Yesterday I woke up with a hankering for some braised short ribs. I’ve never cooked them before but I’ve seen a few different chefs cook it on TV and it looked pretty easy.
The hardest part in a small town is finding the actual bone-in short ribs. I went to a few stores and I found Korean short ribs (this is not the correct short rib for this dish). I also found boneless short ribs. Who would want boneless? All the flavor is in the bone!
I finally went to Walmart. I was surprised when I found bone-in short ribs there. Everyone who knows me knows I only buy meat from the local family owned supermarket.
Anyway, I had about 4 pounds of short ribs. I was cooking for my parents and my mother-in-law and I wanted to have leftovers.
The result was amazing. The tomato paste, the red wine, the beef stock……savory heaven!
Here is how I threw it all together….and of course it starts with bacon.
How can this be bad????
In a huge Magnalite or dutch oven, brown 3 strips of thick cut bacon.
While your bacon is browning, pat the short ribs dry with a paper towel. This will allow it to brown really well. Season generously with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Coat each short rib in all purpose flour, shaking off the excess.
Remove the bacon from the pot and start browning the ribs in the bacon fat. I added a tbsp. or so of olive oil. Brown every side of the rib. Brown in batches if you must, you do not want to crowd the pot.
Remove the ribs from the pot. If not enough oil add some more. Throw in your veggies. (onion, garlic, celery, carrots). Sauté until slightly softened then add tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Pour in 2 cups of dry red wine. Cook until it reduces slightly. Add 4 cups of beef broth.
Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Place ribs in the luscious liquid. Top with a few sprigs of rosemary. Place the lid on the pot and cook in a preheated oven at 325 for 2.5 hours. Crank the heat up to 375 degrees and cook for an additional 30 minutes with the lid off.
Ya’ll.
Taste it for salt and pepper. adjust seasoning accordingly.
When you take it out the oven you should be able to pull the bones out with tongs. It will come out clean! The bones give the gravy such rich flavor. I had a pack of boneless short ribs in the pot for experimenting and the meat was not as juicy as the bone in ribs!
There will also be a layer of fat on the top. You can do one of a few things.
You can either:
- remove the fat with a spoon
- place a paper towel on the fat, letting it soak up on the napkin, then toss it in the trash
- refrigerate this if you are cooking it a day ahead, the fat will solidify in the refrigerator and you can scoop it off easily
I served it over mashed potatoes.
You can serve it over rice, grits, polenta. It is so rich and savory.
Hope you all enjoy it as much as we did.
Braised Short Ribs
4 lbs beef short ribs, bone-in
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 slices thick cut bacon
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, chopped
6-8 large carrots, chopped in large chunks
6 oz. can tomato paste
2 cups dry red wine
32 oz. beef broth
2 sprigs rosemary
kosher salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
In a large Magnalite or dutch oven, brown the bacon over medium high heat.
While the bacon is cooking, pat the short ribs dry with a paper towel. Season generously with salt and pepper. Put flour on a plate and dip each rib in the plate, coating all sides with flour. Shake off the excess.
Remove the browned bacon from the pot, add 1 or 2 tbsp. of olive oil. Brown the short ribs on each side without crowding the pot. If you have to brown them in batches, do so.
After browning the short ribs, remove them to a pot.
Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrots to the pot and cook until slightly softened. Season with salt and pepper. Add the tomato paste, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wood spoon. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Pour in the red wine. Reduce by half, scraping all the brown bits on the bottom of the pot, This is where all the flavor is!
Next, add the beef broth. Bring to a simmer then submerge the ribs in the sauce. Top with sprigs of rosemary. Place the lid on the pot and cook in oven for 2.5 hours.
After the 2.5 hours crank the oven up to 375 degrees. Remove the lid and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
Take the pot out the oven. Remove the rosemary sprigs.
Spoon out some of the fat layer on top or use a paper towel to soak some of it up.
Taste it for salt.
Serve over mashed potatoes, grits, or rice.
