Rosemary Wine Short Ribs

I do love my short ribs, and it's been quite a while since the last ones. It's true that this is a winter dish, but I had a special request, and honestly it's been kinda wintry around here anyway. This is a dish best made in advance, meaning it's great for company-- just reheat an hour before serving.

You'll need:

4lbs bone-in English-cut short ribs (1lb per person)

1 large onion

3 leeks

1-2 carrots

6 cloves garlic

2 anchovies

2T tomato paste

1t chile flakes

1T herbes de provence

1 bay leaf

1T fresh rosemary

1 bottle red wine

1T grapeseed or canola oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Clean the short ribs well-- remove all visible fat and rinse and dry them. Salt and pepper generously. Heat oil in a dutch oven or heavy pot with tight-fitting lid over high heat. Reduce to medium-high heat and add ribs, meat-side down. Do this in batches so you don't crowd the pot. Brown about 10 minutes per side; be patient here, you want a well-browned exterior on all five meaty sides. Remove and set aside.

While the meat is browning, slice onions, leeks, carrots and garlic. Chop anchovies and rosemary.

Pour out accumulated fat and return pot to medium heat. Add all veggies, herbs, tomato paste, 1t salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until translucent (about 10 minutes). Add wine and bring to a boil. Boil until the alcohol smell disappears and wine reduces by about 1/3, 5-10 minutes.

Return ribs to pot, meat side down. The bone should not be submerged. Cover and place in oven for 2-3 hours, until meat is fork-tender.

Let ribs cool in sauce for at least 1 hour. Remove ribs and press sauce through a food mill. If you don't have a food mill, you can puree it, or you can just leave it chunky. I wanted a smoother, more concentrated sauce because I was serving the ribs with a potato gratin, so there wouldn't be a grain to soak up a chunky sauce.

If you have time, refrigerate the sauce until the fat congeals so you can remove it. If not, spoon out as much fat as you can *before* pureeing (it should be a translucent red top layer in the pot).

Half an hour before serving, place the ribs in a baking dish and spoon just enough sauce on top so they are well-coated. Reheat, uncovered, in a 300 degree oven. Reduce extra sauce and serve on the side.

I served this with a potato squash gratin (look for recipe soon!).