Braised Short Ribs

My favorite restaurant, Cafe Madison, had a spectacular dish on their menu called the Don Quixote - braised short ribs in the most delicious sofrito and rioja wine sauce. They recently opened up into an expanded space next door (the Point), where the short ribs are sadly no longer on the menu (except for the occasional special). 

My mother-in-law gave me the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook for Christmas, which had a recipe for braised short ribs.So I figured it was time to re-create this wonderful dish, and along the way make a small step towards overcoming my fear of cooking meat.

Source
Adapted from the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook


Yeild
20 ribs, serves 6 - I doubled the original recipe, so ended up with 40 ribs, serving 10 plus leftovers. From here out though, I'll refer to the original size recipe that serves 6.


Equipment
Dutch oven, or other deep, oven-save and stovetop-safe pot
Tongs
Mesh strainer


Ingredients

• 3 1/2 lbs. Boneless beef short ribs, 4 inches long by 1 inch thick. Story time! Ok, so traditionally, short ribs are cooked on the bone for maximum flavor and consistency in the sauce. Problem is, this makes them very greasy, meaning you have to refrigerate them overnight after cooking to skim the fat off. Who thinks that far in advance? Certainly not me. So what the America's Test Kitchen recommends is to cook them boneless, later adding powdered gelatin to get the bone-in feel in the sauce, without all the grease. You can buy them bone-in, just make sure you de-bone them before cooking, and make sure there is still 1 inch of meat after you de-bone.
• 2 tbsp. Vegetable oil
• 2 large Onions, sliced thin from pole to pole
• 1 tbsp. Tomato paste
• 6 medium Garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 2 cups red wine - ATC recommends Cabernet or Cotes du Rhone, which is probably not a bad idea. I actually used chianti since it's what I had on hand.
• 1 cup Beef broth
• 4 large Carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 4 sprigs Thyme
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1/4 cup Cold water
• 1/2 tsp. Powdered gelatin (unflavored - no vanilla or raspberry jello here, please!)

Directions

Here's why I love this recipe - sure, it takes a lot of work, and there are lots of steps and ingredients. But the great thing is that you can do the braising early in the day, set it aside, and just throw it in the oven 2 to 2 1/2 hours before you want to eat. There's no rushing around when your guests arrive, and very little variability as to when it will be done. So - on to step 1!

Pat the beef dry with paper towels.

Season with salt and pepper

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the dutch oven over medium-high heat until it's very hot (smoking). Add some of the ribs so that it's not too crowded - I was only able to fit 4 or 5 at a time in my pot.

Don't stir it, move the ribs around, or flip them over for 4 to 6 minutes, or until they're pretty well browned on the one side, then flip them over and do the other side for 4 to 6 minutes. 

When both sides are browned, remove with tongs and set aside. Repeat with the remaining meat until it's all browned and removed from the pot. Reduce the heat to medium, and add the sliced onions 

and cook until soft.

Add the tablespoon of tomato paste

and cook, stirring constantly, until it starts to brown on the sides of the pot. 

Add the smashed garlic and cook about 30 seconds. 

Raise the heat back up to medium-high and add the wine, simmering and scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to get up all the browned bits. Continue until it's reduced by about half.

Now add the broth, carrots, thyme and bay leaf 

and all of the beef that was set aside, including all of the juices that accumulated while it sat. 

Now is the point where you can set this aside until 2 to 2 1/2 hours before you want to eat. When you're ready, bring the pot to a simmer, transfer to the oven,

and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. 


Turn the beef with tongs twice over the course of the cooking time.

When the meat is fork-tender, transfer the meat and carrots to a serving platter and tent with foil to keep warm.

Strain the cooking liquid through a mesh strainer, pressing on all the onions, etc., to get all the liquid out. Discard the solids.

Return the liquid to the dutch oven and cook over medium heat until reduced, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, set a small bowl with 1/4 cup cold water, sprinkle the gelatin on top, and allow to stand at least 5 minutes. 

When the liquid is sufficiently reduced, remove from the heat and stir in the water/gelatin mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste, spoon over the meat, and serve.

We served it with Parmesan polenta and broccoli rabe - really a perfect combination.