We should call this ‘THE DISH THAT CHANGED MY LIFE’ !
This is the main course from the Masterchef Finale and for obvious reasons, my signature dish.  For my Dinner with Luca catering I must have cooked it over 200 hundred times, but I still love it!

In Italy, beef short ribs are traditionally cooked in a red-wine braise  and are served with polenta. This recipe is a mix between classic Italian and all that I learned on my MasterChef journey. Take the tamarind, for example, an ingredient that is not part of Italian cuisine. I had never even heard of it before I came to the United States, and when I did, it never crossed my mind to use it until I read the Worcestershire sauce label: tamarind, molasses, anchovies, cloves, chiles, and garlic. What a mix of tastes! It made such an impression on me that I based this braise on those very ingredients and went on to win the MasterChef title with it. I am big fan of braised meat. There is something romantic about it. Braised meat calls for fall or winter weather, maybe some snow, the house infused with the aroma of spices and you relaxed and sipping wine on the sofa surrounded by loved ones. If you don’t have all that time, though, no worries: Braising meat is a low-and-slow cooking technique, so you could do many other useful things while it’s cooking. I paired my short ribs with a sunchoke puree, chanterelle mushrooms, and fresh watercress. Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, are a species of sunflower, in the daisy family, and, unfortunately, are in season just a few months of the year, from fall to early spring. We eat just the root, which looks a lot like ginger and has a nutty taste and crisp texture that turns creamy when cooked. If sunchokes aren’t available, you can substitute turnips or parsnips; if you do, I suggest adding a little goat cheese for the creamiest results. Then there are the chanterelles, my favorite type of mushroom. In Italy we call them galletti, which means “rooster,” reflecting the top of the mushroom’s resemblance to the crest of a rooster. Their season is usually late summer and fall. Chanterelles can be very expensive. Most of the times I use shiitake or oysters mushrooms. I like to finish the dish with a touch of green like some peppery arugula o fresh spinach dressed with some olive oil and lemon juice.

It’s not your everyday recipe, especially because there are a lot of steps and it takes some times, but it is not that hard to make. It may become one of your favorite recipes for that special occasion!

From Masterchef’s Facebook page – September 2013