Short ribs redux

Rory and I decided to have some people over for dinner on Friday. Thad, Erika, Loraine and Alex were two couples we were long overdue in having over, especially since Erika is a frequent reader of the blog. I pretty much stuck to thing I knew here, other than with dessert.

I actually made the very first recipe I ever posted here. And while it was good the first time around, this time it was much, much better. Three major difference: better browning, dried mushrooms, more reduction.

I wasn't able to buy the flanken style short ribs that I like, so I had to go with something smaller, but I really got a good sear on them. The last few months have really taught me the importance of getting a good crust on the meat.

The first time around I didn't think the dried mushrooms were that important, I was wrong. They added an earthiness that really gave the flavor some extra depth. I won't skip this again.

Reduction: I didn't do this right last time. Basically a half hour before we sat down I took the meat out of the pot and cranked up the heat and let it cook down for a little more than a half hour. The results was this thick, rich sauce that was awesome.

I roasted the asparagus and made the usual mashed potatoes. The only thing I may do differently is not cook it for as long as I did in the future. The meat cooked for about six and a half hours and was pretty much falling apart. I could probably get just as goof flavor with the meat holding together if I cooked it for three hours.

But overall, the entree was great, the dessert, well, it tasted good.

I attempted to make my first ever souffle, a dark chocolate and lime souffle in individual ramekins. The recipe isn't very complex, but I wanted to do as much as possible beforehand so I wasn't in the kitchen after dinner. I decided to make the chocolate portion of the dessert before any one arrived and then after dinner whip the egg whites and finish the job.

It didn't work. By the time I got to the chocolate mixture it was all crumbly. I tried adding some of the whipped egg whites but it wasn't taking. I added a little water mixed it and then added the egg whites and it still seemed too heavy. I put the batter in the ramekins and baked for about 15 minutes. The result: individual brownies. They were good, but they weren't souffle. At least I know what I did wrong.

Short Ribs

While the weather is getting better and it's pretty much time to move away from braising and to grilling I had to do short ribs one last time.

The recipe I used was similar to my first post and this recipe. I did a few things different though. Here's what you need.

4 slices of bacon
3 pounds of beef short ribs
Flour for dredging
Salt and pepper
1 large carrot diced
1 rib of celery diced
1 large onion diced
3 cloves of garlic diced
1 bottle of zinfandel
2 cups of beef stock
1 TBLSP dried thyme
1 TBLSP dried oregano
1 bay leave
1 TSP red pepper flake
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 pound of crimini mushrooms

Chop up the bacon into 1.2 inch pieces and place in dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook until crispy and fat is rendered. Set aside.

Dredge short ribs in flour and season with salt and pepper. Sear each of the short ribs, working in batches if necessary, until they are seared on all sides, set aside. After all the ribs are done deglaze the pan with a little of the wine getting all the brown bits up. Cook until all the wine is cooked off.

Turn the pan down to medium and add the onions, celery and carrots and cook for five to seven minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for another minutes or so making sure you don't burn the garlic. Add the ribs and bacon to the pot and add the wine, beef stock and spices.

Bring to a boil, cover and turn the heat to low. Cook for three to four hours. After about two hours add the sliced mushrooms.

I feel like I'm on a roll between this and the meal I cooked last Sunday. These turned out exceptionally well. The zinfandel added a nice flavor and there was a sweetness and a tartness to the tender meat. I'm glad they worked out because I won't likely be making them again until it gets cold out again. Though now I do get to look forward to grilling season.

Braised short ribs: the results

This was a pretty simple dish to cook, there are a couple of things that made it a bit more complicated but overall not too bad. I browned the meat and made the sauce and threw it in the dutch oven. The one thing that made it complicated was the fat. Short ribs are extremely fatty and as you braise the meat that fat comes off so you need to skim it off the sauce or it'll taste like crap. I don't know if there's a better way to do it but I look for where the fat is on the sauce and took a large metal spoon and skimmed it off. All told, I probably ended up skimming a cup and a quarter of fat off the sauce and two different points. Again, it's a pain in the ass to do but you have to do it.

I ended up braising the short ribs for a little more than three hours. They were falling off the bone at that point. You could probably go a little bit less, but I wouldn't recommend it. And you could let it cook longer if you wanted to. I cranked up the heat on the sauce to let it cook down but it wasn't doing much so I added a little flour to thicken it. When I tired the sauce on its own it was pretty sweet, but with the meat and potatoes it worked well.
The photo above is my attempt at a nice presentation, yeah, I know not very nice but I figured I would try. Also, I substituted portabello for porcini and I think it worked.

The meal overall was fantastic. I was very happy with the flavor and texture of the meat. Rory says the meat melted off the bone, you could taste the zinfandel (the wine didn't suck) but it wasn't overpowering.

I will make this recipe again, but will most likely try another short rib recipe before going back to this one.

Mmmmmm Meat

Tonight I make braised short ribs. I am using John Besh's recipe from Esquire. Finding a zinfandel at the local Dominick's was tough, only one bottle available and I'm hoping it doesn't suck. They also didn't have the porcini mushroom so I'm using portabello (and how can anything with portabello mushrooms suck?).

This is my first time making braised short ribs. I don't remember my influence to make them, I read something somewhere and thought they sounded good. And it's Friday, I'm off from work and have time to cook something that's a bit more elaborate. I'll post picture tomorrow of the process and how it all went.

I'll be serving a side of mashed potatoes and sauted asparagus. I just remove the ends of the asparagus, put a little olive oil in a pan with garlic and toss them in there with salt and pepper. Easy and tasty.

As for yesterday, I didn't make the risotto carbonara. A buddy called and offered me a free ticket to the Bulls game and I opted for that instead. Though I will still be making that soon.