Short ribs and Gratitude

 

Brown the meat in batches

A cliff of short rib before being served

  

I'm starting this New Year with some new powerful goals: one of which is to get even more adventure from my life with food allergies. To that end, I created a food allergy-free dinner party to seal in those new goals. Braised short ribs and chocolate cupcakes anyone? This was my first short rib creation ever. Since de-vegetarian-ing myself over five years ago, I've re-discovered my lurve for all meats, especially braisedones.  So at this dinner party, chez me, all the food was Allergic Girl friendly with some alterations for my guests as well: one only eats Kosher meat, another is gluten-sensitive, another eats no processed sugar in any form, another is an omnivore for whom a “free from” dish would equal “probably doesn’t taste good”. All were meat eaters (although I would have happily made a vegan dish if needed) so I created this menu starting with what I'd like most and going from there. For the braised short ribs,  I combined several recipes to create my version. Here were my base recipes: from Simply Recipes, FoodNetwork, BonAppetit and TastyKitchen. They all had a few things in common, so I took those common elements et voila. Please note this recipe needs an overnight step and it is totally worth it.

***

Short ribs a la Allergic Girl

Ingredients

10 - 12 beef short ribs, bone-in (I used Kosher)

Kosher salt

1-2 T olive oil

1 yellow medium-sized onion, peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

½ bottle 750-ml bottle good dry red wine (I used a Cabernet Sauvignon mainly because that’s what I had handy)

1 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes

48 ounces of liquid, like water or stock or a mixture (I used Swanson’s 33% less sodium chicken broth that’s GF)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Season the ribs with salt. Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed ovenproof pan over high heat. Add ribs and brown them on all sides. Turn the heat down to medium to sear the meat and brown but not burn it. Work in batches if you need to so that the ribs aren't over-crowded.

2. Transfer the ribs to a plate. Use the fat that came off the ribs combined with the oil to sauté the celery, carrots and onion, stirring often, until softened, about 5 - 7 minutes. Then add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes or until cooked through. Add the wine, deglazing the pan, scraping off any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Boil the wine / veggie mixture for 10-15 minutes until slightly reduced and fragrant.

3. Return the ribs to the pan; add the stock and the can of tomatoes, making sure the liquid covers the ribs. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat; cover with foil and place in the oven. Braise the meat, cooking in the oven, until the meat is fork-tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. (I cooked mine for 2 hours.) Allow the ribs to cool in the liquid, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. The next day about one hour before you are ready to serve, remove the excess fat that has solidified at the top from the overnight chilling. Remove the ribs; boil the liquid until it has reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Taste for seasonings - should be salty enough from the chicken broth but if you used water, adjust. Place ribs back into the pan with cooking liquid and cook over medium heat, uncovered until bones of the ribs have detached about another 20 minutes.  Serve over rice or gluten-free noodles. 

Finished dish with steamed rice and broccoli