Fact: Short ribs kick ass!!! Over the past several years chefs have come back to this old faithful – it’s like gourmet pot roast. And best of all it is hella easy to make for a big group, doesn’t cost too much and taste superfuknfantastic!
This recipe is pretty easy seriously and turns out mighty nice. The beauty of braising meat is you can’t really screw it up – “slow & low” is the name of the game.
In a braising pan this is basically a brownie pan on roids – get it? If you don’t have a braising pan that’s ok just cook everything in a large fry pan and transfer into a brownie pan before putting into the oven.
Season about 2-5 pounds of beef short-ribs all over with Slavo Salt – no need to be shy with your seasoning. Get you pan real hot over high heat, then add a couple tablespoons of GRAPESEED OIL – enough to just coat the pan. Slowly lay the seasoned short-ribs into the hot oil – don’t over crowd the pan because you will not be able to sear the meat as well. After you have browned the meat on all sides remove them from the pan and set aside. Next, throw in 2 medium yellow onions, 3 carrots, 3 stalks of celery and 4 cloves of fresh garlic – all rough chopped (don’t make it pretty unless you just want to practice which you probably should) into the hot pan you just removed the meat from. Stir the veggies constantly – saute these veggies for a few minute or until the onions become translucent. Then toss in 1/3 cup of tomato paste and continue cooking for 3-4 more minutes.
Now you want to pour in 1.5 – 2 bottles of an $8 dollar red wine – I used Vicious Petite Syrah and it turned out really nice. Add 2 cans of beef broth in with the veggies and wine – cook for 10 minutes still over high heat on the stove-top. Add the seared short-ribs back into the simmering pan of goodness – shake them deep into the liquid. Cover with foil and place in a 275° oven. Cook for 4 hours – then remove and place in the fridge until you area ready to serve. I say this because they will be better the next day, seriously they’ll taste fantastic right out of the oven but just pull off a little chunk to snack on. You will be rewarded immensely tomorrow!
Take the chilled pan out of the fridge, remove the short-ribs from the pan carefully. Now there is going to be a layer of fat (yeah fat, that why this shit tastes so good) – using your hand or a big spoon gently remove the fat layer from the pan and discard. Next heat the remaining contents of the pan over the stove top for a few minute stirring constantly. Now using some sort of straining device – separate the onion, carrot, and celery from the liquid (as much as I hate to say it, but you can skip this step – straining it just is sexier). Combine the strained sauce and short-ribs back into the original pan you cooked everything in. About 1.5 hours before you are planning to serve – put the short ribs in the pan and into a 450° oven covered with foil. They should be nice and hot when you’re ready to serve.
I like serving these babies with mashed potatoes (mascarpone, bleu cheese, garlic, etc.) and some kind of green veggies (Brussel Sprouts, Asparagus, spinach, arugula, etc.) Place the starch on the plate, next your veggies, then the meat on top and finally spoon the cooking liquid from the meat pan over the top of everything.
I recommend a good full bodied red wine for this like Sequoia Grove Cabernet with this. And just a tip, I think Sequoia Grove is not as cheap as it used to be. So just get one bottle of that – then multiple bottles of lesser known wines. After the first couple glasses they all taste the same – truth.
Cheers. Slavo
