One of the most common questions I get asked is, “What’s your favorite thing to eat?” And I can’t answer it, man! How could I? The truth is, for me I really enjoy the process of cooking more than I enjoy eating itself. Don’t get me wrong; I like eating. A lot. But there’s something about the virtue of cooking something beautiful yourself, filling the house with smells, crying as you chop onions (I don’t care how hard core of a chef you are, they still get you), and having a glass of wine or two while you do it. For me that’s what this dish is all about, and it’s one of my favorite things to prepare:

Recipe: (Serves 4-5)

- 3 lbs boneless beef short ribs, trimmed of excess fat
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- 6 small dried figs (use fresh if available)
- 2 cups Cabernet Sauv. (or another full bodied red)
- 2 cups beef stock
- 4 large celery roots, peeled and cubed
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1/4 cup cream or milk
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 large portobello mushrooms, sliced
- fresh parlsey for garnish
- salt and pepper
- flour

Method:

Season the pieces of short ribs liberally with salt and pepper, and dust the pieces with flour to help them brown. In a large, heavy bottomed pot, heat a thin layer of oil and add in a tsp of butter. Add in the pieces of short ribs and brown over med-high heat for 5-7 minutes until caramelized. Flip and do the same on the other side. Once they are evenly browned, remove short ribs from the pots and add in the garlic, onion, celery, and carrots and saute for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add in the dried figs, wine and beef stock and bring to a boil. Add the short ribs back into the pot and cover with a parchment paper lid, which will allow for some evaporation and reduction of the sauce while still protecting the top of the short ribs from becoming burnt. Cook at 325 for approx 3 hours or until the short ribs are very tender.

While short ribs are in the oven, heat a large pot with boiling salted water. Add in the cubed celery root and the sprigs of rosemary. Boil for approx. 20-25 mins until fork tender. Remove rosemary sprigs from pot and mash or whip with cream butter, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a medium sauté pan, cook the mushrooms over med-high heat in 1 tbsp of veg oil and butter. Add in 1/2 cup of red wine and let it reduce. When mushrooms are dark and most of the liquid has evaporated, turn heat to low and set aside.

When short ribs are out of the oven, remove them from the pot, and using a hand blender or a standard blender purée the vegetables and figs into the sauce. Place back on the heat for 2-3 more minutes to reduce.

TO PLATE!

Plate a couple spoonfuls of the rosemary celery root purée in the center of the plate and top with a couple pieces of the braised beef short ribs. Add a tbsp or so of the sliced red wine mushrooms on top, and finish with the cabernet fig sauce on top. Garnish with fresh parsley and DIG IN!

We’ve gotten a ton good feedback about the HD videos we had shot in the past. But then again, doesn’t HD make pretty much anything better? The chicken looks juicier, the salmon skin looks crispier, the steam looks….steamier, okay, I’m getting a little carried away, but you get the idea.

Since we had such a good time filming our previous ones, this weekend we went to town on a whole schwack of new ones. 6 to be exact! Over the coming weeks and months we’re very excited to be posting the videos along with detailed recipes on our site. They look amazing so far! (Trust me, I was there.)

Now, my question to you is, which one would you like to see posted first?

Vote on our poll below, and we’ll listen!

And here’s a couple of our videos we’ve shot in the past, the new ones will be even better!