It’s kind of damp and chilly today so I want something to warm the old bones. Yesterday while food shopping I spotted some really nice beef short ribs and purchased two packs of them, 8 ribs in total so they will be dinner tonight. If you want to try them you will need…..flour for dusting and some for thickening the gravy later, about a cup total. 3 or more cloves garlic mashed ,depending on your love of garlic, one large onion chopped, about 2 tablespoons tomato paste or a few sun dried tomatoes, salt and pepper, 3 cups of beef broth or you can use a few buillion cubes or some canned broth if you don’t have homemade stock on hand, a cup of nice hardy red wine. Set a large shallow pan on the stove and heat it, while it heats trim some of the fat off the ribs, coat the ribs in a light dusting of flour, mixed with salt and pepper, you may want to leave the salt out at this step if you are using canned broth or buillion,you can always adjust and add salt later but once in you can’t remove it. Put a light coating of oil on the pan bottom when it is heated and let the oil heat too, don’t overdo the oil, just a light film is all you need because the short ribs are already fatty. When the pan with the oil is hot add the ribs and sear them, don’t crowd them. If your pan is narrow do this step in batches. When they are seared on all sides remove them to a platter and set aside. Into the pan add the onions and the garlic, saute them until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes, add whichever tomato type you are using at this point and continue to saute about 3 more minutes, keep stirring it so it doesn’t burn, you want the tomato to get a little darker, add the wine to loosen any fond on the bottom, then add the broth, add the ribs back into the pan. Cover the pan and adjust the flame to low, simmer for a few hours until the meat starts to fall from the bones, depending on the size of the ribs it should take 2-3 hours. If it looks like the liquid is not enough you can add more broth during the cooking. When the ribs are tender, remove them from the pot to a deep platter and pour the remaining pan juices into a container so you can remove the accumulated fat off the top. When you have de-fatted the liquid put the liquid back into the pot over a low flame and bring to a low boil, mix 2-3 tablespoons of flour into 1/2 cup of water and then add to the boiling broth, bring to a boil and cook and stir for about 3-5 minutes until the flour taste is gone. Taste and adjust with more salt and pepper if needed. Pour the sauce over the ribs and serve. We’re having this with some wide noodles and broccoli with cheese sauce tonight. Tomorrow the leftover (if you have any) would be great with rice or mashed potatoes.
This can also be made in the oven in a covered roaster at 325 degrees, or in a pressure cooker at low setting for about 20-30 minutes or cook for 20 minutes on the high setting if your cooker only has that available, let the pressure reduce on its own for 10 minutes then do a quick release of the remaining pressure if needed. Enjoy, it is a nice warming dish on a cold day.

Short RIbs

For this dish I used my new Ninja Master Prep machine to chop the onions and garlic. This is a great little gadget and works wonderfully for chopping literally anything, for me it gives me even more control than I ever got with any of my regular food processors….although they are still very much loved in my kitchen. If you have a need for a chopper I highly reccomend the Ninja. Plus it also makes great smoothies!

Short Ribs

Mattie