Ok folks, can I call you folks? makes me sound old, doesn’t it? Anyways, here it is, the long awaited short rib taco recipe. If you follow me on Instagram, or are friends with me on Facebook, you might have seen this tease about them a couple weeks ago.

I’ll tell you what, I don’t cook a lot of meat around here, especially red meat, but these? I could eat these all the time. In fact, I always make these in a big batch to ensure plenty of leftovers. My last meal of the latest go around was a bowl version of the meal and maybe even better than the taco style. Maybe.

The first time I made these tacos, I was feeding someone that was allergic to soy sauce, which the original recipe calls for. So, I found a suggestion for a “soy free soy sauce” and made the short ribs with that. It was so good, that I decided to make them that way all the time. All that to say, you’re welcome to make them whichever way works best for you. I don’t mind the extra step of making the soy sauce first. The rest of this recipe is so simple to throw together, and who doesn’t love a meal you can throw in the slow cooker and come back to several hours later?

Slow Cooker Korean Style

Short Rib Tacos

adapted from Perry’s Plate

20 cloves of Garlic
3 inches of Ginger, peeled
3 cups Soy Sauce (I make 3 batches of this “soy free soy sauce”
and use all of it)
2 cups Brown Sugar
6 tablespoons Sesame Oil
6 tablespoons Sriracha
1 1/4 cups Rice Vinegar
5-6 lbs of Beef Short Ribs (I’ve made this same recipe with up to 7-8lbs, without adjusting anything else. It just depends on how much will fit in your slow cooker. Also, short ribs come either on the bone or not. There’s a lot of flavor when you cook with the bones, but that’s non-edible stuff you’re paying for also. I like to use mostly boneless, but some on the bone.)

1. If making your own “soy sauce” follow that recipe first, to allow it to cool for a bit first.

2. Once your soy sauce, homemade or not, is ready to go, add that and all other ingredients besides the short ribs to a blender or food processor.

3. Pulse or blend until you don’t have any huge pieces of garlic or ginger. Last time mine ended up being completely smooth, but that’s not necessary. I blame it on the 1 year old distraction in my house. At least he’s cute.

4. Add all your short ribs to the slow cooker, and top with your blended up marinade.

5. Cook on high for about 4-5 hours. One slow cooker I’ve used, 4 hours on high was great, and then I let it hang out on the warm setting until I was ready for it. Another slow cooker I’ve used, 4 hours on high wasn’t quite falling apart yet, so I let it go about 2 more on low and then it was perfect. If I was setting this in the morning, and wouldn’t be home all day, I would set it for 8 hours on low.

6. Once the short ribs are falling apart, you can pull them out, shred them up with a couple of forks, and resist eating it all before you get to the taco-making stage. It will be worth your patience, promise.

Now that your taco meat is ready, the topping options are endless, but here are my favorites:

thinly sliced red onions
shredded red cabbage
julienned cucumbers tossed in a spoonful of granulated sugar and some rice vinegar
fresh cilantro
freshly squeezed lime juice
and THIS CHIMICHURRI SAUCE (Seriously, even if you don’t make these tacos, make this stuff. Make a double batch of it. You can put it on ANYTHING. Except cupcakes or something stupid like that. Try eggs, meat, fish, burritos, chips, a spoon, trust me.)

Remember those friends I mentioned several months ago? The ones that were working toward moving to Sweden for two years? Well, they’re in Sweden now (you can read all about their first day in the country here if you’d like to), and as bittersweet as it is, I’m so glad I got to make a meal for them to eat around my table once more before they left the country. Spending a few hours in the kitchen, working my way through the chopping and measuring of a recipe, was some good therapy as I dealt with the impending send off. I hope you don’t have to plan a meal for friends moving far away, but if you do, I recommend this one. Otherwise, I still recommend it, for whomever you might be feeding soon. In the meantime, does anyone have a plane that can fly me to Stockholm? That would be great, thanks.

love and butter,
amy

Ever have one of those days with your little ones at home where you just NEED something new to do. The books have all been read, the blocks have all been stacked, the trains have all made laps and laps around the tracks, and your head will explode if you hear the Jake theme song again. Enter…homemade finger paints. I wish I could say that I came up with this one all on my own, but Pinterest to the rescue, again! Not everything on Pinterest is a total fail, and this one was definitely a winner.

Let me clarify, before we even get started, just because this finger paint is technically edible, doesn’t mean I would spoon feed it to my kids (mainly because of all of those lovely food dyes). I used this recipe because I wanted something my kiddos could paint with and not be worried if any ended up in their mouths. It’s a good thing, because Mason figured out really fast that it had a little sugar in it.

This paint is fast to whip together, and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry right now. I’m not sure how well it holds up, but honestly, it takes so few ingredients and so little time, I would just make a new batch each time. Next time we attempt a project like this, I might try an option with no sugar, though. Mason wasn’t too thrilled when I decided he had eaten enough of it.

This kind of activity is great for a little preschool at home too. Not only can you talk about colors, individually, but you can learn about mixing them to make new colors. Liam had a little fun mixing blue & red to make….that’s right, purple!

Homemade Finger Paints

Recipe from Easie Peasie

3 tablespoons White Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 cup Corn Starch
2 cups Water
Food Coloring

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.

2. Cook on medium low heat, whisking the entire time.

3. Cook until it starts to bubble a bit, keep whisking, and take off the heat as soon as it thickens (about a pudding consistency).

4. Divide into separate containers (I made 5), and add food coloring to each. Make sure it’s cool enough to touch before handing over to your littles.

Enjoy a little art time with your kids.

love and butter,
amy