Braised Beef Short Ribs

Last weekend, I made braised beef short ribs for the first time ever and their were absolutely delicious and pretty easy to prepare. All you need is about a 1/2 hour of prep time and a few more hours for braising in the oven. I served them over potato/parsnip puree and roasted green beans.  This yielded 2 days worth of dinner, one lunch of leftovers and some delicious bones for the dog.

I quizzed my cooking group on facebook for recommendations and put this together based one of the recipes with a bit of improve on my part.

Ingredients:

about 3 pounds of beef short ribs (mine were bone in)

1 bottle of red wine (I used cabarnet savignon)

3 shallots chopped (ok to substitute w onion)

3 leek bulbs white and light green roughly chopped

2 carrots cut into rounds

2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed

6 oz can of tomato paste

2 cups of beef stock (ok to substitute w more wine, water or stock)

a few spigs of thyme

2 bay leaves

Flour for dredging meat (I used whole wheat)

Neutral oil (I used grape seed)

Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 325.

In the meantime, in a heavy duty dutch oven, heat up a bit of oil. In the meantime, dredge short ribs in flour. When the oil is preheated, brown the short ribs on both sides, about 3 minutes a side. You may need to do this in batches, DO NOT CROWD or you will not get a proper browning.

Remove short ribs from dutch oven. Add a bit more oil if needed. 

Add shallots and leeks. Allow to brown a few minutes while scraping up meat bits from the dutch oven. 

Add carrots, bay leaves, thyme, garlic. Deglaze with red wine. Add the ribs back in. Pour stock or other additional liquid you are using. Cover well and place in oven.

Cook in the oven for about 1 hours. Add tomato paste and mix well. Cook additional 30 minutes to an hour for a total baking time for 1.5 to 2 hours. 

Remove from oven. Remove meat and use immersion blender to puree the sauce. Simmer on the stove top at a low flame to reduce a bit. Taste for salt.

Add meat back in. 

Serve over a carb of choice like potato pure or polenta. 

Enjoy. 

Osso Bucco aka Bone with Hole with White Beans

Osso Bucco. Trust me, it tastes even better then it looks.

Osso Bucco may sound fancy but is actually fairly simple to make and once it's in the oven, you work is basically done. Such a comfort food. Serve over a side of your choice. Mashed potatoes or risotto come to mind.

All the ingredients are an estimate and you can add/remove ingredients without compromising the taste.

This can be made with either veal or beef, I happened to have 2 of each (long story) so I used that. I always braise/stew in a dutch oven that I have from LeCreuset. 

You will need:

4 bones with hole ( I prefer veal but beef is fine too)

Flour for dredging ( I used whole wheat)

1 small can of tomato paste (6 ounces)

1 can of white beans (optional)

4 tbsp of oil (I use grape)

1-1 1/2 cups of white cooking wine

Water

Bay leave

Thyme

Combo of veggies--carrot, anise, onion, a few garlic cloves.

1) Pulse veggies in your food processor till smooth. Reserve. The veggies can really be modified based on your taste or what you have.

2) Preheat oven to 375.

3) Wash and pat dry your meat. Dredge in flour. In the meantime, heat enough oil in your dutch oven to cover the bottom of the pan. Brown your meat on both sides about 3 minutes per side. Do not crowd. You may need to do this a few times.

This is what it will look like at this point:

Browned Meat Ready for the Oven

4) Remove meat.  If you have oil left, spill out but leave the meat bits. Add a bit more oil. Add the veggie combo from step one. Bring to simmer.  Add can on tomato paste. Bring to simmer. Add back the meat, add about a cup of white wine. Bring to boil. Add enough hot water to just about cover the meat. Add bay leave and fresh thyme. Cover, stick in the oven.

5) Cook for about 1 1/2 hours. Uncover. Cook another 20 minutes. If you are using white beans, drain and rinse. Mix into stew and cook another 20 minutes or so. Meat should be soft and falling of the bone. 

Beef Shank Stew with Shallots and White Beans Served with a Side of Mashed Potatoes w Roasted Garlic and Kale

Beef Stew is a great dinner for colder days and makes for excellent leftovers. 


INGREDIENTS for STEW:

4 Beef Shanks
1 cup of broth (I use organic chicken broth which is low sodium)
1 cup of red wine
4 shallots
1-2 Carrots if you like
1-2 cans of white beans
A few tablespoons of flour for dredging (I use whole wheat)
2-3 tbsp of oil (I use grape)
Herbs to taste (I use Herbs De Provence)
Salt and pepper to taste

1.  Wash and pat dry your beef. Depending on the size of the beef shanks, you may want to cut them up.
2. Dredge beef in flour on both sides. I like to do this on a large plate.
3. Heat up about half your oil in a pot, I use a cast iron by Le Creuset which I love.  Brown the shanks on both sides till brownish, you may have to do this 2 times if your beef does not fit. DO NOT CROWD or it may not brown properly.
4. While the beef is browning, peel and chop shallots. Peel and cut carrots. I like to cut the carrots in relatively large pieces so that my daughter who hates carrots can easily pick them up. Keep carrots and shallots separate in bowls.
5. Remove beef, wipe the oil residue from your pot. 
6. Add about half the broth and half the wine.
7. Saute shallots about 5 minutes, add the carrots and saute a few more minutes. Add the beef, remaining wine and broth. 
8. Season with herbs of your choice, I use Herb the Provence (a mix of dry thyme, rosemary, lavender). Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Cover and cook on a low flame for about 2 hours. If you see there is still too much broth, uncover and increase flame a bit.
10. NOTE if you are using white beans, you will add them towards the end, when the beef needs to cook for another 30 minutes or so. You will need to drain them and rinse them, add and stir in. They get nice and soft and taste awesome ( I personally prefer them to the beef).

MASHED POTATOES w ROASTED GARLIC

 6 potatoes (small ones that are clean are best so you can leave the skin on)
4-6 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup milk (I use 1%)
Butter to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking spray (I use Spectrum Canola Oil)

Wash and clean potatoes well. If they are relatively unblemished, leave the skin on otherwise peel

Place in pot, cover in water. Cook till soft, about 20 minutes to half hour. Reserve a bit of the water.

In the meantime, roast your garlic cloves, you can leave skin on in over or toaster over for about 15 mins. Coat w PAM or another spray.

Peel and reserve soft roasted garlic.

Once potatoes are soft, mash, add garlic, butter and reserved water. Turn on small flame, slowly add warm milk ( I heat milk up a few seconds in the microwave). Stir well. 

KALE
I am loving kale lately--I think it tastes great and is the latest SUPER food!

Note that kale shrinks a lot when you are cooking w it.

1 batch of kale
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil

Remove large stems from kale, disgard. Wash and spin dry kale.
In a large deep skillet, heat oil for about 2 minutes till it's nice and hot. 
Add kale, cook about 3 minutes per side. I leave in on each side long enough where it's a little brown. Salt to taste.

Assemble your stew, mashed potatoes and kale. Serve with a glass of Pinot Noir (optional)

NOTES: In my opinion, stew tastes even better as leftovers and my family (luckily) is happy to eat it for a few days. I usually mix it up by serving a different side dish or a different veggie. If there is not a lot of meat left, I add another protein in like frozen edamame which gives me enough dinner for another night. You can also add a can of diced tomatoes. Be creative and it will make your life easier. 

Finished product

Beef stew recipe is adapted from Real Simple Magazine as well as Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything with lots of improve by me.