No Bones About It!

The last time I made braised short ribs I prepared them in the crock pot and I used a stout beer. Yesterday I made this dish again, however, I changed it up and used wine instead and slow roasted them in the oven. I cannot decide which one I like better, in the oven or in the crock pot! Maybe you can try both recipes and help me decide!

Ingredients
3#’s short ribs
1 1/2 tsp. rosemary
1 1/2 tsp. thyme
1 1/2 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. basil
1 1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 onion sliced
2 carrots cut into chunks
4 cloves smashed garlic
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 1/2 cups hearty red wine
1 bay leaf

Take the ribs out about an hour before cooking and rub with the rosemary, thyme, marjoram, and basil. Let these sit for the hour. When you are ready to start cooking, pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Then add the olive oil to a dutch oven. Heat over medium high heat, then add the ribs and the rubbed sage. Brown the meat on all sides.

Browned short ribs

Remove from the pan and then add the onions and carrots. Cook until the onion becomes transparent. Then add the garlic and cook for about two minutes. Then slowly add in the red wine followed by the beef broth.

Broth and wine reducing

Cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Make sure to scrape up any of the lovely browned bits that might have stuck to the pot.  Then add the ribs back and bring to a boil. When it just starts to boil, turn off the heat, add the bay leaf and cover.

Ribs with broth wine reduction

Place the dutch oven into the oven and let the beef slow roast for about 3 hours turning every hour.

Turn the ribs every hour

Remove from the oven. Take the beef and carrots out of the oven and strain the juices into sauce pan. Gently, as the meat is very soft, remove the bones. They should pull right up and out. Heat the sauce over medium high heat and reduce again by 1/3. This will concentrate the flavors. Then plate up the meat and carrots next to some lovely garlic mashed potatoes! Spoon a bit of the sauce over the ribs and carrots. Make a well in the potatoes for another spoonful of the sauce!

Dinner is served!

Let me know if you try this recipe! Hey, and thanks for stopping by today! Now go out and have a great Monday!

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Crockpot Braised Short Ribs

Temperatures are dropping, clouds are coming in and if we get any precipitation it will snow overnight. With the cold coming, I wanted to make an easy dish in the crockpot. I love the all in one dishes! This takes a bit of prepping, but it is well worth it!  Start this early in the day as cooking time is 9 hours, and prep time is about an hour.

Ingredients
4 cups of low sodium beef broth
1 onion, sliced and separated
8 beef short ribs
1 cup of flour
1 tsp fresh ground salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp rosemary leaves crushed
1 tsp thyme leaves crushed
1 tsp marjoram leaves crushed
1/2 tsp basil leaves crushed
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 – 12 oz. bottle of a stout beer
1 TBS butter
5 cloves of garlic crushed
1 bay leaf

Get your ingredients ready…

Ingredients

Put the beef broth into a saucepan and heat to boiling. Reduce this to approximately a cup and a half.  This concentrates the beef flavor in the broth.

Cooking down the beef broth

While this is cooking down, slice the onion and lay the pieces in the crockpot making a “bed” for the short ribs. Next in a zip lock bag, add the flour along with the salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, and basil. Shake the bag to mix up well. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot dredge the short ribs and add to the pan.

Dredged short ribs added to the oil

Sear the meat on all sides.

Sear all sides of the short ribs

About half way through searing the ribs, the beef broth should be done. Turn off the heat and set aside. As the ribs get browned, move off the completed ones to the crockpot until all have been added. Try to get them in bone side down.  This will add the flavor of the bones to the juices that you will use to drizzle over the finished dish!  Next pour the beer over the short ribs. Dot them with the garlic. Add the bay leaf and butter. Then pour in the drippings from the pan. Then take the broth and pour a bit into the pan to knock up the bits that are stuck to the pan. Pour this and the broth into the crockpot.

Everything has been added to the crock pot

Cover the crockpot and turn the heat on low, and set the time for 9 hours. Do not lift the lid once this has started cooking!  I cannot possibly describe for you how wonderful the aromas are in the house!  If you want to impress folks and make them think that you spent all day in the kitchen slaving over the stove, this is the dish for you!

Tonight I will be serving these over jasmine rice, although mashed potatoes or buttered noodles are also good. Don’t forget to steam up a vegetable, and maybe a bit of crusty sour dough bread. Serve this up with a good stout ale, or try it with a Cabernet Franc.

Dinner is served!

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Poke Me in the Ribs!

I don’t feel like slaving over the stove today. On days like this one, I pull out the trusty Crock Pot. Tonight’s menu: Baby Back Ribs in the Crock Pot. How do they look when done?

The finished product!

Ingredients:

1 side of baby back ribs
8 cloves of garlic
1 tbs fresh thyme
couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary
salt and fresh ground pepper

To get your crock pot ready, spray the inside with a non-stick cooking spray.

For the ribs, cut the ribs into 3 separate pieces. Take the garlic, thyme and rosemary and put into a food processor and grind until you have a chunky mass. Rub this over the ribs on both side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the ribs into the crock pot. Two pieces will be on the bottom leaving a gap between the two. Lay the third over the top covering the gap below. Make sure that you have the bone side facing down with the fat layer on top.

Set the crock pot to low for 10 hours. They will actually brown and the meat will fall off the bone! I love serving this with home made french fries, and a freshly steamed vegetable.

What do you have leftover?

Just Bones!

Just bones!

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