Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
These take a long time in the oven (3-4 hours) but there is not much active cooking time, you can prepare the dish and then throw it in the oven and forget about it.
INGREDIENTS:
BONE-IN BEEF SHORT RIBS
CARROTS
CELERY
WHITE ONIONS
TOMATO PUREE
GARLIC BULB
ROSEMARY
THYME
RED WINE
BEEF STOCK
BUTTER
OLIVE OIL
RECIPE:
Pat dry and then generously salt your short ribs. Place on a wire lined rack uncovered in the fridge overnight, the ribs can hang in the fridge for up to 2 days. This allows the seasoning to penetrate into the meat, and draws the moisture out drying out the surface, making them easier to brown.
Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil on medium-high heat in a heavy bottom dutch oven that you want to use to roast the ribs. Once very hot, begin searing the ribs, a couple at a time. You want to avoid overcrowding the pot as this will reduce the heat and lessen the browning effect. Sear the ribs on all sides in batches, then remove them and place in a bowl on the side.
Turn down the heat, and consider taking your pot off the burner for a few minutes to cool, we are going to use it to sweat the carrots, onion and celery and we don’t want them to burn. If there is a lot of burnt matter in the bottom of your pan, use a paper towel to degrease, but leave a good amount of fat in the pot.
Medium dice carrot, onion and celery in equal sizes, then add to pot, season and sweat. Stirring occasionally. You want to cook them until they are translucent.
Once mire poix has sweat, add 3-4 tablespoons tomato puree, mix and allow to cook for a couple minutes.
Add roughly 1/3 of a bottle of red wine, and scrape the bottom of the pot to lift off anything that has stuck. This is flavour.
Return short ribs back to pot, and pour in any juices that came out while they were resting on the side. Pour beef stock over the short ribs until they are covered 3/4 with liquid.
Cut garlic bulb length ways and add to the pot along with a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme.
Turn the temperature up to medium high heat and allow the liquid to come to a boil, before covering and placing into a preheated 325F or 165C oven.
Generally speaking, the longer you leave them the more tender they will be. Leave to cook for 2 hours and then check, use a fork to check the tenderness of the meat, it should pull apart easily. I have found the most tender short ribs take around 3-4 hours at this temperature.
Once the meat is tender and liquid is reduced, remove from oven, remove meat from pot, strain the sauce, then add the meat back in and serve over mashed potato.