Some of John’s Faves

John has been working a lot lately! He not only puts in long days during the week, but he works the weekend too. Bummer city! I hope that this busy streak will pass soon for his sake!

See...all that work makes him kind of sassy :)

It makes me feel bad when he works so much, so to make him feel better, or to make me feel better - one of the two - I decided to make some of Johns favorites on Saturday. I started with BNB or banana nut bread for a nice little snack, then made some braised short ribs, mashies, and Brussels sprouts for dinner. It was a full day of cooking, but worth it!

It took me a very long time with lots of trial and error to find a really good banana bread recipe. Keep in mind though, baking is not my strong suit. Anyway, after several months of trying to find the perfect recipe, I ended up combing a few recipes to create the one I use. I have been using it for so long, I can't tell you where I found those original recipes, but I am sure it entailed a Google search of sorts.

BNB

• 10 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon of butter (room temperature - cut into little cubes)
• 2 mashed ripe bananas (I mash mine up with a fork first)
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups flour + 2 tablespoons for dusting the pan
• ¾ cup sugar + 2 tablespoons for sprinkling on top
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (if you use regular or sea salt, use only 1/2 teaspoon)
• 1 cup chopped pecans (you can use walnuts or no nuts, I just like Pecans better)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan (regular size bread pan) with the extra 1 teaspoon of butter and dust with flour.

In a small mixing bowl, beat the bananas, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla and set aside.

Sift the flour, sugar (3/4 cup), baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. Add the 10 tablespoons of butter and mix until blended on medium low. Turn the mixer to medium and add the banana mixture in a few batches, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Fold in the nuts.

Pour into the loaf pan and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Bake for 1 hour. Insert a toothpick to see if it is done in the center. You may need about 10 more minutes if it isn’t fully cooked.

John was very happy with the bread. Now he will have something to eat for breakfast this week too. He was so happy, he even posed for a picture with me :) 

For my braised short ribs, I ventured out to Snider Bros Meats. It’s not that my local grocery store doesn’t carry short ribs because they do, but they have been so wimpy and small lately that I thought it best to just go directly to the meat market.  Snider Bros Meats has the yummiest stuff! I ended up getting much more than just the short ribs.

I have only been making short ribs for about a year now, but I have developed a good recipe. AND let’s be honest, short ribs are really hard to screw up. They have a high fat content, so they are pretty forgiving and don’t overcook easily. 

Short ribs before going into the oven

Short ribs after going into the oven

• 4-5 pounds short ribs
• Seasoned flour for dusting
• 1 medium onion roughly chopped
• 2-3 carrots roughly chopped
• 2-3 celery stalks roughly chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 3-4 sprigs thyme
• 3 cups beef broth
• 1 beer - optional (you could use any beer you like really - I used a Cutthroat - but I have also used Guinness before)
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Coat your short ribs with the seasoned flour and set aside. Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to the bottom of a large Dutch Oven . Over medium to medium high heat, begin browning your short ribs. You will want to do this in batches, so they actually get brown on all sides. Remove short ribs from the pan. Add in the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. Sauté for a few minutes. Pour in the beer to deglaze the pan - scrape off all those yummy bits on the bottom. Add your short ribs back into the dish. Try and nestle them in between the veggies. Add in the beef broth. Do not cover the short ribs all the way, but most of the way (you don’t want them to drown, just kind of float). :)

Place the lid on the Dutch Oven and put in the oven. Cook for one hour at 350 degrees. Turn the heat to 300 degrees and cook for an additional 2.5 to three hours. Try really hard not to peek at the short ribs while they are cooking - just let them cook away.

I served these with sautéed Brussels sprouts with bacon and onion and garlic mashies. Yummy! I should mention that when you serve the short ribs, you don’t eat the veggies. They are more for flavor. You will have a really rich sauce though that you can spoon over the top of the short ribs.

I am pretty sure after my day of cooking, John knows I am feeling bad for him having to work all the time. And if he didn't get that message...well, at least he gets to eat good food :)