Quick Meal Idea – Braised Short Ribs
Most people are familiar with (and love, for good reason) Korean style BBQ short ribs. Sliced thin, marinated overnight and grilled over hot charcoal they are a fantastic alternative to standard BBQ fare. However, short ribs are not limited to just the grill for cost-effective enjoyment (they are considerably cheaper than your average steak) as I’ll show you with a follow up to my braising article – Braised Beef Short Ribs.
The short ribs in all their glory:
You’ll notice these are considerably thicker than the Korean BBQ style. These will be cooking for a longer period of time, so you’ll want to ask your butcher to slice them 3/4″ to 1″ thick for you.
Next slice up some fresh veggies. I’ve got some local garlic, new potatoes, carrots, onions and button mushrooms, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand.
Next, slice the short ribs in half and season them with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, then sprinkle 1 tsp of flour over each short rib. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and 1 tbsp of butter in a large heavy bottomed pan:
Brown the short ribs well over high heat on both sides. Getting a nice sear is important to the flavour of this recipe.
After well browned, remove them from the pot and brown the onions and garlic, then sautee the rest of the vegetables:
Now add the short ribs back to the pot, and add in the demi glace, beef stock, red wine, and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and bring mixture to a boil. (Full recipe posted at the end)
Now, I know not everyone is crazy like me and makes their own demi glace, then freezes it in cubes, so omit this step if you like and thicken the braising liquid with a roux at the end of the braising process instead:
Your pot should look something like this:
Pre-heat the oven to 375F, and once mixture is boiling, place the pot covered in the oven and braise for 1.5-2 hours or until short ribs are ridiculously tender.
Plate simply and garnish with a little flatleaf parsley if you like (I couldn’t wait and started eating mine before this step)
There you have it! Something new and some good eats if I do say so myself. Here’s the ingredients for those keeping score at home.
Braised Beef Short Ribs
2-3 lbs beef short ribs, 3/4″ to 1″ thick
1 lb new potatoes, halved
8-10 small carrots, peeled
3 gloves garic, diced
1 medium onion, sliced
10-12 button mushrooms, quartered
4 cups beef or veal stock
2 cups dry red wine
2 cubes or 2 tbsp demi glace, or the same amount of roux
2 cups whole canned tomatoes
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
Tags: BBQ, braising, catering, short ribs, vancouver personal chef