10 Recipes

Fancy Dinner Ideas

Fancy dinner ideas that eat like restaurant plates — seared scallops, brown butter gnocchi, filet with pan sauce, and centerpiece dinners for special nights.

Contributors
Tineke Younger
Emma Hanscom
Brittany Khamille
+7

Special Occasion

Braised Short RibsSpecial Occasion

Braised Short Ribs

Delicious tender braised short ribs

20 min1240 cal105g proteinServes 513,446 saves
Tineke YoungerTineke Younger

Ingredients

  • 3lbs Short Ribs
  • 5 Sticks Celery (Chopped)
  • 2-3 Carrots (Peeled and Chopped)
  • 2 Yellow onion (Chopped)
  • 1 bottle Dry Red Wine (Cheaper the wine the better)
  • 2 1/2 cup Beef Stock
  • 1 tbsp Tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
  • 2 Heads of garlic (and halved)
  • .75 oz Rosemary
  • .75 oz Thyme
  • .5 oz Oregano
  • .5 oz Parsley
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 3 tbsp Butter
  • 2 tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions

  1. 1Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. 2Trim off fat on the ribs, you can keep some on but too much fat won’t render down and will be chewy. Generously season ribs with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven add half the oil at medium high heat. Add ribs and sear each side for about 2 minutes. Take the ribs out after each side is seared.
  3. 3Add the rest of the oil back into the pot. Add tomatoe paste and roast for about 2-3 minutes. Add the Mirpoix (Celery, carrots, onions) sauté for about 4-5 minutes getting some color on the vegetables. Deglaze the dutch oven with the beef stock, and Worcestershire. Stirring, reduce the stock about 30% before adding the wine. After reduced add the Wine to the Dutch oven. Add in your fresh herbs (tie butchers twine around the herbs to make it easier getting herbs out when doen) and garlic. Add ribs into the Dutch oven, then cover with a lid, place in oven for 2 hours and 45 minutes.
  4. 4When ribs are done, take out of the Dutch oven and set aside. Then using a mesh strainer, pour the liquid into another bowl (DO NOT THROW THE LIQUID AWAY THIS IS YOUR SAUCE) keeping the access veggies is optional
  5. 5Adding your liquid that you strained into a bowl or pot, add to a sauce pan and reduce on medium heat for about 30-35 minutes constantly stirring. Reducing about 80% until almost a syrup like consistency. Add the butter in and stir until completely melted and you get a glossy look to the sauce.
  6. 6Add your ribs into the pan of sauce, smothering them with that delicious sauce. I prefer to serve on top of garlic mash potatoes but whatever you prefer! Enjoy :)

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Restaurant Dinner, at Home

Fancy doesn't mean fussy. Most restaurant-quality dinners come down to one showpiece protein, one great sauce, and one clean side — pulled off with the right technique.

Cooks on Pepper trust this collection for date nights, anniversaries, and any evening the plate needs to feel a little more special than a Tuesday.

Every recipe here uses one refined technique — a proper sear, a real pan sauce, a browned butter — to lift a home kitchen up to a bistro table.

Quick Tips

  1. 1

    Salt the protein early

    30 minutes on the counter with salt on top — dry surface, perfect sear.

  2. 2

    Deglaze the pan

    Every fancy dinner has a pan sauce — wine, stock, butter, done in three minutes.

  3. 3

    Warm the plates

    Restaurant plates come out hot — a 5-minute preheat keeps the meal from cooling on the fork.

  4. 4

    Finish with acid

    A squeeze of lemon or a splash of vinegar wakes up any rich sauce.

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