Braised Beef Short Ribs

By mz0926

From Cook's Country

October/November 2011
To develop a short ribs recipe with fork-tender meat and a silky, grease-free sauce in just a few hours, we chose boneless ribs, which are significantly less fatty than ribs with bones. We missed the body that the bones’ connective tissue added, so we sprinkled some gelatin into the sauce for suppleness. To ramp up the richness of our relatively quick beef short ribs recipe, we reduced wine with some browned aromatics before using it to cook the meat.

Ingredients

• 6 6
• 1/2 1/2 pounds boneless short ribs, trimmed of excess fat (see note and technique below)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 2 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 2 2 onions, halved and sliced thin
• 1 1 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 6 6 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 2 2 cups red wine (see note)
• 1 1 1 cup beef broth
• 4 4 2-inch large carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 4 4 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 1 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 teaspoon unflavored powdered gelatin
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup cold water

Preparation

Step 1

Instructions 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Pat beef dry with paper towels and season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat until smoking. Add half of beef and cook, without moving, until well browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Turn beef and continue to cook on second side until well browned, 4 to 6 minutes longer, reducing heat if fat begins to smoke. Transfer beef to medium bowl. Repeat with remaining tablespoon oil and meat.

2. Reduce heat to medium, add onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes. (If onions begin to darken too quickly, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water to pan.) Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until it browns on sides and bottom of pan, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Increase heat to medium-high, add wine and simmer, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, until reduced by half, 8 to 10 minutes. Add broth, carrots, thyme, and bay leaf. Add beef and any accumulated juices to pot; cover and bring to simmer. Transfer pot to oven and cook, using tongs to turn meat twice during cooking, until fork slips easily in and out of meat, 2 to 2½ hours.

3. Place water in small bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top; let stand at least 5 minutes. Using tongs, transfer meat and carrots to serving platter and tent with foil. Strain cooking liquid through fine-mesh strainer into fat separator or bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Allow liquid to settle about 5 minutes and strain off fat. Return cooking liquid to Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until reduced to 1 cup, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin mixture; season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over meat and serve.

Make ahead: Ribs and sauce can be refrigerated separately for up to 3 days. To serve, heat sauce and ribs together over medium heat until ribs are heated through, about 10 minutes.


Secret Ingredient: Powdered Gelatin


By using boneless ribs, we can make short ribs without the usual fattiness (read: grease). But we pay a price. Boneless ribs lack bone marrow, which normally gives sauce extra flavor and body. We restore the texture by stirring in gelatin.