Braised Beef Ribs

There have been a few new things going on in the kitchen but as you can see from the pictures, the new ceramic tile still is not installed. Instead it is sitting neatly in boxes by the kitchen entry between the kitchen and family room, right perfect for stubbing toes. I'm not impressed! Two new pieces of kitchen cookware have joined the kitchen while at least one has left.

Old & New

I have talked of my pressure cookers and canners before. After much debate I decided to splurge and buy a new All American 921 (21.5 qt) pressure canner from Pressure Cooker Outlet. There isn't a lot to go wrong on pressure cookers or canners except most models use gaskets. Gaskets wear out and need replacing which adds to the cost of operation. The gasket for my Mirro is not available locally so I ordered it online and always kept a spare on hand but I worried that at some point the gasket would not be available. So even though the Mirro performed nicely and was very dependable, it was the pressure canner targeted as leaving the kitchen first. The All American has an exclusive metal-to-metal seal that does not require a gasket.

Pictured are my old and new All American 921 pressure canners. All American has now gone to a weighted-gauge system so the new canner has a dial gauge and a round, muli-selection weighted-gauge. Unlike the Mirro, the weighted-gauge is one piece with three different drilled holes to set the weight at the appropriate psi. The dial gauge is used as a visual to keep the canner at pressure. Pressure is determined by the level of heat. Unlike the older All American there is no petcock and the dial gauge needs to be tested yearly which can be a problem in some areas. I've found anywhere that fixes radiators should be able to test the gauges but I think this is why All American gave up on the petcock. The old All American has a dial gauge and a petcock. It works like a charm and is ever so quiet but my concern is the overpressure plug is metal instead of rubber so if it ever blew it would act very much like a bullet! If I can replace the overpressure plug with one of the new rubber ones, I will continue using this canner as a back-up canner.

Braised Beef Ribs

Last night I made braised beef ribs for dinner. These were long, meaty beef ribs with a fair amount of fat. I cooked on low heat (200ºF/95ºC) in the countertop roaster. I sprinkled with a little Montreal Steak seasoning, added a sliced onion, bay leaf and Worcestershire Sauce. Then I poured in about 1 cup of water and let them cook for about 3 hours before pouring a bottle of Diana Sauce. This is a sauce I use quite often when I want a quick sauce. I let the ribs continue cooking for another hour or so. The end result was very moist, flavourful ribs with meat falling off the bone. They really were good and got rave reviews however, they were fattier than I would have liked.

Through the miracles of Photoshop you don't have to look at the countertop that is still waiting to be replaced which would be bad except yours truly made a lot of marker marks for where the new sink is going. Anyway, I wanted to tell you the story behind this small platter. It is actually the base for my soup turine. When my kids (circa 1985) were quite young one of my hobbies was ceramics. I would bundle them (not telling how many) into the pram them walk to the ceramic shop where I would pick up two or three pieces of greenware then carefully make my way back home. Anyone who has worked with greenware can appreciate how easily it breaks. While the kids napped I carefully cleaned each piece then made the same trip the following day with the kids in tow to get the pieces fired while bringing back more. I made an entire eight piece setting of dishes including goblets, cream and sugar, salt and pepper and candlesticks this way. For years, the set was on display in a 1950's cabinet I restored then for the past almost 15 years the dishes have been packed away. I'm now bringing them back out for use always pausing to enjoy the memories they bring.

Plated

The braised beef ribs would have been wonderful even if served on paper plates. I served the ribs with basmati rice, corn and a tossed salad keeping the attention on the ribs themselves. The ribs were a real success, definitely the belle of the ball! They were from the beef quarter we recently bought.