Braised Short Ribs

I was once again cruising around for a nice rib-sticking recipe for short ribs. A braise usually fits in well with rib-sticking so that's what I was looking for. I thought about Sous Vide but most of the recipes involved 24 hours. I might try that another time but I was looking for something for dinner that night. The recipe amounts for were not really specific for this recipe so I went with my own ideas.

Braised Short Ribs (Adapted from BonAppetit)

1T canola oil
3lbs English cut beef short ribs
salt/pepper
4 carrots, cut in rounds
1 onion, cut in chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
28oz can whole tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
Red wine (about 2 cups)
1lb pasta - wide such as fetuccine or pappardelle
Parmesan Cheese

Heat a large dutch oven. Salt and pepper the ribs on both sides (be generous with the salt). Add oil to dutch oven until it shimmers. Brown all sides of ribs. Remove and set aside. Add carrots and onions and cook until brown. Add garlic saute for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add tomato paste and cook until turns slightly brown. Break tomatoes into small pieces (your hands do a great job of this). Add to dutch oven. Return ribs to pan and add enough wine to cover meat. Place lid on dutch oven and put in a 350 oven for 2 1/2 - 3 hours or until meat is tender and falls off bone. While pasta is cooking, remove meat from dutch oven and shred. Strain sauce. Add shredded meat back to the sauce. Toss in cooked pasta and add Parmesan cheese.

First I had to figure out if I had English style short ribs - the answer was yes. English style are short thick pieces of rib. Flanken style are long, flat, and you will see a cross-section of 3 to 4 ribs. Here's a picture.

This is one of the best dishes I have made. My mouth is just watering thinking about it. I can't wait until I make this again. It really did not involve too much labor, it was more time intensive. Even the labor that was involved was pretty simple labor. Probably the most difficult part was shredding the meat.

I used homemade fresh pasta. I had the pasta rolled out to sheets and then just cut them into wide pieces. But by all means, feel free to used store-bought but make sure it is good quality. Enjoy (and believe me this is one you definitely will enjoy).

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