My Dangerous Dinner Party Habit / Dinner Party Main Course Recipes

- Short Ribs Braised in Beer and Buckwheat Honey
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Bacon
- Kasha Varnishkes

I always cut out recipes from the Wednesday New York Times Dining section. I save recipes into my Epicurious and Food Network recipe boxes. But my eyes are always bigger than my planner.

I simply don’t have enough time to cook big meals. Which means I don’t make all those recipes I save. Every few weeks I have friends and family over and try my saved recipes for the first time.

Many cooks are mortified at the idea of serving never-tested food at a dinner party. But I think one of the talents of a good cook is an innate sense of which flavors go together. That’s why I love innovators like Bobby Flay—his recipes always combine unexpected tastes in new, interesting, sumptuous ways. A meal at one of his restaurants is a constant surprise to the palate.

Back to my dinner party menu.

I admit that not every dish I make is a hit. Many of the recipes I save and eventually try are deleted from my electronic recipe files. This is the only opportunity I have to try them. And I love the adventure.

For my upcoming dinner party, I’m making a combination of new, old, and never-tried recipes for the main course. Here’s the menu:

- Short Ribs Braised in Beer and Buckwheat Honey. I got this recipe from The New York Times a few years ago and made it for two consecutive Christmases.
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Bacon. This is the recipe I never tried before from Epicurious.
- Kasha Varnishkes. This Jewish comfort food is from Grandma Sylvia’s recipe play book.

The recipes are below, along with a link to the original source.

Short Ribs Braised in Beer and Buckwheat Honey
http://bit.ly/7xNBI3
Adapted from Zeke Freeman at Bee Raw

Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 5 pounds short ribs, trimmed
- Salt and pepper
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
- 1/3 cup buckwheat honey
- 12 ounces good ale
- 1 bay leaf

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the oil in a roasting pan set over medium-high heat. Season the ribs generously with salt and pepper and brown them on all sides, about 1 minute per side. Remove from the pan and decrease the heat to medium-low. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mustard, honey, ale and bay leaf. Return the meat to the pan and coat with the sauce.
2. Bring the sauce to a simmer; cover the pan tightly with a lid or foil. Place in the oven and cook until the meat is very tender, 2 to 2 ½ hours. Remove the ribs, and skim as much fat as possible from the sauce. Serve the meat warm with some sauce.

Time to prep and cook: 3 hours
Serves 6

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Bacon
http://bit.ly/5FxEMW

Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds small Brussels sprouts (each about 1 inch in diameter), trimmed, halved through root end
- 1 1/4 cups diced bacon (about 6 ounces)
- 1 lemon, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Cook Brussels sprouts in medium saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about five minutes. Drain.
2. Spread Brussels sprouts on rimmed baking sheet in single layer. Sprinkle with bacon, lemon slices, salt, and pepper; stir.
3. Roast Brussels sprouts until tender and beginning to brown, stirring every 10 minutes, about 30 minutes.
4. Transfer to bowl and serve.

Time to prep and cook: 45 minutes
Serves 6

Kasha Varnishkes
This recipe I found at About.com is almost the same as my Grandma Sylvia’s recipe.
http://bit.ly/7vDTFK

Ingredients
- 1 cup kasha buckwheat groats, medium granulation
- 1 egg, well beaten
- 2 tbls vegetable oil
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 cups chicken stock or use canned
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup pasta bow ties

Directions
1. Mix the kasha with the beaten egg. Be sure all the grains are covered with egg. Place a medium non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat. Add the kasha to the pan and, using a wooden fork, flatten it out a bit, stirring and moving it about the pan until the egg dries and the grains have mostly separated. Set aside.
2. Place a pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta bow ties. (Do not cook them yet.)
3. In a 4-quart heavy stovetop covered casserole, heat the oil on a medium flame. Sauté the onions until clear. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the salt and pepper and the reserved kasha. Stir a bit and cover. Cook over low heat, stirring now and then, until the kasha is tender, about 10 minutes. If it is not done to your taste, cook for a few more minutes.
4. In the meantime, boil the pasta just until tender. Drain well and stir into the kasha.

Time to prep and cook: 45 minutes
Serves 4