Braised Short Ribs Equals Happy Husband

As I've mentioned before, my entire family loves to cook and most of our conversations are about what we are made for dinner or what we are about to make for dinner. A few weeks ago, my dad mentioned how he had convinced my mom to make him short ribs for dinner based on a recipe in Fine Cooking magazine. (Great food porn, by the way.) He said it was one of the best things he had tasted in a long while and he encouraged me to give them a try. He also assured me that my husband would love them.

Well, he was right.

I read through the article and studied the pictures, then ad-libbed my way to a delicious dinner. My husband and I were both very happy with the results.

Here is what I did...

Braised Beef Short Ribs

(serves 2)

2 3/4 lbs beef short ribs (4 ribs)

2 Tbsp canola oil

Salt and pepper

1/2 large onion, diced

1 1/2 carrots, diced

Garlic, finely chopped, to taste

Beer

Beef broth

14.5 oz can Rotel tomatoes

Spices, to taste - oregano, chili powder, cumin

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat the canola oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Season the ribs with salt and pepper, and cook, turning with tongs until nicely browned on all sides. This will probably take 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the ribs to a plate and pour off all but a thin layer of the fat from bottom of pan.

Add onions and carrots to pot. Cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bit from bottom of pan until soft and lightly browned, probably 6 or 7 minutes. Add garlic and spices, as you like, and cook, stirring, for another minute.

Deglaze the pot with beer. I used less than 1/2 cup. Pour it in, and cook, stirring to scrape up browned bits from the bottom until reduced. This took a little over a minute.

Transfer ribs back to pot. I made a mixture of beer and beef broth as my braising liquid. It was about 2 cups total and then I dumped in the can of Rotel tomatoes. Bring it all to a simmer, then cover, turn off burner, and put in the oven. Cook, turning the ribs about every 40 minutes, until they are fork tender. This took me just shy of three hours.

When it was done, transfer the ribs to a serving dish. Let the sauce and other solids sit in the pot for bit because you may need to skim off some fat. I didn't have much. Give the sauce a taste and add salt and pepper, if needed. If you like, thin the sauce with a finish of maybe 1 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar and stir. Then, spoon over ribs and serve. Mmmm...you will be quite full.