Not Just A Pretty Face

Ya, by now everyone knows I'm a sucker for a pretty face, or in this case a pretty picture. I spotted the magazine cover from the opposite end of the aisle. fine Cooking June/July 2009, Issue #99. The cover featured a beautiful shot of beef short ribs - and of course the word ice cream was printed there as well - talk about your eye candy!!!!

I've been trying to limit my magazine purchases to avoid a possible landslide of monumental proportions from crushing some unsuspecting passer by in my house. Nine times out of 10 I thumb through and to see if there really is a recipe in that issue that I would ACTUALLY make. Problem is, until my recent attempt at reform I ALWAYS decided that there was. And, like so many other cooking mag addicts I would dog ear the page and set it aside to "make this soon". As stated my "make this soon" pile has become a hazard. This time I didn't, I just grabbed up the pretty picture and scurried to the register to purchase my guilty prize before anyone caught on.

I didn't relegate this mag to the "pile", this time I kept it floating around the kitchen, then neatly stacked on top of the magazines on the coffee table - basically in my face at all time. And, in M's - which one day resulted in him asking "are ya gonna make this?" while holding up said pretty picture and pointing? What else could I say but "yup".

Part of what attracted me to this mag was the short ribs - I seem to be stumbling over short rib recipes like it's some kind of message lately. Well I figured it was time to heed the call and make some! Over the last few weeks I've seen short ribs at my local bulk food store on a regular basis so that's where I headed once the decision was made. Well, let me tell ya, it must have been a mirage because there was a dearth of short ribs in my area. I tried said bulk food store - beep thank you for playing...I tried the grocery store I NEVER shop at any more because they had the audacity to change hands and change floor plans, again beep. However, I was regaled by the Meat Manager for a solid 10 minutes about something to do with ordering and green and slimy. I'm pretty sure he was speaking English, or some English. Ya, I could not understand a freakin' word this guy was saying but he was on a roll so I just stood there, smiled like an idiot, nodding like a bobble head doll until it seemed like he had finished...then I dropped my basket and ran!!!

Last resort was another local, but kinda out of the way store that I hardly use but M thought it might be worth a shot. Thank gawd for M - although they did not have the English Short Ribs called for in the recipe they did have boneless short ribs. I got a very good explanation of butchery from a nice young man (did I really say that - man I'm getting old). Well he talked me into trying the boneless 'cause - guess what - short ribs are a FALL food item! Ya, like why would a magazine print a recipe for summer grilling using an item usually reserved for fall???? (To their credit they do mention you may need to special order - way in the backity back of the magazine).

I had to make a few adjustments due to the fact that I used 4 pounds of boneless meat rather than bone in...more meat guys, oh ya! I also did not use the grill for braising as called for in the recipe, it was just too much of a pain and the bugs were crazy that night. Other than that I followed the recipe closely and was rewarded with short rib perfection! My photo is not as pretty as fine Cooking's is but boy the ribs were spectacular!!

BBQ-BRAISED VIETNAMESE SHORT RIBS WITH SWEET VINEGAR GLAZE

There are heaps of steps so plan accordingly. I made this on a week night, next time I will save this for a weekend. Oh, any changes I made are noted in my version of the recipe - click the link below the photo.