Shortchanged and shortribbed

Today it's my birthday, and I have determined the second worst date for one's birthday to fall upon - the worst being christmas, of course. Today is the day Canada competes in the olympic gold medal hockey game, effectively eclipsing the equally triumphant and momentous occasion that was my vaginal-forthcoming. Way to steal my thunder, dedicated athletes. Pfft.

I thought about making myself a cake until I caught a glimpse of my cat, which brought on an irrepressible shudder of disgust as I likened myself to a lonely spinster. Not surprisingly, I passed on the cake and spent the rest of my afternoon completely wasted watching hockey and eating short ribs instead.

short ribs a la ..uh..birthday:

2 kg beef short ribs
2 carrots, onions, and celery stalks - all finely diced
2 bird chilies, thinly sliced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp grated ginger
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 tbsp brown sugar
salt to taste
1 bottle of beer
4 cups beef stock
3 tbsp tomato paste
approx. 3/4 cup of flour
2 tbsp corn starch mixed with about 1/4 cup water

Season the meat with salt and pepper, heat up some olive oil on medium heat in a heavy pot or dutch oven, and dredge the beef in flour. Shake off the excess, and brown the ribs on all sides in small batches. Add the mirepoix (onion+carrot+celery) to the rendered fat in the pot and cook until tender, around 5-7 minutes. Dump in the ginger, garlic, chili, tomato paste and spices and stir that bastard up good.



Continue cooking for a couple of minutes, then douse with beer and stock. Add the brown sugar as well as some salt to taste and once the slurry has returned to a boil you can stick those ribs back into the pot, reduce the heat to low, and simmer the whole damn thing covered for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until your meat is super tender. Remove the ribs, pour in the corn starch suspension, and whisk while it thickens up a bit for 5 minutes or so. Put the meat back into the braising liquid and you're ready to turn 22 years old - drunk and pantless.

Just for your entertainment, here's a succession of images depicting peter's hilarious drunken fidgetyness during overtime.