grace grits and gardening - ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Bone-in Short Ribs. Amazing.

February 4, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Looking for something special to cook that special someone? This recipe for bone-in short ribs made my husband swoon during the Christmas holidays, so it may just work for your romantic Valentine’s Day dinner.

Since I had never made bone-in short ribs, I read various recipes before coming up with my own—not that I thought I could improve upon greatness. I simply wanted to use what I had on hand (like shallots and apples) instead of making another trip to the grocery store for additional ingredients (like pancetta). I’m ~~lazy~~ resourceful that way.

My bone-in-short ribs turned out amazing. Falling-off-the-bone-tender. I’ll be making this again soon!

Bone-in Short Ribs. Amazing.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

8 bone-in short ribs
2 tablespoons bacon drippings or olive oil
3 carrots diced
1/2 medium white onion chopped
2 shallots chopped
2 cloves garlic diced
1/2 Honeycrisp apple diced
1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
2 cups red wine
2 cups beef broth
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Step 1.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously salt and pepper the ribs. Spray a dutch oven with non-stick spray and heat bacon drippings on high. (You do have bacon drippings, don’t you? If not, fry up a few pieces of bacon or use olive oil…) Brown ribs in hot oil about 2 minutes per side. Brown in batches if necessary to avoid crowding. Remove and set aside.

Step 2

In the same pan with the oil, cook onions, shallots, garlic, apple and carrots on medium-high heat. (I love Honeycrisp apples and happened to have one so I threw it in. It added a nice sweetness to the mix.)

Let the veggies hang out in the pan and caramelize. This step will take a few minutes. Your kitchen will already smell amazing. When the carrot mixture is softened and caramelized, add the fire-roasted tomatoes and cook another few minutes.

Step 3

Add wine and bring to a boil. Let reduce five minutes or so then add broth, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves. Simmer another 10-15 minutes so all the flavors blend together.

Step 4

Add ribs to the dish and pop it in the oven (covered) for 2-2.5 hours. Turn meat a couple of times during roasting, otherwise leave it in peace to quietly roast.

Reduce heat to 325 degree and cook another 30-45 minutes uncovered to thoroughly brown (almost char).

Step 5

Let the meat rest (covered) 20-30 minutes before serving. This allows all the juices to redistribute back into the meat, otherwise it will spill out onto your plate leaving the meat dry. Spoon the juicy bits on top to serve.

In short, amazingness.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Wilson, Arkansas

February 3, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

I’ll admit it. When the Wilson family sold out to Gaylon Lawrence Sr. and Jr. in 2011, I was skeptical. And worried. Lee Wilson & Company was as much a fixture in our little corner of Northeast Arkansas as the Mississippi River. Before my Daddy started farming, he worked as an accountant for Lee Wilson & Company. We lived in Wilson, Arkansas on tree-shaded Washington Street.

How could a total stranger just waltz in and buy up one of our towns? Our cutest town. The town where my high school team played football on Friday nights while I cheered from the sidelines.

Well it happened alright to the tune of $150 million. And so far, from what I’ve seen (and I’ve seen the chocolate chess pie at the Wilson Cafe) the change is a very tasty thing.

The Wilson Cafe (at the former Tavern location which still holds a sweet spot in my heart) is serving up marvelous homestyle food like 3-inch thick meatloaf smothered in cream gravy with sweet potato pie for dessert. And it isn’t just the food that has me blogging. The entire experience was a treat—clean, understated decor, walls lined with original paintings from local artist Norwood Creech, attentive wait staff willing to move us three times as our group continued to grow… Really, for a moment, I forgot I was home in the Delta.

Over one hundred years ago, Robert E. Lee Wilson created a vast empire from Mississippi Delta swampland. The effects of his vision have been far-reaching, affecting the entire region and country, affecting me. Change is often unsettling and difficult, yet Lawrence appears to be enhancing Mr. Wilson’s original vision, breathing life back into the charming town. And he’s only just begun. Additional plans including a private charter school and relocation of the Hampson Archeological Museum which houses a huge collection of pre-Columbian artifacts.

For the first time in a long time, Wilson is attracting first-time visitors, but perhaps more importantly, Wilson is bringing people back home.

Grace Grits and Gardening

How to Make an Altered Book (part two)

February 1, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Grace Grits and Gardening - Altered Book How To

Grace Grits and Gardening – Altered Book Project

I started working on an altered book several months ago. You can read about it HERE. Since then, I work on it sporadically, often clipping out pictures or jotting down ideas for future pages. Sometimes I actually sit down with my Mod Podge and work for hours. Time has a way of disappearing when I work on my altered book…

I thought I’d let you see a few of my latest pages.

I made two pages from the Christmas cards I received. I love love love the holidays and wanted to have a section in my book devoted to Christmas.

For the next page (below) I cut Christmas cards into circles. As you can see I did it freehanded. The edges aren’t neat and perfect. They don’t need to be. I like the idea of having my cute neighbor kids’ faces in my book.

Below is my “Me” page (front and back). I’m still working on this one. Or maybe it’s finished. I’m not sure.

I also added a calendar insert to my altered book to make it practical as well as inspirational. This year I am planning out my blog posts and other writing three months in advance. As you can see, I change my mind a lot, but I do feel more organized.