Happiness is Yogi Berra saying "If I had to do it over, I'd do it again"

Yogi Berra 1925-2015: May he rest in peace

Happiness is Chinese braised beef with 5-spice seasoning you can make from scratch

Chinese 5-spice seasoning


1.5 T anise seed
2.5 t fennel seed
1.5 t ground cinnamon
0.5 t ground black pepper
0.5 t ground white pepper (optional)
0.5 t ground clove
0.5 t ground ginger (optional)

If you use them all it's 7-spice seasoning, right?! The dominant spice is obviously the anise seed.

Put them all in a coffee grinder and pulse until powdery, about 15 seconds.

This was wonderful for a nice Chinese beef braise I made today.

Recipes for that will vary, but I used one teaspoon (t) of the above for about 3 pounds of beef chuck, as well as 6 big cloves of garlic pressed, a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger root finely diced, a bunch of green onions chopped and .25 t hot red pepper flakes (or use a fresh red chilli pepper).

You coat the raw cubed beef with 2 T salted flour in a freezer bag and brown that in a pan in batches in oil. Take your time and do that right and you won't be sorry. The browned meat then goes into the crock pot, after which I very briefly sauteed the mixture above in the fat left in the pan, a couple of minutes.

Then I added 2 cups of beef stock I had ready, made from a bouillon cube, 3 T of Tamari sauce, 3 T of red wine and 2 t sugar to the pan, heating and scraping and mixing until nice and hot.

The contents of the pan go over the meat in the crock pot, then cover it and cook on low at least six hours.

Serve the meat and gravy over Jasmine rice with a vegetable on the side. I chose green peas.

It was so good I wanted seconds and thirds and fourths.

Happiness is Dominick's wild white Gulf of Mexico shrimp on sale for $8.99 a pound

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a coffee mug in the microwave, add 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and 3 teaspoons of hot curry powder.

Mix thoroughly.

Peel the shrimp and place in a broiler pan in a mound.

Pour on the mixture to coat, spread out in one layer and broil on high for 8 minutes.

Serve with pasta and a fresh vegetable.

Wedding anniversary dinner, just like that!

Happiness is a late summer grilled paprika pork chop served with a glass of cold Moscato

• Prepare a hot charcoal fire burned until all the tops are thoroughly gray, banked to one side.
• Season the pork chops liberally with kosher salt, ground black pepper, and paprika on both sides. Press the seasonings in with a fork.
• Grill for five minutes on a side with the grill cover on. First side over the coals, second side overlapping the perimeter of the coals, bone end over the coals. 
• Serve with fried green beans in butter and boiled potatoes, and a glass of cold, cheap Moscato.
• Happiness is that easy.