A BONE TO PICK

Last night was the final evening of our brief affair with the short rib so I figured I’d keep it simple to give it the proper send off. Wouldn’t want some wild taste infusion to ruin its memory, right?

Meena asked that I use James’ dish from the other night as inspiration. That memory yielded the following:
- idaho potato
- basil pesto
- milk
- black pepper

That’s right … pesto mashed potatoes!

So that was the base. Then I skimmed the fat off the short rib meat and gently reheated it. I feel like I remember that method from when I read Heat. If it’s good enough for Babbo, it’s good enough for me, right?

So I got that going and while it was coming up to serving temperature, I made a little onion thing:
- red onion
- olive oil
- paprika
- cinnamon
- salt
- crushed red pepper

The onion stuff went on the top of mine and on the side of Meena’s. She’s suspicious of such condiments so I figured I’d give her the option to mix when comfortable (or not at all).

Everything was really delicious. The potatoes were creamy and packed with pesto flavor. The meat was still rich and amazing. The heavy paprika scented onions even gave the whole thing a nice little punch at the end.

Oh, forgot to mention. We did a quick salad too. It featured:
- spinach
- parmesan
- red onion
- dressing (olive oil, maple syrup, basil, apple cider vinegar and salt)

It was also delicious. Again … how did I ever make a salad before the salad spinner arrived? I have no clue. Visions of me drying lettuce with a paper towel haunt me.