Braising is a magical technique that will turn a tough cut of meat into a mouth-watering, fork-tender taste treat. Just as importantly, it’s simple and not at all time sensitive.

You’ll need a pan that is fairly deep—deeper than the thickness of the meat you’re braising—and wide enough to allow all the meat to be in a single layer. A lid is optional. Cast iron is nice but unnecessary.

This dish is quite simple. In addition to some beef short ribs (one per serving) you’ll need a single thick slice of fatty bacon, an onion, some diced tomatoes (fresh or canned), a bottle of inexpensive but drinkable wine, two cups (0.5L) beef or other stock, salt and pepper, and some all-purpose flour. If you’re making more than four ribs, you’ll need to increase the liquids, and might want more bacon.

Begin by mixing the flour, salt, and pepper together. You’ll need about a quarter cup of flour per rib (no more than 1 cup, though), although much of it will be thrown out. Be generous with the salt and pepper. Dice the onion, then dice the bacon.

Toss the bacon into the preheated (medium heat) pan to render the fat. While the fat is rendering, dredge the ribs in the seasoned flour and set aside. Once the bacon fat is nicely rendered, lift the bacon out of the pan using a slotted spoon to leave all the fat behind and reserve the bacon. Brown the dredged ribs in the bacon fat, ensuring that all four sides and both ends are nicely colored. Lift the ribs out of the pan and set aside.

Quickly caramelize the onion in the pan. Once it begins to brown, deglaze the pan with the entire bottle of wine, gently scraping up any brown bits of flavor on the bottom of the pan. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the ribs and the reserved bacon. Reduce the heat to a very slow simmer.

About every 30 minutes or so, turn the ribs. After about an hour, add the tomatoes, and maybe a bit of garlic and some fresh rosemary if you feel like it. Continue to simmer at least another hour. If the liquid in the pan gets too low, add more beef stock, wine, or even water. When the bones separate from the meat, it’s done, but can stand up to another hour of cooking without any issues, so don’t worry about watching the pot carefully. If you want to make the ribs a day or two ahead of time, remove the pan from the heat, cool, cover, and refrigerate, then bring back to a simmer for 30 minutes on serving day. An overnight soak will improve the flavor and make the meat more juicy.

If you want to make a pan gravy, use a second pan. Make a roux, then add some strained pot liquor to it. Nothing difficult at all.

It’s really nice to serve braised short ribs on top of (or next to) barley risotto made with beef stock and red wine. Add a large salad and maybe some lightly sautéed asparagus and you’ve got an excellent meal.

As Spring arrives, our bodies begin to crave more fresh fruits and vegetables. Here is a simple salad that addresses those cravings.

Asparagus is one of Spring’s most popular vegetables—it makes an excellent addition to a salad whether raw or blanched and shocked. Strawberries are often thought of as sweet, yet they are actually rather tart because of the high quantities of antioxidants they provide. Add some baby spinach and lightly caramelized sweet onions and you have a wonderful Spring salad.

To dress the salad, I made a simple vinaigrette (3 parts extra virgin olive oil to 1 part vinegar) using chocolate balsamic vinegar for half the vinegar component. When using a flavor like chocolate in a vinaigrette, it’s important to be gentle. Too much chocolate will overpower other flavors.

Here’s a simple skillet supper that can be made vegan by leaving out the sausage and cheese.

Begin with a soffritto of onions, red bell peppers, and carrots; sauté in extra virgin olive oil until lightly browned. Read details about soffritto in a post from the Fall of 2010.

To the soffritto, add Italian sausage, or mushrooms for a vegan version, and sauté until the sausage or mushrooms are done. Drain if there is a significant amount of water or fat.

Open and drain a can of cannellini beans, then add to the pan. Stir in some diced tomatoes, either fresh or roasted (canned or boxed diced tomatoes work well). Add some Italian herb mixture or a chiffonade of basil and oregano, and a splash of red wine. Simmer for a few minutes until the tomatoes are done and the flavors have had a chance to mingle. Adjust the seasoning.

If you find yourself needing to add an extra plate or two because someone brought unexpected guests or you’re feeding a teenager, add some cooked pasta. Small pasta like orecchiette or cavatelli would be perfect.

Serve in a soup plate, optionally with a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and minced Italian (flat-leaf) parsley. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top for a more authentic touch to this non-authentic dish. A nice glass of Chianti and a hunk of ciabatta or other crusty bread will complete the meal.

Spring has been early in Western North Carolina and summer approaches. Time to start thinking of whole-meal salads that do not require cooking.

Recently I composed this salad and thought it would be a good inspiration for the hot days of summer. The most important ingredients in the salad are tuna and white beans. I opened a can of Cannellini beans as well as a can of tuna in olive oil. Poached tuna is best preserved in olive oil; water dilutes the flavor of the fish and adds nothing nutritionally. After draining, the beans and tuna were laid onto a bed of baby Romaine lettuces. Additional salad ingredients included a thinly sliced carrot, a peeled and sliced cucumber, sliced scallions (white part only), and diced red bell pepper.

For dressing I could have used an Italian dressing with a bit of lemon juice added to give it some fresh flavor. Instead I made a simple vinaigrette using six parts lemon fused olive oil, one part traditional balsamic vinegar, and one part white wine vinegar to make a 3:1 vinaigrette. Had I used only white wine vinegar it might have been a bit too tart at that ratio, but the balsamic sweetened the dressing somewhat, producing just the right level of acidity. To complete the vinaigrette, I tossed in some dried herbs (an Italian blend), some shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano, a pinch of Murray River Pink Salt, and some freshly cracked pepper.

This made an excellent dinner for two; more people or larger appetites might require additional cans of tuna and beans. A glass of wine and al fresco dining completed this quick and easy meal.

Tom Ka Gai is the classic Thai Chicken Coconut soup. It’s both quick and easy to make.

There are two or three ingredients you might not be familiar with that are common to Thai cooking and used in this soup. Galangal is a rhyzome similar to ginger, but with a more medicinal taste; if you can’t find fresh or dried galangal, ginger can be used. Kaffir Lime Leaves are…wait for it…leaves from the Kaffir Lime tree. They really aren’t any more pleasant to eat than bay leaves, but they impart a wonderful flavor and aroma. If you can’t find them fresh, you might find them frozen or dried at an Asian market. If you can’t find them at all, thick strips of lime skin can be used instead. Lemongrass is, well, the woody stalk of a grass with a lemony aroma. It is reasonably easy to locate in most grocery stores in the produce department.

The version of Tom Ka Gai that I typically make isn’t really traditional, but it comes close and is lower in fat content. If you want a traditional recipe, visit Steamy Kitchen. Let’s make some soup.

First some prep. Start by cutting boneless chicken into bite-size chunks (thigh meat works well), then season and sauté until just cooked through. For seasoning I use the Coconut Thai Blend from Spice and Tea Exchange; it’s a blend of coconut flake powder, garlic, salt, onion, cilantro, ginger, chili flakes, and lemongrass. You’ll also need scallions, cut into “horse ears” (that’s the green part cut on the bias). Optionally, some carrots, thinly sliced and short strips of red bell pepper add flavor and color.

In a pot on the stove, bring one quart or liter of chicken stock and one can of coconut milk or cream to a simmer and stir to combine; the traditional soup uses all coconut milk. Add some lemongrass cut into small chunks, or do like I do: cut the root off and use the stalk to stir the soup, leaving it in the soup during cooking. Add a 1½-inch piece of peeled galangal or slightly less peeled ginger; leave it in one chunk if you plan to remove it before serving, or cut into small slices if you plan to leave it in the soup. Toss in about four Kaffir Lime Leaves or the lime strip substitute. Then add the sautéed chicken. Let simmer about 10–15 minutes.

Add the scallions, and the option carrot and bell pepper, then let simmer five minutes or so. Adjust the seasoning; I like to toss in a pinch or two of red Thai curry spices; the traditional soup includes cilantro. You may either remove the lemongrass, galangal or ginger, and lime leaves before serving, or leave them in and serve it the traditional way. You might want to warn guests that the lemongrass, leaves, and galangal or ginger aren’t actually meant for eating.

Quiche is a wonderful thing: it’s easy to make with ingredients at hand and it can be served at room temperature. It’s an ideal dish for a brunch when company is coming, except for one little problem: one of your guests has a gluten allergy. Here’s a simple solution so tasty that I may never make savory dough for quiche again.

The simple trick is to use potatoes for the crust. Bake some starchy potatoes—Russets or any baker will do nicely—then mash them with salt and pepper, and maybe a little butter if you want to add a hint of sweetness. Leave the skins in, but cut or tear them into small pieces, or remove the skins completely if you prefer. Press the mashed potatoes into your baking dish to make an even crust, then blind bake it at 350°F for about 15 minutes. It isn’t necessary to bake fully because the potatoes are already cooked, but the potato crust needs to set a bit and get a faint touch of color.

Let the crust cool for a few minutes, then add a filling. For this quiche I caramelized diced onions in a little extra virgin olive oil, then added diced red bell pepper (capsicum) and broccoli florets.

Next, add the eggs. I mixed six whole eggs with about a quarter-cup of cream and some salt and pepper. If you want to make this dairy-free, substitute soy milk. Alternatively, use an additional two egg yolks and thin the mixture with a small amount of water. The texture won’t be quite as creamy nor the flavor quite as sweet, but this avoids soy.

Pour the egg mixture into the crust, then add cheese if you wish. Bake at 350°F about 35–40 minutes. The quiche is done when the center is just set and a knife inserted about two-thirds of the way toward the center comes out clean. Let cool, slice, and serve. Quiche should be served at room temperature, but some people prefer to reheat it and serve it warm.

If you feel energetic and want to make quiche shells ahead of time, simply freeze the shell in the baking pan after the blind baking step. When you want to make a quiche, remove the shell from the freezer, prepare the filling, fill the shell, and bake as above. It may take a few more minutes because the shell is still partially frozen, but it works fine.

Whatever the season, there’s always a good reason to make a spicy soup, and this Spicy Black Bean Soup finished with rum is an excellent choice.

Before I tell you about the soup, however, I have a confession. I use canned beans…a lot. Yes, I can make bean soups from dried beans, and sometimes that’s the best way. But more often than not, I want to get the soup made quickly, and canned beans are really quite good. Furthermore, they can cut a couple of hours off the preparation time; and let’s not forget the overnight soaking required for most dried beans.

For this soup, begin with a mirepoix of one whole yellow onion, one carrot, one stalk of celery, and as much red bell pepper (capsicum) as you like,  everything diced, of course.  Set your soup pot on medium low heat, add a splash of extra virgin olive oil, then add the mirepoix. Stir, cover, and sweat the vegetables for about five minutes. If you have it, I recommend a fused blood orange olive oil.

Add two quarts or liters of stock, either vegetable or chicken. Open two cans of black beans, drain them, and add them to the soup pot along with a whole orange, pierced. Be sure to wash the orange thoroughly. Let the soup simmer about 20 minutes while the flavors combine, then remove the orange and squeeze some of the juice into the pot.

Orange and black bean is an excellent flavor pairing because the orange provides sweetness plus some acid to brighten flavors. If you use orange juice rather than a whole orange, be very gentle because the liquid will reduce somewhat, concentrating the flavors, and juice can become bitter rather quickly.

Back to the soup. While it’s simmering, quickly sauté some chorizo. Drain it if you wish, but I like the additional fat in an otherwise virtually fat-free soup. After removing the orange, add the sautéed chorizo to the soup. Let the flavors marry, then taste and adjust the seasoning. I find that chorizo adds enough salt and spice, but you might disagree.

Finish the soup by adding a shot or two of rum. I prefer Jamaican rum, but that’s just a taste preference. If you’ll be serving this soup right away to young ones, you may want to let it simmer a few minutes to burn off the alcohol. Taste once more and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

One thing I really like about making a large pot of this soup is that I can use it for other things. For example, start with some cooked rice—if you have some roasted corn handy, add it—then add enough soup to flavor the rice, spread it in a baking dish, spoon on a layer of whatever salsa is handy, and bake it until thoroughly heated. I like to add cod or snapper covered with the same salsa and make a Southwestern-style baked fish and rice supper. If you make a large batch of the rice, it freezes well, or you can use it in burritos.

Next up, gluten-free quiche!

Recently I bought some ginger ale so that whiskey and soda could be consumed. But I mistakenly bought some good stuff, Red Rock Golden Ginger Ale, and while it’s delightfully gingery with a strong peppery finish, it really wouldn’t go well with Jameson’s. The bottle sat in the refrigerator, unloved, until I wanted something to garnish a nice pork tenderloin, and I realized that spicy ginger ale would make an absolutely wonderful base for a quick apple chutney.

Basically a chutney is a relish with a well-balanced sweet-and-sour flavor and some level of heat. It might be a fresh chutney, like this one, or a preserved chutney that needs weeks or months to mature. If you’ve never made chutney, don’t let it frighten you. You get to decide what a chutney is, with the confidence that there are literally thousands of chutneys of all sorts, and there isn’t anyone in the world who can prove that what you make isn’t a chutney.

For the apples I chose one Fuji and one Braeburn, for no particular reason. I used maple syrup—the real stuff of course—and brown sugar for the sweet component. For the sour component a good apple cider vinegar was the obvious choice. The ginger ale provided heat and spices. Onion and sweet red pepper (capsicum) provided a savory touch. Here’s how to make it.

First dice and caramelize an onion using a splash of extra virgin olive oil. While the onion caramelizes, dice the apples, skin on, into lightly acidulated water. When the onion is ready, drain the apples and add them to the pot, then pour in the ginger ale. Add enough maple syrup to provide a maple note without overpowering the apples, then add brown sugar until the mixture is fairly sweet. Vinegar is next, just enough to cut the sweetness a bit, but not enough to make it tart because there’s a good bit of reduction about to happen and too much vinegar now will just be sour later.

Bring the mixture to a slow boil, stirring now and then and adjusting the flavor, until the liquid is reduced by about half. Add some diced red pepper and boil a few more minutes until the pepper is incorporated into the flavor. Add salt to taste, then adjust the sweet-and-sour flavor to your liking adding more maple syrup or brown sugar if it’s too tart, or vinegar if it’s too sweet.

I can’t give you any proportions or quantities. The sweetness or tartness of the apples you choose will have an impact on the final flavor, as will the sweetness of the onion and amount of caramelization you achieve. Furthermore, our preferences may be different; I may want a sweeter and hotter chutney than you. What you’re looking for at the end is fruit retaining it’s shape, softened but not mushy, and flavor that is savory rather than sweet. This isn’t a spread for breakfast toast, but a condiment for a savory entrée.

This chutney will last about a week in the refrigerator. It isn’t suitable for preserving.

For me, there is no better quick salad than one of baby spinach, sliced almonds, and orange segments. I prefer to use Clementines or blood oranges when they’re in season.

To dress the salad, I make a vinaigrette of three parts blood orange extra-virgin olive oil and one part balsamic vinegar plus some sea salt and maybe freshly ground or cracked pepper. That’s it. The entire salad takes just a few minutes, and is deliciously healthful.

The oil I use is fused, not infused. Blood oranges and olives ripen at the same time in Sicily, and when they’re pressed together in the correct proportions, the result is a wonderful fused oil redolent of blood orange. Lemon olive oil is another common fused oil. I’ll use either oil whenever I want to brighten flavors; citrus is an excellent brightener.

No matter what anyone says, don’t let them berate you for not making a “traditional” Italian Wedding Soup, because there is no tradition, it really isn’t Italian, and it has nothing to do with weddings. It is, however, a deliciously quick soup.

Start with two quarts or liters of chicken stock—if you don’t have any homemade stock handy, use a low sodium chicken broth. Bring the stock to a simmer and add some meatballs made by making little balls of Italian sausage, or if you prefer a more complicated and time-consuming soup, make mini-meatballs using onions and breadcrumbs and ground meat and eggs and, well, you get the point. Toss in a couple of handfuls of cavatelli or some other small and interesting pasta; leave it out if you wish. Add some leafy green vegetables like kale, escarole, or spinach torn or cut into small pieces; more is better. You might choose to add some beans for additional protein and fiber—I opened and drained a can of cannellini beans. I like tomatoes in soup, so I added some chopped tomatoes. Once the pasta was cooked through, about 15 minutes, the soup was done and ready to serve. My batch produced six meal-size portions of about a pint each.

No, I didn’t leave out seasonings. Between the flavorful stock and the Italian sausage I found that additional seasoning was unnecessary. You might disagree, but it’s your soup, so you do what you wish. I served mine with a generous sprinkling of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and a nice glass of Chianti.

I tend to make soups in fairly large batches, because I like to portion it out into pint-size containers for easy lunches and dinners. The freezer often has three or more types of soup, so there’s a readily available variety of grab-and-go lunches that microwave well and provide rich and tasty nourishment.