dec. 12: new food.

Well, the new food I tried this year wasn't really anything exotic. It was just something I had never cooked before.

Santa brought me a beautiful red Le Creuset pot for Christmas at the end of 2008. It was such an awesome gift.

Here it is, all wrapped up.

I was so enamored with my little red pot! I decided to make something really special for its inaugural dish. The final decision was to make braised short ribs for New Year's dinner.

I didn't have a recipe, so I just went to Harry's Farmer's Market (the same company as Whole Foods) and got things that I thought would be excellent in it. I had read somewhere that one basically browns meat on all sides for a couple of minutes and then slow cooks it for a long time to braise it. So, that's what I did. Once I had all of my meat browned, I added my other ingredients (parsnips, minced garlic, shallots, seasonings), some Two Buck Chuck and some stock and covered my little red pot and put it on low.

When it was done, the meat was falling off the bone, and we ate it like a stew over mashed potatoes. And it was yummy.

I'm thinking I may do it again for New Year's dinner this year (2010), but this time add the traditional collard greens and black eyed peas and corn bread too!

(As you can see, my photography has definitely improved! I had only had Niki a month and was still using the flash most of the time. Now I just about hate that thing. Though I know it is necessary in some situations...)