New Year Sunday Supper

For my first Sunday dinner of the new year, I had to feed some tired off-roaders. The guys went to Vegas for the weekend, drove off-road trucks and did other stuff that they don't mention. So, I spent Sunday working on another gem from Sunday Suppers at Lucques -- what a great book! I don't think we have had a dud yet, I highly recommend this book. Today's task was Boeuf a la Niciose. Saturday was spent running around for ingredients. Thanks to the brand new Mother's Market here in Santa Ana, I didn't have to make the trek down to Whole Paycheck for papardalle and Nicoise olives. Now only if Mother's sold real meat.....
Some boneless shortribs that were hiding at Ralph's and a leftover filet from NYE were cut up & marinated overnight with some thyme, some orange zest, and some garlic. I browned this up, then sweated some fennel, onion & carrot, tomatoes, a few sprigs of thyme and a bay leaf. Then came some balsamic reduced to a glaze, some red wine, and some beef stock. This all went in the oven for 3 hrs to braise. The best part - some whole canned tomatoes are split, seasoned with S&P and thyme, and roasted in the oven for an hour and a half - these get tucked in at serving, next time I will make more - yummmm!!
The papardalle gets tossed with some braising liquid and olives after cooking, then spinach & more herbs are wilted into that, with the beef being served atop.
This got rave reviews from everyone, and it makes spectacular leftovers. I really can't recommend this book enough! I am also thinking there must be some other applications for the roasted tomatoes (I mean besides just eating with a loaf of bread).