The first thing I usually remember when working in the kitchen with my brother is that he no longer thinks like a teenage boy. Yesteryear’s phrases of, “Whatever,” have long been replaced with, “Hell, yes and hurry up.”

It’s not to say I can’t keep up, but you have to shift into a different mindset when you’re elbow to elbow with someone who’s five steps ahead of you and embodies the attitude of Time is Money.

So let’s get to it. Chef style and no messing around.

Peat Smoked Short Ribs – One Pot Meal

Ingredients

Eight beef short ribs, bone in. Rinsed off, dried, sprinkled with sea or kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper.

4 Twelve oz. bottles of Chocolate Porter or Vanilla Stout

32 oz. beef broth

3 cups of mirepoix (evenly diced carrot, celery and onion) – or more to your liking.

2-3 lbs of cleaned new potatoes

3 bunches of thoroughly washed, julienned collard greens/mustard greens/ Swiss chard/kale (or the equivalent greens).

Peat chips

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Cookin’

1. Start grill to heat one side. Clean grill, then place a half sheet (cookie sheet) filled with peat chips on the side that’s heating up. Begin smoking peat chips. (You may need to light them first with a match to get things going – a little like charcoal briquettes.)

2. Place your beef ribs on another half sheet on the other side of the grill.

3. Indirect hot smoke the ribs for preferably three hours with temperatures to reach 200 degrees Fahrenheit under the hood. (This just means to have the peat on the heated side and the beef on the NON-heated side. Also you need to smoke the ribs in a closed grill to retain the smoke.) Add more peat chips as needed … the more smoke, the better.

4. Set indoor oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Place smoked meat into one or two braising kettles (Dutch ovens). Add the beer and if needed the beef stock. Place the mirepoix over the top of the beef and braise for four hours or until meat nearly or fully falls off the bone.

6. Add the new potatoes on top for 30 minutes. Finally, add your greens in the same pot. Cover and put back in the oven to braise for another half hour.

7. Remove meat from bones, save bones for dog or husband.

8. Puree vegetables with sauce for gravy, or serve everything with the meat as is and enjoy as a one pot dish.

The chef suggests a nice hearty red wine or a glass of whisky to accompany the dinner. I’d add a dash of family and friends to boot.

Dish up, eat up, but don’t plan to get up. This is a meal that needs to be savored for the long haul.