianti. And I will have to say, the resulting dish was every bit as good as my more time-consuming, ingredient-plentiful other two recipes! A big hit. And I bet you could use the same recipe and just leave it all in a slow-cooker, too.

The polenta I made was great, too, using a recipe from Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen (see below). Chicken broth flavors the dish instead of water, so I used the homemade broth left from my chicken soup dinner the night before. I should make polenta more often; I thought it was like a corny substitute for mashed potatoes, a nice texture against the super-tender meat. Plus, it takes less time to make, which is always a plus.

Soft Polenta with Parmesan and Black Pepper from Tyler Florence(you could cut this in half: it made way too much for four people)In a large pot, boil 4 qts. chicken stock and 1 tsp. sea salt. Gradually whisk in 2 cups polenta or yellow corn meal. Keep whisking! Lower the heat, and continue to whisk for 20 minutes until smooth and thick. Add 1/3 cup heavy cream and 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, and stir for 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and 1 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and serve. Next on my list from this month's Food & Wine are gnocchi, beet risotto, pork loin roast, soy-milk rice pudding, salmon with preserved lemons, Nutella-swirl pound cake..... so many recipes, so little time.