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!).

Coffee and Chili Braised Short Ribs; Scalloped Potatoes; Acorn Squash Veloute; Broccoli Rabe

This is my third short rib variation. They have all been delicious. This one was especially flavorful. I made scalloped potatoes because the meat didn't have much sauce, and broccoli rabe as a strong-flavored veggie to hold up to the intense chili flavor of the meat. The acorn squash veloute we began with had the delicate flavor of this interesting squash with a zingy cayenne twist.

My excuse this time for the imperfect pictures is that we just plain forgot to take them until we were halfway through eating. Sorry.

We started with a glass of
St George Absinthe

Acorn Squash Veloute

with a swirl of cream

This recipe is from Epicurious.

You'll need (serves 8):

2 large onions, chopped
2 large acorn squash
2T freshly grated ginger
5c chicken broth
2T tomato paste
cayenne pepper to taste

1T cumin seeds
1T mustard seeds

Peel, clean and chop squash into 1" cubes. This is a pain in the ass.

Saute onion 10 minutes. Add squash and ginger, saute 5 minutes. Add 4c broth. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, 20-30 minutes. Puree.

Stir in tomato paste and cayenne and simmer 10 more minutes. You can make soup ahead until this point. Add more broth to thin soup when you reheat it.

Saute cumin and mustard seeds in oil about 2 min. Sprinkle on top of soup to serve. (The seeds aren't just decorative-- they add a lot of texture and flavor.)

Coffee and Chili Braised Short Ribs

there was not much left when we
remembered to take a picture...

This is loosely based on a Mark Bittman recipe. You can use whatever kind of chilies you want.

You'll need:

short ribs, either English cut or Flanken cut. You'll need about 1 per person. I normally use English cut; I got Flanken by mistake, but it wasn't a problem. Be sure to cut off all the visible fat; it's unnecessary-- especially the huge layer on Flanken-cut ribs.

1 large onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 dried chipotle chilies, seeded and chopped as small as possible
2 dried gaujillo chilies, seeded and chopped as small as possible
1T ancho chili powder
1 1/2c dry red wine
1 1/2c strong coffee (not espresso)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Salt and pepper short ribs. Brown in hot grapeseed oil on all sides. Remove from pot when browned. If necessary, clean out black bits with a paper towel and/or add more oil. Saute onion, shallot, garlic, chilies, and chili powder over medium-low heat, about 20 minutes. Add wine and coffee and reduce by half.

Return browned ribs to sauce. Cover pot and place in oven about 2 hours, turning ribs halfway. There shouldn't be too much liquid left at the end, but make sure the ribs don't dry out while cooking.

Scalloped Potatoes

variation: layer swiss chard leaves between potatoes

You'll need:

3lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, cleaned and sliced into rounds as thin as you possibly can. A mandoline is useful for this; I wish I had one.

1/2 onion, super thinly sliced
2T chopped fresh thyme
2T butter
1/4c parmesan
2 1/2c half & half or cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

each layer should look like this

Place potato rounds in a thin layer in the bottom of a well-buttered gratin dish. Top with salt, pepper, onions, thyme, and a spoonful of cheese. Continue layering until you run out of potatoes. Pour half & half on top. Top with more parmesan and any leftover thyme (not onions). Bake, covered with foil, until potatoes are tender, about 1 1/4 hours. Then uncover and put under broiler, or crank up oven heat, to brown top.

Broccoli Rabe

You'll need:

2 bunches broccoli rabe, or broccoli raab, or rapini (it's all the same thing)
2 shallots, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1T chili flakes
4T olive oil
grated cheese to top-- I can't remember the name of the cheese I used, but it should be hard and nutty, with enough flavor to hold up to the greens.

Clean broccoli rabe-- remove thick stems and wash well. Place in boiling, salted water for 2 minutes. Drain well. At this point, you can put the blanched greens in the fridge 'til you want to serve them.

Just before serving, heat oil and saute shallots, garlic, and chili flakes for 2 minutes. Add broccoli rabe and warm through. Top with grated cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

The Cheese

When I went to the Cheeseboard to buy the cheese for the broccoli rabe, I couldn't help getting an oozingly ripe Chatelain Brie, some Montagnolo (I promise: even if you don't like blue cheese, you'll like this one), and some other one whose name I forget. So we had a cheese course, too.

The Wine

This was the first wine. I thought it
went really well with the soup.

This was the second wine. It is as old as I am.
The cork was disintegrating. It was delicious.
If only women aged like wine.

Thanks for the wines, Mr. Anonymous.

Wine-Braised Caramelized Short Ribs

The first thing I did when I handed it in my final paper was go to Verbrugge's and buy short ribs. I wanted to make them the same delicious way I did last month, but then I realized, at least in the interest of blogging, I should try something new. This recipe looks delicious; I followed it somewhat. (It's from Well Fed, which is a blog I highly recommend.)

Marinate one day in advance:

You'll need:

short ribs (I made 5, which was a little over 2lbs)-- the meaty "English" cut, not the Korean BBQ kind; trim to remove all visible fat and silver skin. I'm not someone who shirks from fat (marrow, anyone?) but trust me, it's unnecessary here

fresh rosemary and thyme, chopped together
salt and pepper
good olive oil


This is the easy part-- just put your trimmed short ribs in a shallow baking dish, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and herbs; drizzle with olive oil, and rub oil and herbs into meat with your fingers; cover with plastic wrap, and let sit in the fridge overnight.

The next day:

You'll need:

mirepoix:
1 onion, sliced
1 leek, chopped
1-2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1t red chile flakes
1T herbes de provence
2 bay leaves

1 bottle dry red wine (cab, merlot, whatever)-- it's ok to steal a glass to drink, as long as you have enough wine to come up half-way the ribs.

1-2c beef broth (go out and buy beef broth. don't use chicken. please.)

Gremolata:

grated lemon zest
minced herbs, including parsley

One hour before: remove marinating ribs from fridge

At least 6 hours before you want to eat:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ribs well in hot grapeseed oil on all sides in a heavy pot or dutch oven. Remove from pot and set aside.


Add onions, salt, pepper, chile flakes, and herbes de provence. Saute until onion releases liquid and browned bits (fond) start to loosen. Add the rest of the mirepoix veggies and saute until garlic is fragrant. Add wine and bring to a boil, scraping any browned bits from pot.


Return ribs to pot, bone-side-up. They should not be fully submerged in the liquid. Add bay leaves. Cover with a tight-fitting lid (if you're not sure if your lid fits tightly, put a layer of foil between the lid and the pot. If you have a cast-iron dutch oven, you should be fine) and put in the preheated oven. Cook for 2-3 hours, until meat is fork-tender. After 1 1/2 hours, check the pot to make sure there's enough liquid. If there isn't (if the veggies look dry), add beef broth, 1c at a time, stirring gently to combine.

When meat is done, let cool. Remove ribs from pot; set aside (cover and refrigerate when cool). Strain sauce through fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Refrigerate sauce, covered, for a few hours, until fat forms a yellow layer on top.

An hour and a half before serving: Remove ribs from fridge. Remove sauce from fridge; carefully lift off fat layer with a spoon, and discard. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Thirty minutes before serving:
Spoon sauce over ribs. If you have lots of extra sauce, put it in a saucepan and boil to reduce it on the stove. You can thicken it with 1T cornstarch dissolved in 1T cold water. Return ribs to 350 degree oven, and bake until cooked through and caramelized, about 30 minutes.

To serve:
Top with gremolata (lemon zest & chopped herbs), and extra sauce, if you have it. Serve on creamy polenta or bean puree. (Picture above is served without gremolata, accompanied by carrot orzo with pecorino romano (sheep's milk cheese).

What to do with leftover short ribs

If you just so happened to snack too much on delicious cheeses while waiting for the short ribs to cook, you'll probably have leftover ribs. Refrigerate them in a closed container; when you're ready to use them, take them out in advance so they come to room temperature. Skim the orange congealed fat off the top of the sauce, and peel the meat off the bones. This will be a messy task; there is no way to do it without getting your fingers in every crevice of that meat, shredding it and making sure no sinew or bone gets mixed up in your precious meaty pile. Put the shredded, cleaned meat back into the sauce. Cook some pasta (I used whole wheat rotelli) and toss it all together with freshly grated parmesan in a heated bowl; voila, a new meal.

Bourbon-Pomegranate Short Ribs

Adapted from a recipe on justbraise.

5 meaty bone-in short ribs
2T grapeseed oil
8 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 serrano chile, chopped
3 bay leaves
1t herbes de provence
1c bourbon
2T tomato paste
1c stock
2T soy sauce
4 anchovy filets
scant ½ cup pomegranate molasses

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat oil over medium heat. Cover both sides of the short ribs with black and cayenne peppers and kosher salt. Brown the ribs on all 4 sides (about 6 minutes each side). Remove.

Add the carrot, celery, onion, jalapeño and anchovies. Sauté to soften and absorb the fond, about 7 minutes

Deglaze with bourbon. Add bay leaves, thyme, tomato paste, garlic cloves and soy sauce. Stir well to combine. Add ribs. Add stock (it should be halfway up ribs) and bring to a boil.

Cover well (I used foil and the pot lid) and cook in oven for 2.5-3 hours. If sauce is still liquidy, remove ribs and reduce on stove. Stir in pomegranate molasses. Return ribs to pot to coat with sauce and combine flavors.

Serve with yam oven fries (julienne peeled yams, drizzle with olive oil and salt, bake at 400 degree until crispy). *What we call "yams" are really orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. I buy "garnet"-- I think they're the sweetest and have the best texture.