Cookin' Some Short Ribs

I took some pictures a week or so ago of me braising some beef short ribs. This is probably one of my favorite beef dishes to cook and eat. It's pretty hard to fuck this up, but you do need time. Great weekend dinner for two on a budget when you're not in a hurry. If I can make this in my little NYC apartment, you guys can definitely scale this method up for a party

Start by searing the ribs with a bit of salt. Don't go overboard, as we will be adding ingredients with a fair amount of sodium. Just using some canola oil and an enameled dutch oven here.

Sear until you get a nice dark mahogany crust on both sides. Don't worry about overcooking this as it will be braising for a long time anyway. Just don't burn them like an inept faggot. These ribs are fairly small if anyone is asking, I got these on sale at my little grocery store. Using nice meaty big ones from the butcher is way better, but this always turns out great.

Close up on crust

While the beef was searing, I prepped a standard mirepoix of carrots, onions, celery, cut into a medium dice and added a few cloves of garlic sliced thin.

After pulling the seared short ribs out of the dutch oven and setting them aside, lightly sweat the vegetables in a bit of the leftover fat from the beef and oil from earlier. Use a touch of salt to help them soften and break down.

These are the dried herbs I'm using for this dish. Feel free to use fresh herbs, I know that I would but I hadn't started my herbs and this was what I got. Feel free to mix and match whatever you think would be nice. I just think that thyme and rosemary are pretty good for this recipe that uses dry red wine, a mirepoix, and beef. Kinda French-ish.

Going back to the vegetables, they've sweated down for about 10 minutes, which is enough for me. I really just wanted to start to break them down so they get a head start when I added the liquid.

I then deglazed with around a couple of cups of dry red wine and reduced on high heat. The brand is not crucial, but I really like California varietals. Nearly anything would be nice:French, Italian, Argentinian, etc., I just grew up on California reds so I prefer them even if I just used a cheap mass market Merlot here.

I am skipping images 10-12 because I suck cocks. After reducing the wine about half and adding the ribs back in along with their juices, add a some beef stock until it almost covers them. This is also when you add small amounts of extra stuff you ant in the braise. In my case, a bit of Worcestershire sauce and some nice quality soy sauce were put in. This is when you taste the braise liquid for seasoning. It should not be very salty, as the braise will reduce significantly and intensify.

I then put the lid on the pot and put it into a 350F oven for around 2.5-3 hours. As you can see, the liquid has reduced significantly and the beef is extremely tender. If the bones haven't fallen off already then they should as soon as you move the beef out of the pan. The pieces should be so tender that they collapse under pressure from tongs.

I think I'm going to make this for dinner tomorrow. How long did it take you to make?

This next step is optional, but I do it because I love making sauces, and those poor vegetables have given all they've got and aren't really that great to eat on their own.. Take all the meat out of the pan, leaving the juices and reduced vegetables behind in the pot. Pass them through a sieve or strainer until you only get the liquid which you can leave as-is or reduce into a sauce.

It takes total about 3.5 hours, but it really depends on how much you're braising. In this case, for a family of 2-4 you shouldn't really have to braise longer than 3 hours.

Here is a picture of the sieved braising liquid. It's incredibly rich and luxurious from that broken down gelatin in the beef. Even though we started with a pound of beef, they have shrunken down to 2 nice sized portions.

Here is it plated up on top of a bed of simple mashed potatoes that my fiancee made. I really like this on parsnip puree with these flavors, but once again, you can change whatever you serve this with depending on the flavor profile. You can easily make an Asian inspired version with rice, or a Mexican version with chiles and lots of spice that you could put on tortillas and eat like a taco. I've even shredded leftover short ribs from a large batch and put them in pierogis and saute'd them with butter and caramelized onions. I'm just fond of this method because it's a classic and I'm a white boi.

Enjoy!

Good recipe. I've done similar stuff before and it's solid and tasty. Props OP

nice knife user

thanks

Yep. I love my knives

oh i remember you from the knife threads. enjoyed your recipe thanks user see you around

I love braised short ribs, and make them frequently. My recipe is very similar to yours, except the herbs and seasonings. I do use thyme, but forgo the rosemary. I also like to throw in a couple of allspice berries, because I find they really add a nice flavor (but you really don't need more than 2 or 3 for the whole dish). Sometimes I'll use Herbs de Provence as well (which has rosemary in it, so I guess I can't say I never add rosemary, lol). And I add whole mixed peppercorns, which I sieve out along with the allspice berries and vegetables when making the reduction.

I recently got some Herbs de Province in an attempt to learn about French flavors, and I find that they go with pretty much everything in moderation. I wasn't 100 percent satisfied with the way how the dried rosemary looked here, so I might consider giving them a grind in a mortar and pestle before adding them next time.

ggwp

Good thread OP

I've made short ribs before but I want to try using a pressure cooker. Anyone have any experience with that?