Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs

So I’ll admit, I’m not one to cook beef all too often. Though I have my occasional steak and burger cravings, it’s not typically my go-to meal. Plus, I haven’t prepared it enough times to really be good at it. Ground beef I’m ok with, but anything that needs to be cooked to perfection is a little too tricky for me. But alas, there is another easy way to cook beef! The crockpot! I don’t actually have a slow cooker, but a dutch oven works just as well as long as you’re home to watch it. And it’s pretty hard to screw up cooking something in there.

Nick’s Aunt Diane sent me a recipe for braised short ribs that she’d made, and while a beef dish wouldn’t normally pique my interest, the fact that there was entire bottle of wine in the recipe certainly caught my attention.

You might be wondering why those “short” ribs don’t look so short. People, you should know by now. It’s Enid. Not only did Nick have to ask the butcher to cut us some short ribs, but they came out cut 6 or 7 inches long. I don’t happen to own a table saw, so I couldn’t rectify the problem. But trust me, if I DID own one, I would have broken out some serious disinfectant and got to work. Alas, the long ribs went into the pot!

Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs

(adapted from bon appetit magazine)

• 5 lbs bone-in beef short ribs, cut crosswide into 2″ pieces
• Salt & pepper
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 medium onions, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 750 ml bottle dry red wine (like Cabernet Sauvignon)
• 2 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
• 4 cups low-sodium beef stock

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season short ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large dutch oven on medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown short ribs on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer short ribs to a plate. Pour off all but 3 tbsp of drippings from pot.

Add onions, carrots and celery to pot and cook about 5 minutes, until onions are browned.

Add flour and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes, until well combined.

Stir in wine, the add short ribs. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and simmer until wine is reduced by half, about 25 minutes.

Add herbs and garlic to the pot. Stir in stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and transfer to the oven.

Cook until the ribs are tender, 2 – 2 1/2 hours.

Transfer ribs to a platter.

Strain sauce from pot into a bowl or large measuring cup. Let sit a moment, then spoon fat from the surface and discard. Serve the ribs over mashed potatoes, with sauce spooned over top.

The meat was super tender and falling off the bone, but I have to admit, this cut of meat was not my favorite. I’m a filet mignon and 93% lean ground beef kind of girl. Some people enjoy the hunks of fat off a prime rib (Deb). Some people like to chew the gristle off a T-bone (Mom). And some people prefer the white pieces of bacon to the red (Nick). I think they’re all crazy, but hey, to each their own. Animal fat is not my thing, and these ribs were a little fatty for me. However, the flavor was AWESOME! I pretty much drank the sauce. So I’m thinking about recreating this dish with a roast or some other cut of beef. If short ribs are your thing, though, you’ll really like this!