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

I’ve spent some time recently reading & thinking about Christmas, and all of the gifts, and all of the stuff, and all of the money. (You can read for yourself here, here, here, and here.) And I don’t know about you, but I think things are a little unbalanced these days. I’ll be honest, I love opening lots of presents, and I love giving lots of presents. Now, I’m certainly not going to do anything too crazy like no presents at all, but I think it’s time to take a step back and remember what this season is about. Let’s consider what the best ways to celebrate the birth of Jesus might be. Because I’m not sure it looks like mountains of presents with a side of credit card debt.

For the presents that you do decide to give, what about making something instead of just buying it from a store? Gift giving is about showing someone how much you care about them, not how much money you can spend on them. I’d venture to say that giving your grandma, who loves to bake, a bottle of homemade vanilla extract will mean more to her than a new pair of slippers. And maybe your neighbors that bbq something on the grill anytime the weather is nice would appreciate a jar of spice rub mixed up just by you.
We’ve given some homemade gifts for a couple of years now, with great success. I thought I’d share a few of my favorite recipes, and if you’re looking for something else, there are oodles of options on Pinterest and the rest of the internet.

Vanilla Extract

This is so simple, it hardly needs a recipe, but here’s a good place to start, from Joy the Baker. Make sure you get good vanilla beans, not the shriveled up ones that most markets sell. A good source is Beanilla. Also note, it takes at least 6 weeks for the vanilla to be ready. So, if you’re making it for this Christmas, you’re already short on time. You can include a note that says something like “Don’t use until ____.” with the date it will be ready.

Taco Seasoning

This is so easy to make a big batch of and give away in little mason jars. It tastes so much like the stuff that comes in the little packets from the market, but better and without all the weird preservatives and stuff. This is the one that I’ve used and loved.

Chili Seasoning

One of my favorite slow cooker recipes is this one for chili. The recipe is instructions for cooking it on the stove, but I always throw it all in the crockpot (after browning the meat) and let it cook on low for 8 hours. One time, I got smart and instead of just measuring out enough spices for one batch, I measured out enough for several batches and stored it in a mason jar. I figured out how much was enough for one batch (6 tablespoons) and then I could just scoop out what I needed when I made chili. A couple of other notes on the chili recipe….instead of 46 ounces of tomato juice, I use 2 28oz cans of diced tomatoes. I also usually use more beans, but it usually depends on what’s in my pantry.

All Purpose Seasoning Salt

I love this season salt recipe, although looking back at it, I realize that there isn’t even salt listed in the recipe. I wish I could tell you how much I used, but it was a year ago now and let’s be honest, sometimes I can’t remember what happened yesterday. I’m going to blame it on the kids. I swear that whole pregnancy brain thing came but never left. I do know that I used Kosher Salt, as I always do, and probably just added some and tasted, then adjust as necessary. I also remember that I didn’t use the full amount of red pepper flakes that’s listed. I wanted it to be kid-friendly.

Granola

To round it all off, how about some homemade granola in a mason jar?

I hope that this gives you a few ideas of how to share a little love with friends and family this Christmas season.

love and butter,
amy