Braised Short Ribs
Last weekend, before the hog arrived, we pulled out a bunch of beef short ribs from the freezer to make a little room. I knew that I wanted to try a braise again, but the last time that we did it, the flavor was a little vinegary. (That was the recipe from Tom Calliuchio’s Think Like a Chef, with sherry vinegar and cherry peppers in it.)
So, taking inspiration from a few recipies in various meat cook books, I wound up with something that could hardly go wrong.
– 7 lbs of short ribs. (It’s what I had, and was more than I needed, but not by that much)
– 1 qt + 1 cup chicken stock — Quantities here were also what I had on hand from making stock a few weeks back. We froze it in quart jars, and there was a cup left over from something a night earlier, and a quart from the freezer.
– 1/2 bottle cheap red wine.
– 2 smallish heads of garlic, with the cloves split out.
– Couple of Carrots, Celery Stalks, and an onion, in big chunks.
Browned the ribs for a cew minutes on each side, then assembled the stock, wine, and veggies and heated that to a boil. Added the ribs back in, and at this point, I needed to have a 12″ fry pan and a 6 qt stockpot to hold everything. Added a little water to nearly cover the ribs, then put in a 350 oven till everything was at a bare simmer. Turned it down to 325 and let it go for a few hours. After a couple, I turned the ribs, after a couple more, I took everything out, separated the ribs from the veggies, strained the liquid, and reduced it by about half. Reheat the ribs in the liquid, and serve.
The liquid was a thick beef stock, with intense beef flavor and only a hint of wine, and no vinegaryiness. The meat was fall apart tender, and very flavorful.
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