Braised Short Ribs
Nothing like the smell of slow-braised …. well, anything in your house – especially in a red-wine/tomato sauce and ribs are the main dish. These little beauties got the full treatment today. They have a fennel/salt/pepper dry rub, they were seared in grapeseed oil and then braised for about 2 hours in a red wine, shallot, tomato sauce along with a secret ingredient….
What was it? Smoked paprika. I have used smoked paprika a couple of times now, namely in my grilled oysters with smoked paprika butter – just open up the container of it and take a whiff – the smokiness is so strong and sooo good. It really was a good spin on this classic recipe. I also added diced tomatoes so the sauce was a little chunky.
What is a short rib, you ask? Well, if you picture a cow, its ribs would obviously be found in the section of its body behind its shoulders. There are four defined areas there, the ribs, plate, brisket and chuck. Short ribs can be taken from any of these areas. There are typically three types of short ribs:
- Boneless: The meat from the ribs is cut away from the bone.
- English Cut: this is what is pictured above and used in my recipe. This is probably what you will get if you simply ask for short ribs at your typical grocery store. It is a 2-3 inch bone with meat sitting on top of it.
- Flanken Style: Cut across several bones so you have a longer piece of meat with little chunks of bone throughout.
Again, I used the English cut for this recipe, which is probably best braised because it has such a large piece of bone in it, the flavor from it is best extracted through a slow, low-heat process. Plus, the meat turns buttery and tender. It is a go-to luxurious meal that will knock your socks off.
Here are the short ribs:
So beautiful.
I put some fennel, salt and pepper in a bowl…..
And gave the short ribs a nice rub-down
Sear them on med-high heat.
Then remove, but keep all the juice in the dutch oven. Add all your yummy ingredients for the braising liquid (wine, tomatoes, tomato paste, shallots, beef broth, celery, carrots, garlic, oregano, thyme, fresh basil, rosemary, and smoked paprika)
I could just eat this by itself.
Reduce a little on med-high and then put the ribs back in.
Stick them in the oven at 250 degrees and cook for about 1.5-2 hours.
Damn good.
I have heard grilling short ribs is also a must-try….. it is officially on my list of things to try.
Enjoy~
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PinIngredients
- 1 lb short ribs (English cut)
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon fennel seed
- 1/3 cup finely chopped celery
- 1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
- 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 1/2 cup diced tomatoes (canned is fine)
- 1 and 1/4 cup beef broth
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 Teaspoon chopped garlic
- 1/2 Teaspoon ground oregano
- 1/2 Teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 Teaspoon smoked paprika (or more to taste)
- 1 Tablespoon roughly chopped fresh basil
- 1/4 Teaspoon rosemary
- 2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil
Instructions
- Combine salt, pepper and fennel in small bowl.
- Rub salt/pepper/fennel mixture all over short ribs (optional: wrap in plastic wrap and let sit for an hour or more)
- Add grapeseed oil to dutch oven on med-high heat.
- Sear short ribs on all sides
- Remove short ribs and place on plate.
- In same dutch oven, add celery, carrots, shallots, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, beef broth, red wine, garlic, oregano, thyme, smoked paprika, fresh basil, and rosemary. Stir to ensure any bits of short rib stuck to the bottom come loose.
- Preheat oven to 250
- Let simmer for 10-15 minutes to let reduce.
- Add short ribs back into dutch oven with braising liquid.
- Place in oven and let cook for 1.5 – 2 hours or until fully cooked.
- Serve immediately and cover with braising liquid.
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