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My father made the most succulent, tender, “Wow” beef short ribs this week. Yes, it is a 2-day process, but the actual hands-on cooking time is at most two hours and is broken up over two days.
It is really quite easy to make!
The Key to Braised Short Ribs
The key step is after the initial slow cooking, to let the beef short ribs cool and then chill overnight in the refrigerator. This makes it much easier to remove the generous amount of excess fat that ends up solidifying in the chilling process.
The ribs also spend the whole night absorbing the flavor of the stock.
Other tips for great beef short ribs?
- Use good wine. You must use a good bottle of wine, a wine you like to drink. The better the wine, the better the result.
- Use veal stock. Veal stock can be hard to find, we got ours at our local butcher. Use it if you can get it, if not, beef stock will do.
The recipe on which this dish is based came from the Campton Place restaurant in San Francisco. (We found it in a magazine years ago, but we can’t identify which magazine from the clipping.)
Braised Beef Short Ribs Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 beef short ribs, bone-in
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
- 1 750-ml bottle good dry red wine (we used a zinfandel)
- 6 cups veal stock (can substitute beef stock)
Method
1 Brown the ribs: Preheat oven to 350°F. Season ribs to taste with the salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed ovenproof pan over high heat. Add ribs and brown on all sides. Work in batches if you need to so that the ribs don't get crowded (this will help with browning).
2 Sauté vegetables: Transfer ribs to a plate. Pour off the excess fat (do not put down the drain or you will clog your sink!). Add the onions, celery, and carrots to the pan and sauté, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the pan, set aside.
3 Deglaze pan with wine, then reduce sauce: Add the wine to the pan, deglazing the pan, scraping off any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine by three-quarters until thick and slightly syrupy, about 15 minutes on high heat.
4 Braise ribs in oven: Return the ribs to the pan, add the veal stock and enough water to cover the ribs. Bring to a boil, cover with foil, and place in the oven. Braise, cooking in the oven, until the meat is fork-tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
During the last 1/2 hour of cooking, add back in the vegetables.
5 Chill overnight: Allow the ribs to cool in the liquid, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
6 Remove excess fat: The next day, remove the excess fat that has solidified at the top from the overnight chilling.
7 Reduce sauce with ribs: Place the pan with the ribs and cooking liquid over medium heat, uncovered. Cook until the liquid has reduced by three-quarters, about 1 hour. Continue to cook, spooning the sauce over the ribs, until the sauce is thick and ribs are glazed. Take care not to burn the glaze; move the ribs around in the pan to keep them from burning.
Serve over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Braised Beef Short Ribs
WOW….so tender, flavour rich, definitely the 1st and last recipe I will ever need for beef ribs! Meat, fork tender. Butcher had no veal stock, used his beef stock. Bottle of Cabernet Gamay, less two sips. Loved that you could skim off the fat, once chilled. Sauce was still not as thick as I wanted, mixed some liquid from the pot and flour to a paste and whisked in. Absolutely amazing!
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Ok, this was sooooooo freaking good. A couple things I did, add garlic to the veggies and cut the recipe in half some I cooked for myself (leftovers were so appreciated here). I served mine over homemade polenta (corn meal, water, milk, butter, chicken stock) and omg did that come out amazing. I suggest eating the ribs over a side of creamy polenta vs mashed potatoes…enjoy!
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I just used a chuck roast I had in freezer..Cut it into pieces..Used the recipe but cooked at 350 for hour and half..turned off oven and let set an hour..also added some Rosemary pesto,I had made.. yummie….
This is the best beef short rib recipe. Any time I need a great meal for company, I make this one.
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Thanks Barbara, I’m so glad you like it!
Dear Elise,
I have a party of 12 for dinner. Do you think it is possible to make this recipe or would it be impossible? What would you recommend?
Many thanks
Katerina