Braised short ribs with pine nuts

This is one of those cook-it-today-but-maybe-eat-it-tomorrow kinda deals. The flavors knit together even better with time.

I had it both ways. The batch of short ribs I prepared the other day were eaten that same evening, but there were enough leftovers for another couple of meals.

I ain’t as dumb as I look.

Very liberally salt the ribs (4 1/2 pounds here), and don’t forget some freshly ground black pepper.

Then dredge in all-purpose flour.

In a large dutch oven brown the ribs in a plenty of olive oil, then remove and set aside.

Add one diced onion, two celery stalks, two carrots, one leek, eight garlic cloves, a few anchovy filets, some thyme, and half a cup of pine nuts, and saute until softened.

Then add a bottle (750 ml) of red wine (I used an inexpensive Sangiovese but most any dry red will do) and turn up the heat to high. Note: If you prefer to use a dry white wine instead, nobody’s stopping you.

After the wine has boiled for five minutes or so add a quart of homemade stock (I had chicken stock around but beef or even vegetable stock would be fine). Cover and put in the oven, preheated to 350-375 degrees F. The ribs should cook for around three hours, but every 45 minutes or so turn the ribs.

These short ribs were in the oven exactly three hours. When I put a fork to the meat it was about as soft and tender as it gets, which is what you want.

Remove the ribs and toss the bones.

Then slice the meat into inch or so pieces.

And serve with some of the sauce. On this particular occasion My Associate had prepared a very nice mashed potato and celery root combo, which turned out to be a pretty much perfect match. However, most anything will work here (egg noodles, spaetzle, polenta, whatever).

Just be sure to make enough for those leftovers.

Roasted sauce with short ribs

I’ve been cooking fresh tomato sauce for weeks now and so there’s plenty in the freezer to last me (and the usual suspects; you know who you are) through the year. Recipe? Fuhgeddaboudit. I wing it every time, which means that every batch of sauce, 10 or so in all this summer, has been different. The last couple batches have been especially tasty and feature whole bone-in meats, like the pork butt from a couple weeks back and now these beef short ribs.

This sauce uses up the last of my garden’s tomatoes, even a few that didn’t ripen. I won’t bore you with the details of using green tomatoes, or the roasting process in general, as we’ve covered the topics before. For the background here’s the Roasted Green Tomato Sauce recipe and here’s another Roasted Tomato Sauce that combines both ripe and green specimens. These chopped-up garden tomatoes filled my largest metal bowl. I’m guessing it’s around 8 or 10 pounds’ worth of tomatoes.

Again, winging it is highly encouraged around here. To start a sauce don’t be afraid to be creative. I’ve used huge leeks, hunks of diced-up prosciutto ends or pancetta, a piece of speck I’d been neglecting in the fridge, all kinds of things. But four items you gotta have, in whatever amount you like, are carrots, celery, onion and garlic.

This is 2 pounds of beef short ribs (bone-in). Generously coat all sides with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. (As I mentioned earlier, a whole pork butt would get the exact same treatment throughout this process should you decide to go that route instead.)

Pour plenty of olive oil into whatever oven-ready pot you’ll be cooking the sauce in (mine is a 13-quart dutch oven), brown the ribs and then remove and set aside.

Add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic, along with whatever fresh herbs you like, and saute until they’ve softened. NOTE: You’ll also see that there are several anchovy fillets in here. I always use them because they add a depth to the flavor; plus, I don’t need to add as much salt. And no, you can’t taste the anchovy in the sauce. Use it, don’t use it, makes no difference to me.

Add half a cup to a cup of red or white wine (I often use a dry vermouth) and allow it to reduce.

Then return the ribs to the pot.

Add your tomatoes, mix everything up, cover and put in the oven preheated to 350 degress F.

When the meat is very tender (2 hours ought to do it but poke at the meat with a fork to be sure) remove the ribs and set aside to cool. Raise the oven temperature to 450 degreees F and return the pot to the oven for another 30 minutes or so, or until the sauce’s consistency is to your liking. If the sauce is already the consistency you like then don’t bother cooking it any longer.

After the ribs have cooled enough to handle, shred off all the meat.

All that’s left to do now is add the meat to the sauce and mix thoroughly.

Oh, and boil yourslf some pasta to go with it.

But I’m pretty sure you knew that already.

Braised beef short ribs

The chill hasn’t yet gone out of spring. Here in Maine this morning they’re actually calling for snowflakes. The last pile of seasoned firewood on my front porch grows smaller each day, and come Sunday it’s going to be May.

In other words, it’s still braising season here in the Northland. Might as well get with the program and rustle up some short ribs.

Finely dice three large carrots, three celery stalks, one onion, one leek, and six garlic cloves; also measure out 1/4 cup of pine nuts.

This is just under 5 pounds of beef short ribs. Season the ribs very well with kosher salt (don’t be shy) and freshly ground black pepper.

Dredge the ribs in all-purpose flour.

Cover the entire surface of a large Dutch oven in olive oil; heat the oil and brown the ribs on all sides. You may need to do this in batches; I browned two ribs at a time.

When the ribs are nicely browned remove from the oil and set aside.

Add the diced vegetables, pine nuts and a few anchovy filets (optional) to the oil and saute until softened but not browned. I also added some fresh thyme, marjoram and rosemary.

Return the ribs to the Dutch oven.

Then cover the meat with a combination of red wine and stock. I used 6 cups of homemade chicken stock here and one bottle of an inexpensive Cote du Rhone; you may not need to use this much liquid. Cover the pot and place in the oven (preheated to 350 degrees F). After around 2 hours remove the cover and continue cooking for another hour or until the meat is completely tender.

These ribs were in the oven for just over 3 hours and the meat was so soft and tender that it literally slid right off the bones. The ribs gave off a lot of fat and so I used a large spoon to scoop most of it out.

Then I set the ribs aside, added the zest of around half a lemon, and reduced the sauce a little bit because it was on the thin side. Depending on how much sauce you have, and its consistency, you may not need to reduce the sauce at all, but the lemon zest is still a good idea.

I served the short ribs over homemade pappardelle but mashed potatoes, polenta, or even risotto would work too.

If you’re lucky there’ll be leftovers. This stuff is always going to taste better the next night. Which in my case turned out to be in the 30-degree-get-me-the-hell-out-of-here-it’s-supposed-to-be-freaking-spring range.

Beef short rib ragu

The furnace has been running lately. So has the living room fireplace.

It’s braising season.

Not a lot of things are better for braising than short ribs. They’re terrific served whole, of course, but I was in the mood for a hearty ragu the other evening, and so that’s the direction I went in.

Nobody complained.

I started out with 3 pounds of beef short ribs. After liberally seasoning the ribs with kosher salt and black pepper I dredged them in all-purpose flour and then tossed them into a dutch oven with plenty of olive oil.

After the ribs have browned on all sides, remove and set aside.

Add one large chopped carrot, two celery stalks, one medium onion, one leek, four garlic cloves, and some thyme. Saute until the vegetables have softened.

Return the ribs to the dutch oven and add one quart of stock (beef here), 2 cups of red wine, and one can of tomatoes. Let the liquid come to a boil, then cover the pot and place in an oven preheated to 375 degrees F.

After around two hours check that the meat is tender. If it isn’t tender continue to cook until it is. Once tender remove from the oven and allow things to cool.

Once cool enough to handle, remove the ribs from the sauce and pick away all the meat from the bones.

All that’s left to do now is add the meat back into the sauce, reheat and serve.

As you can see by the picture up top I served the ragu over polenta the first night. The next night I went with cavatelli.

It feels like winter tonight. I only wish there was still some of the stuff left.