Braised Short Ribs

The best part of cool weather outside, is the great things you can slow cook inside, like Braised Short Ribs. Here's a recipe I found many years ago from my favorite cooking magazine, Cuisine at Home. I've blogged a few recipes from this awesome magazine before, like Greek Meatballs, Garden Fresh Gazpacho, Rice Vera Cruz and Tofu Bruschetta. Cuisine at Home is great because it gives simple, important tips and techniques and of course it uses easy to find ingredients. In this recipe, Cuisine at Home goes over Braising basics which I'll summarize for those who may have never braised before. When I first started to cook, I learned the most from my mistakes, but when it comes to expensive cuts of beef, (because beef is expensive on my budget, no matter what the cut it) it's nice to get a heads up and avoid some common errors. Braising is the technique of slow cooking meats in liquid. There are a few steps that are important so the meat is brown and not gray and that the gravy is complex and delicious and not burnt tasting. So here are some tips from Cuisine at Home that has helped me make this wonderful dish perfect every time.
  
The first step is Browning the meat. This step adds color to the meat and renders some of the fat from the meat. The oven temperature alone won't brown the meat to a dark brown, so don't skip this step. Once you finish browning all the meat and set aside, it is best to pour off all the rendered fat and any burnt flour from the pan. The burnt bits will make the sauce taste scorched. You will have some bits of meat stuck to the bottom of your dutch oven, this is perfectly okay and necessary to add wonderful flavor when you braise.

Step two is Deglazing the pan. After browning the meat and setting aside, you will saute your vegetables with various ingredients in the same dutch oven and then you'll add flour to the cooked vegetables. The flour will coat the vegetables. Next, you will add your flavored liquids and deglaze the pan. The brown bits on the bottom of the pan will be dissolved and incorporated into the sauce and the added flour will act to thicken the sauce.

Step three is Braising. Add the browned meat, in a single layer, bone-side up in the braising liquid. Cover pot with a tight fitting lid and cook in the oven for 2-3 hours. The tight fitting lid helps keep the moisture and heat in the pot which breaks down the fat and connective tissues in the short ribs and makes it fall off the bone, delicious!

There you have it! Easy as can be and incredibly delicious! Happy Braising.

Braised Short Ribs 

(recipe from Cuisine at Home, Oct 2005)

Prepare:
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup carrot, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1 T. garlic, minced
1 bay leaf

Combine; Dredge and brown in 1T of olive oil;Remove
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 t. kosher salt
1 t. black pepper
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
2 lb bone-in short ribs

Saute:
1 T. olive oil
Prepared vegetables
1 T. tomato paste
2 T. reserved dredging flour

Deglaze with; Stir in and Braise:
1-14 oz can beef broth
3/4 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup Marsala
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, halved (not packed in oil)
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce
Browned Short Ribs

Add:
2 cups crimini Mushrooms, quartered
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Prepare onion, carrot, celery and garlic; set aside.

Combine flour, salt, pepper and cayenne in a resealable plastic bag. Add short ribs, one at a time and shake to coat evenly (reserve unused flour). Heat 1 T olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat.  Add dredged short ribs, bone side up, and brown slowly, about 8 minutes. Turn ribs and brown other side for 8 minutes. Remove from the pan; pour off all the fat.

Saute vegetables, garlic and bay leaf with the tomato paste in oil until soft, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add flour; stir until vegetables are coated.

Deglaze with broth, wine and Marsala; stir in tomatoes and Worcestershire, and bring to a simmer. Arrange ribs in sauce, bone side up, cover and braise in the oven for 2-3 hours. 

Add mushrooms and return pot to the oven; braise another 15 minutes. 

Serve with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and a roasted vegetable if your choice. I made some Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli with Garlic. I love garlic. Enjoy!