Arne's food and wine blog: January 2011

Updated 2021 and 2022 with refinements over the years.

I have been refining my version of BBS for quite some time. The infatuation started a few years ago when Olives Café in Edmonds regularly had short ribs on their menu and that is all Jeannine would ever order (for good reason). As is true of all cooking, starting with good ingredients is essential for for the end result. Good meat is really important. Slow cooked low quality meat in cheap wine will taste like slow cooked low quality meat in cheap wine,.

After doing my requisite research I settled on this recipe. I have to say that the picture had a lot to do with it, showing the syrupy nature of the reduction sauce. I have made a number of refinements over the years, and logistical clarifications from that original recipe for my personal preferences.

Be forewarned that the aroma that fills the house for hours as you brown, braise and reduce is quite tantalizing. Serves 4-6, or half the recipe for 2 people plus awesome leftovers.

Ingredients:

12 beef short ribs, bone-in, 3” meaty, about 3 – 4 lbs.
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup high temp oil like avocado or grapeseed
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 tsp anchovy paste
1 750-ml bottle good full bodied red wine.
6 +/- cups beef stock and/or veal stock if you can find it - preferably low salt (see notes on quantity)
Gelatin packet
1/8 cup dried porcini mushrooms (optional)
1-2 packets of Savory Choice Beef Broth concentrate (optional)
A couple cloves chopped garlic (optional)
1 slice of smoked bacon chopped (optional)

Directions:

Season ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed ovenproof pot over medium high heat (read Le Creuset). Add ribs and brown on all sides. Work in batches so that the ribs don't get crowded and start to stew. Regulate heat so fond doesn’t burn. Take it slow so much of the fat renders. Transfer ribs to a plate or bowl. Pour off the excess fat to only what is necessary for sautéing the vegetables.

At this point start the oven preheating to 285. Lower heat on pan and add the onions, celery, and carrots to the pan and sauté slowly, stirring often, until soft and lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes. If your are using the optional bacon, add it with the veggies or to the pot right before the veggies go in. A little bacon goes a long way and can overpower everything, err on the side of less is more. If you are using the optional garlic, add it at the very end and only sauté it for about 30-45 seconds before adding the wine.

Turn heat back up and add the wine to the vegetables. If the moisture from sautéing the veggies didn’t deglaze the pan, then deglaze and scrape off any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Reduce the wine to about 1/4 its original volume until thick and almost syrupy, not smelling like alcohol anymore, about 15 - 20 minutes.

Add the stock, anchovy paste, bay leaf, dried porcinis, and broth concentrate if using, mix well, then add back the short ribs in a single layer and bring to a simmer. Cover with the lid, and place in the oven. Braise, cooking in the 285 degree oven, until the meat is fall apart tender, 3+ hours.

Pull the pot from the oven and allow it to cool a bit, then remove the ribs to a plate, and strain the liquid into a separate container, discarding the vegetables, return the ribs to the pot, and add back the strained liquid. By this time the meat has probably separated from the bones. Don’t be tempted to discard the bones, they contain collagen that will help thicken and flavor the sauce in the next phase. I put the bones on the bottom of the pot with the meat on top to prevent any possible scorching.

Medium simmer on the cooktop uncovered until the liquid has reduced to about 1/4 of its original volume, while spooning the sauce over the ribs basting every ~5 minutes, until the sauce is thick and ribs are glazed. Yes this takes constant attention for about 1 hour.

(If the liquid doesn’t thicken, even after reducing, you can add unflavored gelatin as required to thicken.)

Serve with mashed potatoes or pasta or rice. The meat and sauce can be held covered in a 200 degree oven for an hour or more until ready to serve.

In the original pictures below, I made a mash of boiled red potatoes, roasted carrots, parsnips and garlic.

Footnotes and Tips:

To eliminate having to scrub the inside of the lid clean later, put foil on the bottom of the lid before putting the lid on.
The optional dried porcinis add a nice umami to the broth, complimenting the anchovy paste
Technically, for a braise, the braising liquid should not completely cover the meat. If so it is a stew. So adjust the liquid quantity appropriately. It will cook down, even covered though, so don’t skimp.
Braising time can be 3-4 hours. 3 hours usually is sufficient. Figure an hour for browning the meat, chopping the veggies, sautéing, etc. before putting it in the oven. And an hour for reducing and glazing. So allow 5 hours.
You can also do this in two days, by taking it to the end of the braise and strain and then wrapping the meat tightly and the broth separate in a container and refrigerating over night. This does two things: The fat will separate and you can easily take it off solidified; and now you only have 1 hour total cooking time before you eat.
I used to add some tomato paste to the broth, but it seemed to make the final sauce cloudy, and added a little too much acidity for what I was going for.
Make sure to NOT use California Bay Leaves. They have a much stronger and in my opinion bitter taste. There is also some debate on whether bay leaves do anything, which I haven’t signed up for. But feel free to leave them out.
Since the veggies are being strained out, I roughly chop them, and I never peel the carrots.
If you have ever gone to a restaurant and had sub-par BBS, tough, dry, not flavorful, etc., most likely they were held too long and dried out and/or the beef was not optimal and didn’t have enough fat.
Go easy on the salt. With all the reduction of the sauce, it intensifies the salt ratio.

Some of the seasoned ribs waiting to be browned: