red wine braised short ribs

Once relegated to the scrap heap, trendy restaurants all over have revamped the short rib and transformed it into contemporary rustic cuisine. After marinating some in red wine for two days and braising them nice and slow for a few hours I can definitely see why.

Short ribs have long received the same bad wrap as the Boston butt roast (pork shoulder), but that's due in large part to people who have been cooking them improperly. These fat marbled, cartilage ridden cuts of meat require a nice, long, low-heat bath to slowly transform all that greasy fat and yuck into meltingly decadent, fork tender meat that quite literally falls of the bone with the merest of touches.

These are a great weekend meal because they do require attention every 45 minutes for turning - in total about 3 hours or so of braising. But, braising is great because even though it does take a significant amount of time to cook, most of that time is hands off. 

These short ribs would go great with mashed potatoes or another root vegetable puree. I served these over a baked fettuccine, and while it was delicious, I'm not completely sold on the recipe I used. If you have a recipe for baked pasta that you really enjoy I'd highly recommend trying out the combination.

And hey, pass the recipe along to me if you have one you really like.

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

inspired by this recipe at use real butter

Yields approximately 4 servings

zest of 1 lemon

4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, slightly crushed

2 large bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 whole cloves

1 bottle red wine

4-5 lbs. beef short ribs, trimmed of excess fat and silverskin

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 large onion, roughly chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

about 2 cups stock/broth

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large pot and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Completely cover the short ribs in the marinade and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours, no longer than 48. Remove the ribs from the marinade, pat dry, season liberally with 1/2 tablespoon salt. Sear on all sides in an ovenproof skillet with lid, working in batches if required. Set ribs aside and add the onion, celery and carrot to the pan, scraping up all the browned bits as the vegetables give up their juices. Return the short ribs to the pan and add the stock/broth using more or less to bring the liquid up to half the level of the short ribs. Cover with lid and place in 300ºF oven, turning every 45 minutes until fork tender - about 3 hours in total.

Remove ribs from the pan and put in a separate , covered dish to keep warm. Pour the braising liquid through a fine mesh sieve, reserving both broth and vegetables. Pour off the fat from the liquid (this tip from Jen Yu at use real butter in the last paragraph of the recipe is a life saver, though I really hate the idea of just throwing away a plastic bag after just one use). Return the liquid to the braising pan and simmer until reduced by half. Meanwhile, puree the vegetables and add back to the sauce. Spoon over short ribs to serve.

Nutritional Estimate

I couldn't find a reliable source for the nutritional values of the short ribs, so the jury's out on this one. Suffice it to say that I wouldn't eat these every day, OK?

Comments

[SBird's MiL]

Even though we've given up wine for lent at this household (can you believe it? especially since we aren't Catholic), I think I can get away with COOKING with wine! This looks great. I am a huge fan of braising as I discovered it as a technique with osso buco.

[Q.]

LOVE this dish. I made it for the first time last month. Unfortch, the recipe I used did not include the tip for skimming the fat, but my roommate told me about it. These things are SO fatty and rich, you really can't forget that step!