Braised Short Ribs

Some days are better than others. This should have been a simple dish -- red wine, garlic, sliced mushrooms, soffritto (from Thomas Keller's recipe) and a long slow braise in the crock pot served over buttered noodles. Eh. I think we'll stick with Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon. As I am breaking Julia's rule of never apologize, never make excuses for your food, I'll say that

the real winner of this less than stellar dinner was a new preparation for broccoli gleaned from -- of all the unlikely places -- Michael Chiarello. I cooked the broccoli in boiling salted water for 5 minutes, drained and placed it on a baking tray. I dotted the surface with butter, sprinkled with salt, pepper, crushed red peppers, and shredded cheese (Chiarello called for Pecorino I think but I used a mix of strong cheese -- parmesan and a sheep's milk tomme I had grated up for pastas). After 20 minutes in a 425º oven this was a make ahead broccoli show stopped good enough for company.