Here's what I learned about mussels from Atlantic Canada:

• They are amazingly inexpensive! I found blue mussels from Atlantic Canada sold at Whole Foods and they are sold in 2 lb bags.
• They are cultured/farmed in the ocean on ropes so there's no disruption or dredging of the ocean floor which makes it environmentally friendly and sustainable.
• Blue mussels are harvested year-round which is why they are so affordable.
• They are good for you! They are low in fat, high in protein and Omega 3s.
• They are quick and easy to cook!

I made this Steamed Mussels in White Wine dish for my sisters and brother when we hung for our sibling retreat in November. It turned out fantastic and they all loved it! When I tried mussels at home for myself, I wanted a quick and easy recipe and use olive oil. This dish turned out great and in less than 20 minutes I had it completed.

Serve with butter-garlic bread and dip it in the sauce made from the steaming liquid! It's so good and makes a light dinner! I made this whole pot and ate it all by myself…don't judge, okay?

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White Wine and Olive Oil Steamed Mussels

This appetizer or light meal can be made in less than 20 minutes and tastes amazing! Serve with butter-garlic bread and enjoy!

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 3 lbs Atlantic Canadian mussels rinsed & scrubbed, if necessary
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 bunch of fresh parsley finely chopped
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup of water

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a French oven or heavy-bottomed pot on high heat for 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30-45 seconds.
• Add mussels, wine, cayenne pepper, parsley and water. Stir with a wooden spoon and cover. Cook 5-7 minutes, until all mussels open. Discard any unopened mussels. Serve immediately with broth.

I love seafood and I always say I could have seafood almost every day of the week. I'm definitely going to cook with blue mussels more this year…I would love to hear about your favorite seafood and/or mussels recipes! Do you have a favorite?

Disclosure: Mussel Industry Council provided me with Atlantic Canadian mussels for this recipe. I received no compensation and all opinions are always my own!

The post White Wine and Olive Oil Steamed Mussels appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I had beef short ribs for the first time at Olive Garden. They have this wonderful dish called Braised Beef & Tortelloni. It's been at least a few years since I first had this dish and I have wanted to recreate this dish ever since. I googled many times over the years for a recipe and even sent Darden Restaurants an email to no avail. I have made beef short ribs at home several times with great results and recently made Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs in a slow cooker. Just recently though, I decided to drastically modify that America's Test Kitchen recipe to recreate Olive Garden's Braised Beef and Tortelloni (bigger tortellini) recipe.

The description on the menu includes portobello mushrooms and a basil-marsala cream sauce. Why not make it easy on myself and make it in the slow cooker like the red wine-braised recipe? After it was done cooking in the slow cooker, I removed the beef to allow it to rest and strained the sauce from the slow cooker and put it into a fat separator (my new favorite kitchen tool – the Oxo brand fat separator) and reduced the sauce, added sauteed portobellos and 1/2 cup of heavy cream.

The results? Amazing! I'm thrilled it out worked! I used store-bought tortelloni and it worked out awesome. This is a dish that may just enter into our regular rotation. My husband isn't too crazy about tortelloni or tortellini so he had his with fettuccine which was also great! Add your favorite garlic bread or buttery rolls and you have Italian comfort food at its best.

Being careful with your knife, remove the short rib meat from the bone. I stand it up straight so I can get most of the meat off of the bone.

After microwaving the bones, place them at the bottom of the slow cooker.

In batches, brown the boneless short ribs.

Place them on top of the short rib bones in the slow cooker.

Brown the veggies and be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot/pan.

This sauce is layered with flavor!

Pour the sauce over the beef in the slow cooker.

Using a fat separator to remove the fat from a sauce or gravy is much faster than skimming it.

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Braised Beef Short Ribs with Tortelloni in a Marsala Cream Sauce (Slow Cooker Recipe)

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 9 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4 -5 generous servings

Ingredients

• 4 pounds bone-in short ribs meat and bones separated
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 onion chopped medium
• 1 carrot peeled and chopped medium
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh basil or 2 tsp dried
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cups marsala cooking wine
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes drained
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 large portobello mushrooms remove gills, cut into quarters and sliced
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 small tomatoes seeded and diced
• 9 oz. package of refrigerated cheese tortelloni

Instructions

• Place beef bones in a microwavable casserole dish and microwave, 10 to 12 minutes; add to slow cooker.
• Use paper towels to dry short rib meat and add salt & pepper. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a French oven at medium high heat for 4-5 minutes. In batches (if needed), brown short ribs on each side for about 7 to 10 minutes; add to slow cooker top of the bones. (Repeat for each batch.)
• Add garlic, onion, carrot, thyme, and basil to French oven and cook over medium-high heat until onions are translucent, 4 to 6 minutes. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, mixing the entire time.
• Whisk in wine and vinegar, use the whisk to scrape up browned bits at the bottom of your French oven. Reduce for about 5 minutes until the alcohol is reduced. Add drained tomatoes to wine sauce and simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Add wine sauce to slow cooker.
• Add broth and stir in as best as you can in slow cooker. Add bay leaves to slow cooker. Cover and cook for 9 to 11 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high.
• Remove short ribs to platter and add foil but do not cover tightly. Allow meat to rest at least 15-20 minutes before slicing.
• Using a strainer on top of a fat separator (not the one it came with because the holes are too big), strain braising liquid into fat separator. Set aside and discard solids.
• Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil at medium heat in a braising pan or non-stick skillet for about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for about 4-5 minutes. Remove and place mushrooms on a clean plate.
• Add set aside braising liquid to pan and heat for about 5 minutes. While the sauce is being heated, start a large pot of salted boiling water and cook tortelloni according to package directions.
• Reduce the sauce in the pan's heat to low. Add mushrooms, half of the diced tomatoes and heavy cream. Reduce sauce for another 4-5 minutes and then leave on warm until you're ready to serve with tortelloni. Garnish dishes with remaining diced tomatoes.

Notes

From The Little Kitchen, inspired by Olive Garden's Braised Beef & Tortelloni

Disclosure: Olive Garden doesn't know who the heck I am and this post does contain an affiliate link.

The post Braised Beef Short Ribs with Tortelloni in a Marsala Cream Sauce (Slow Cooker Recipe) appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Enter in the giveaway for America's Test Kitchen's Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook – the recipe below came from this book!

I LOVE beef short ribs. It all started when I had a pasta dish at a restaurant that had braised short ribs in it (I have since made it!). After that, I wanted to try making them myself. At first, I couldn't find it in the grocery store but now it seems not all that hard to find in my local grocery stores. I can never find them boneless so when buying bone-in beef short ribs, I always look for the ones with a lot of meat on them.

I have made beef short ribs in a slow cooker several times now and when I was provided with a copy of Slow Cooker Revolution from America's Test Kitchen, I knew I had to try this recipe: red wine-braised short ribs. Who could resist that?

First things first, this recipe is not your run of the mill, throw all of the ingredients in the slow cooker and forget about it for 6 hours. There is a certain amount of prep work and we really wanted to have this meal on a weeknight. So when I read the directions, I knew it would be too much to try to do before going to work in the morning. So I did everything the night before, all of the steps up until turn the slow cooker on. I put the crock in the refrigerator so all we had to do was put it into the slow cooker unit and plug it in.

This recipe is amazing…we followed the instructions and cooked on low for 11 hours, well worth the wait! The depth of flavor was amazing and the tenderness of the beef so delightful. I have definitely noticed the difference in following slow cooker recipes when using the low setting and America's Test Kitchen recommends this if you have the time. If you don't have the time, you can still cook this recipe on high for 5-7 hours.

I will definitely be making more Slow Cooker Revolution recipes in the future!

Onions, Carrots and Celery. I always cut my vegetables first before cutting any meats on my cutting board.

This is what they look like after I de-boned them. See how thick the pieces of meat are?

This is what they looked like after being microwaved. Microwaving the bones renders the fat and gives this dish the roasted flavor without having to use the oven.

After browning the short ribs, place them into the slow cooker on top of the microwaved bones.

This is after the vegetables have been added and the sauce has been reduced.

This is when I wrapped the crock in plastic and put it in the fridge. In the morning, I just removed the plastic, placed the lid on top. I did wipe off the crock to get rid of some of the condensation.

This is what they look like after coming out of the slow cooker before putting the strained liquid onto it.

This recipe is a keeper!

Notes on the red wine: I used Como Sur Cabernet Sauvignon. My sister brought it over during the holidays. This is my new favorite Cabernet now.

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Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs Recipe

Why this recipe works: Short ribs are all about the meat and the sauce, so to get a deeply flavored sauce, we first focused on the bones, which we knew were one key to flavor. Not wanting to roast the bones in the oven, we turned to the microwave, which helped in two ways: It rendered out unwanted fat (and short ribs are notoriously greasy), and it gave the bones a roasted flavor which in turn deepened the sauce during the long cooking time. One taste of these long-cooked ribs with their dark glossy sauce and you’ll be glad you put your microwave and skillet to work first.

Prep Time 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time 9 hours hours

Ingredients

• 5 pounds bone-in English-style short ribs meat and bones separated
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 onions chopped medium
• 1 carrot peeled and chopped medium
• 1 celery rib chopped medium
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Instructions

• Arrange beef bones in a dish and microwave (in batches, if microwave is small) until well browned, 10 to 15 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.
• Dry short ribs with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12‑inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown half of short ribs well on all sides, 7 to 10 minutes; transfer to slow cooker. Repeat with remaining tablespoon oil and remaining short ribs; transfer to slow cooker.
• Add onions, carrot, celery, tomato paste, and thyme to fat in skillet and cook over medium-high heat until onions are softened and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in wine and vinegar, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps. Bring to simmer and cook until reduced to 1 cup, about 5 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.
• Stir broth and bay leaves into slow cooker. Cover and cook until beef is tender, 9 to 11 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high.
• Transfer short ribs to serving platter and tent loosely with aluminum foil. Let braising liquid settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using large spoon. Strain braising liquid, discarding solids, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in parsley. Spoon 1 cup sauce over short ribs and serve with remaining sauce.

Serve this over mashed potatoes and your favorite vegetable and you'll be transported to a wonderful world of flavor. Serve it with my best mashed potatoes recipe.

Verdict on the Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook? It's a keeper, even if I hadn't received it for me, I would have bought it. I can't wait to try tons more recipes in the book such as Chicken Vesuvio, Chicken Curry in a Hurry and Korean Braised Short Ribs! By the way, I'm giving away a copy of the cookbook right here on the little kitchen but hurry, it ends on March 1, 2011.

So what do you think? Are you going to try this recipe? Do you have any beef short ribs recipes you would like to share with me?

Disclosure: I received a copy of America's Test Kitchen's Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook. I was not compensated for this post. The opinions are my own and the recipe has been published here with permission. Some links may be affiliate links.

The post Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs Slow Cooker Recipe appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I don't remember what show I was watching on tv but they were making a brisket, maybe it was the Food Network. I had never had brisket before so I went looking for a recipe. As I mentioned before about kitchen fails, I have had many of them. It's only happened a few times but this is one of them, the first recipe I tried was a keeper! I found this recipe in 2007 and I have made it many, many times ever since. I made it once for Christmas Eve dinner for my family too. It's very easy, I mean really, really easy.

I went to Austin, Texas last year and had the best BBQ brisket at Rudy's so now I'm on a quest to find a Texas-style brisket recipe…anyone have one?

By the way, please don't forget to enter the giveaway for the America's Test Kitchen magazine and a KitchenAid spatula. It ends tomorrow!

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Baked Beef Brisket in Red Wine

Ingredients

• 4 lb beef brisket whole, leave cap of fat on top, trim fat on the bottom or sides if necessary
• 3 onions sliced thin
• 1 1/2 cups red wine I use Shiraz red wine either Talus or Yellow Tail
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp paprika
• 3 garlic cloves chopped

Instructions

• Arrange onion slices in bottom of roasting pan, then place the brisket on top (fat side up).
• Combine red wine, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and paprika and pour over the meat.
• Cover tightly with foil and bake for 3-4 hours at 350 degrees until meat is fork tender. Every hour, using a spoon, pour pan juices on top of brisket.
• Serve with buttered egg noodles and your favorite vegetable.

Tips:

• I have found that briskets are more than four pounds- generally 5-7 pounds. I have asked my grocery store meat department to cut in half for me but I have found that they are not as good when cut up. The smaller the piece, the drier and less tasty it comes out. I prefer whole briskets that are NOT trimmed at the store. Always ask for a whole one. At the grocery store and the specialty meat stores I have bought them at, they are vacuum sealed.
• It's very important that the fat side is on top when baking a brisket. The fat cooks down a little and drips back into the meat, giving it a lot of moisture and tenderness.
• Depending on the size of your brisket, you may need to leave it in the oven longer. When I made the brisket pictured, it was 5.74 pounds and I baked it for four hours. I turned off the oven and left it in there for 30 minutes.
• I have also prepared this dish, short of putting it in oven, the night before. Slice the onions, place in the roasting pan. Prepare the brisket and cover the roasting pan. Mix up the sauce and cover. Then all you need to do is pour the red wine sauce over the brisket and place it in your oven.

Notes

Modified from recipezzar.com.

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