Braised Beef Short Ribs

I'm still chuckling over one of my friends stopping by yesterday afternoon and, after pausing and sniffing the air, exclaiming, "Mmmm! What's for dinner? Short ribs?!" She was right. And there is nothing like slow cooked meat and wine. I learned the master for this recipe at a cooking class given by Alex Lee, back in his Daniel NYC days. His is better, but his uses 3 bottles of wine and, hey, he's Alex, and he had help. This is a fantastic make-ahead meal. Serve it with polenta and a great bottle of red and you'll have friends for life.

Braised Beef Short Ribs
serves 4 - 6

See ingredients for “The meat”, “The veggies” and “The braising liquid” when shopping.

The meat:

4 beef short ribs, each cut into 2-3 inch pieces; approximately 6 pounds

1 tablespoon semolina flour

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

The veggies:

1 leek, sliced in half and into 1/2 inch half-moons then rinsed in a bowl of water

1 celery stick, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces

1 carrot, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces

5 garlic cloves, peeled

4 shallots, peeled and split

3 sprigs Italian, flat leaf parsley

1 branch fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1. Sprinkle the meat with salt, semolina and pepper, then brown the ribs on all sides (in batches) in a hot dutch oven (at least 6 qt size, I like Le Creuset) with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. As meat browns, remove from dutch oven and set aside on a plate while you finish with all of the rib chunks. This is going to take you around 45 minutes.

2. As you’re browning the rib chunks, make the braising liquid and prepare the veggies, as described below. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and put rack in lower 1/3 of oven.

3. When you have finished browning all of the rib chunks, remove all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the dutch oven, toss the veggies in, stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, stir and cook for a minute. Add the rib chunks and braising liquid, cover and put into preheated oven for 2 1/2 hours.

The braising liquid:

1 750ml bottle of red wine, preferably Rhone, reduced (see below)

1 32 oz. box organic beef stock, low-sodium (I like Imagine brand)

1 8oz. tub Perfect Addition frozen beef stock

1 cup water

1. Pour wine into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce by 1/2. This will take about 20 minutes.

2. Add the stocks and water and bring to simmer. Pour over ribs and veggies in the dutch oven, cover with lid. Place into preheated 350 degree F oven for 2 1/2 hours.

Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tips

• If you can’t find the Perfect Addition frozen beef stock, substitute 2 cups of other liquid -- more boxed beef stock or more reduced wine, see below.
• The more wine the better, but I know it is tough to pour more than one bottle into a dinner. If you happen to open a bottle while you’re cooking, pour a glass or two to drink then add the rest to the braising liquid in step 1 above. It’ll only make it better.
• One of the keys to a good braise is to be patient with the browning process at the very beginning. With short rib chunks, it is essential to take the time to brown each surface -- so the browning is going to take you about 45 minutes - 1 hour. It will be time well spent, so don’t rush it.
• All stews and braises get better with a little time on them. Take the pressure off yourself and make this dish a day or two in advance, store in the refrigerator, remove the hardened fat then reheat gently on the stovetop when you are ready to serve.
• Short ribs are great served on top of soft-cooked polenta. Bring 6 cups water to a boil, add 1 teaspoon salt, sprinkle in 2 cups polenta, stir and cook over low-medium heat for about 20 minutes. Turn off heat, cover and let stand until ready to serve (within 30 minutes or the polenta will harden).