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My last post, Half-Smashed with Garlic Baked Potatoes, is a potato variation I cooked up to go with some short ribs I was serving to visiting friends. Short ribs braise at a leisurely pace — this is certainly a weekend dish unless you work at home — and they are rich and beefy, so I wanted a potato that was light and on the “lesser” side. Here are the port and red wine braised short ribs, but this time I paired them with a silky carrot purée, which I’ll be posting later this week. With food, one thing leads to another.

Food inspirations also start with misremembered meals, as is the case here. On a celebratory trip to Jar, Suzanne Tracht’s beautiful restaurant in Los Angeles, I remembered that someone had ordered braised short ribs. This short-term memory defect led to some happy experimentation with short ribs. Only trouble is, it was actually a lamb shank, so I have more work ahead!

I didn’t grow up with short ribs on the ol’ home menu, which surprises me considering the amount of beef we ate in Oklahoma. It’s a simple dish that can’t go wrong and a good one to have in your back pocket. Beef ribs are less expensive than many other cuts of meat and can be raised up from humble to sublime. Long, slow braising renders them tender and luxurious, and since they cook with the bone, the broth and meat are more intensely flavored over time. I like to serve them with the bone attached since it makes an interesting plate and makes me think of the Flintstones.

The way these ribs are cut is called “English-style” (as opposed to “flanken”) and they are cut into separate, cross-cut pieces. The best ones are from the rib and the chuck section of the cow, with the rib ones being a little more tender and lean. My butcher didn’t distinguish between the two, so I just bought “short ribs.” After four hours of cooking, they’ll be tender, believe me.

Braised Beef Short Ribs | 4 to 6 servings

I’ve called this 4 to 6 servings since the amount of meat on the ribs varies radically. Most eaters want only one, but there is the occasional rib that has very little meat on it. Short ribs are intensely marbled with fat, so look carefully for the meatiest and largest ones. Trim away some of the fat before cooking, if necessary.

6 large English-style short ribs, about 4 inches in length
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 large pinch dried sage
Plenty of freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large carrots
2 celery ribs
5 whole garlic cloves
6-inch sprig of rosemary
4 cups good quality beef broth or stock (look for low sodium, if possible)
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup port (or additional red wine)

Trim the ribs of any obvious large pieces of fat. Pat dry.

Sprinkle the ribs all over with the salt, onion powder, sage and pepper. Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for several hours or as much as two days.

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Heat the oil over medium-high in a heavy skillet and brown the ribs, in batches, on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes altogether for each batch.

While the ribs are browning, chop the carrots and celery and smash the garlic cloves. Coarsely chop the rosemary leaves.

Begin heating the beef stock in a heavy ovenproof pot with a lid. As the ribs finish browning, place them in the warming stock.

When the ribs are browned, add the carrots, celery and garlic to the skillet and cook until they begin to color, about 8 minutes.

Add the vegetables to the broth with the ribs.

Pour the wine and port into the hot pan and deglaze the pan by scraping up any remaining browned bits. Boil the wine for 5 minutes to reduce it slightly and add it to the ribs.

Cover tightly with the lid and place in the preheated 300°F oven. Cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. The ribs should be very tender when pierced gently with a fork.

Remove the ribs from the braising liquid, taking care to keep the bone attached if possible. If not, reserve the bone to serve on the plate with the meat. Strain the liquid through a sieve, into a deep bowl.

Set the braising liquid aside. Over another bowl, mash the vegetables through the sieve as much as possible and reserve until needed.

Defat the braising liquid by thoroughly cooling the liquid and removing the congealed fat on the top, or by the following method:

Return the defatted braising liquid and the mashed vegetables to the stockpot and heat.

Return the ribs to the pot and keep warm until ready to serve.

Serve ribs with the bone (either attached or under the meat) and spoon the braising liquid over the top. Garnish with Caramelized Onions, below.

Trio of Caramelized Onions | 2 cups

These are made in an hour or a little more, but they can keep cooking for a deeper caramelization, up to 3 hours.

1 large red onion
1 large yellow onion
1 large white onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of dried sage

Slice all the onions.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, salt and dried sage. Toss once to coat with oil.

Let the onions sizzle undisturbed for 3 minutes. Turn once.

Let sizzle again for another 3 minutes, and then turn again. Repeat this step two more times until you see the onions beginning to get brown.

After the fourth turn, reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, for an hour, stirring from time to time to keep the onions from sticking. If they begin to get too dry, cover the pot. Uncover again for the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Cook until nice and brown, or longer for a deeper color.

Onions can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks, and are excellent on sandwiches.

Kelly McCune © 2010

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