Braised Short Ribs

I think people are often intimidated by (1) making short ribs and (2) the concept of braising meat but really, I think it is pretty hard to mess up! Braising essentially means cooking in some sort of liquid (albeit stock, wine, beer, etc) until a meat is nice and tender and falls apart. You can braise poultry, red meat, lamb, pretty much anything!

This recipe for braised short ribs is a great dish to impress your friends, or to use for a holiday (Christmas, Passover, or Rosh Hashana!)

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs of boneless beef cut short ribs (you can definitely use bone-in short ribs, but just remember the weight of the bone is counted in how much it weighs, so go for maybe 6lbs of bone-in)

• 1 large white or yellow onion; cut into 1 inch pieces

• 3 large carrots; cut into 1 inch pieces

• 3 celery stalks; cut into 1 inch pieces

• 3 garlic cloves; minced

• 1 1-inch piece of ginger; minced

• 4 cups of red wine (about 1 bottle)

• 1 cube of beef bouillon

• 2 cups of pitted prunes

• 1 carton of sliced mushrooms (button or cremini)

• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme

• 1 bay leaf

• Zest of half of an orange, in large strips

• Salt & pepper

• 3 tbsp of olive oil

Preheat your oven to 325F.

In a large Dutch oven, heat your 3 tbsps of olive oil on the stove over a medium heat. While the oil is heating up, salt and pepper your short ribs on both sides. Add your short ribs into the Dutch oven and sear on both sides. When your short ribs have been seared on both sides, pull them out of the Dutch oven and set aside.

When your meat has been cooked and pulled out of the Dutch oven, add in your carrots, celery, minced garlic and ginger. Cook that until the onions go glossy.

Pour in your wine, making sure you scrape up all the bits on the bottom of the Dutch oven. Bring your liquid to a boil and let it reduce to about half- about 15 minutes.

Break in your beef bouillon cube to the liquid. Add in your sliced mushrooms and prunes and mix.

Nestle your short ribs back into the liquid and make sure the beef is mostly covered by the liquid. Tuck your bay leaf, fresh thyme, and orange peels into the liquid.

Turn off the heat of the stove, cover the Dutch oven and place it in the oven for about 3 to 3.5 hours. You want to make sure there is consistently enough liquid in the Dutch oven so that the meat never dries out and when it was done, it will fall off the bone. You will know your meat is done and ready when you can pull the meat apart with a fork.

Enjoy with mashed potatoes, potato kugel, or even polenta!