There’s something unbelievably satisfying about braised short ribs. Brown them deeply, add some wine, stock and a few aromatics. Stick it in the oven for a couple hours and walk away. Something wonderful happens. Magical. It’s slow food. It’s good food.
Braises with bones are better. Make no mistake. But there’s enough goodness in the short ribs that it doesn’t matter. Enough connective tissue. Enough marbling. Umami. Wow. I grab them whenever I see them. They make fantastic stew. And who doesn’t love stew?
The generic beef stew meat at grocery stores is usually cut from the hip. It’s not good. Just look at it. No marbling. No promise. No hope really. Your butcher can fix you up with chuck. That’s good. But if you can get short ribs… that’s great.
braised short ribs
Ingredients
- 6 lbs boneless short ribs or 12 bone in short ribs cut English style - 4-5 inches long
- olive oil to brown the short ribs
- 4 oz mild pancetta diced
- 1 large onion coarsely chopped
- 1 large leek coarsely chopped (white and light green portion only)
- 2 carrots coarsely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 bottle red wine - something you would drink
- 4 cups veal or chicken stock
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- salt to taste
- fleur de sel to finish if you have it
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 325F.
- Heat a big dutch oven over medium heat. Add enough oil to generously film the pan.
- Working in batches, deeply brown the beef on all sides. Take your time. You are going to spend 15-20 minutes on this. It is THE critical step. This is where the depth of flavour comes from. This is magic.
- Once you have finished browning the meat spoon out all but about 4 Tbsp of fat from the pan. Add the pancetta and cook until golden - about 2 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium low and add the onion, leek, and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.
- Add the wine. Bring to a boil and let simmer 5-10 minutes.
- Return the beef to the pot along with 4 cups veal or chicken stock.
- Make a bouquet garni and nestle it in with the beef.
- Cover the pot with a sheet of aluminum foil and then the lid. This creates a better seal and makes cleaning up easier.
- Place the dutch oven in the oven. Check for doneness after about 2 hours. You are going for fork tender. If it’s not ready put it in and cook another 30 minutes. Check again. If it’s still not fork tender then let it go another 15-20 minutes. It will be done by the 3 hour mark.
- Remove the dutch oven from the oven and remove the meat and bouquet garni. Discard the bouquet garni and tent the beef with foil.
- Strain the sauce, pressing down hard on the onion/leek/carrot mixture to extract all the liquid. If you can force a bit of the vegetable pulp through the strainer that’s good too. It adds a little something but it’s not critical.
- Return the strained sauce to the pot and simmer to reduce by half. This takes about 20-30 minutes.
- Return beef to pot and simmer to warm the beef through.
- Serve braised short ribs and sauce with crusty bread. Or serve it on spätzle or tagliatelle.
Notes
I love beans. And these savory navy beans are near the top of my list. Rosemary. Thyme. Parsley. Onions and garlic. Shallot. What’s not to love? I also love how the house smells when I cook this. It’s a meal in a bowl. A stew really. Nourishing. Satisfying. Just good.
It flips from vegan to not with two ingredients. Make it vegan or add the optional bacon and chicken stock and it will satisfy the most carnivorous palate. It isn’t even that much bacon. Just a hint really. Less than a slice per serving. Even with the bacon it’s pretty healthy. It’s gluten free too. Not by design mind you. It just worked out that way.
It’s easy too. If you use canned beans you can get these savory navy beans on the table in about 40 minutes. Most of that time is simmering time. Walk away from the stove time. Leftovers make great lunches too. It reheats nicely in a microwave. If it sounds good to you, try it. I think you’ll like it. You may even love it. I do.
