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It’s summer time in “Hot-Lanta.” That means it’s time for ribs. But what
kind? Baby back, spare ribs, St. Louis cut? And of course we’re talking Barbeque
or grilling aren’t we. Well no, not even close. I’m talking about beef ribs,
short ribs to be exact. Cooked indoors in a well air conditioned kitchen. I’m not stupid, it’s 100 degrees out there.
What are short ribs? “Short ribs can be cut numerous ways, but come from
the area of the ribs a bit further down towards the belly than rib steaks or
strip steaks (which come from closer up towards the back). When cut into long
slabs with bone sections about 6 to 8-inches in length, they are referred to as
"English cut." When sliced across the bones so that each slice
receives four to five short sections of bone, they are known as "flanken
style."[1]
“1.
Boneless Short Ribs
Cut into
thick pieces for braising or stews, or ask your butcher to slice this marbled
portion thinly and prepare them bulgogi[2]
style.
2.
English-Cut
When the
ribs are separated from one another along the bone, the meat sits up top.
You’ll see this style either in long slabs, or cut crosswise into 2″ pieces.
They’re an ideal choice for braising.
3. Flanken
Style
Cross-cut
across several bones, these are also great slow-cooked. Or, ask your butcher to
cut them thinly lengthwise, then marinate and grill for pleasantly chewy,
super-flavorful results.”[3]
I went to
our local farmers market to purchase six short ribs and the only style cut they
had was the Flanken. Since I’m braising
these ribs which calls for low and slow cooking in a liquid, Flanken cut worked
out great.
I took a
very organized approach to the ingredients I would use in this recipe. I had
everything measured or cut to size as the recipe called for. Here’s what I
used.
·
6
Short Ribs
·
Kosher
Salt
·
1
large Vidalia Onion
·
2
ribs celery
·
2
carrots
·
2
cloves garlic
·
1
½ cup of tomato paste
·
Fresh
thyme
·
2
bay leaves
·
2
cups of red wine
Here’s the
first step in cooking.
Season each
short rib generously with salt. I used an enameled cast iron dutch oven. Next add
a tablespoon of olive oil and bring to a high heat. Add the short ribs to the
pan and brown very well, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Do not overcrowd pan.
Cook in batches, if necessary.
While the
short ribs are browning, puree all the vegetables and garlic in the food processor
until it forms a coarse paste. When the short ribs are very brown on all sides,
remove them from the pan. Drain the fat, coat the bottom of same pan with fresh
oil and add the pureed vegetables. Season the vegetables generously with salt
and brown until they are very dark and a crud has formed on the bottom of the
pan, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Scrape the crud and let it reform. Scrape
the crud again and add the tomato paste. Brown the tomato paste for 4 to 5
minutes. Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat if
things start to burn. Reduce the mixture by half.
Return the
short ribs to the pan and add 2 cups water or until the water has just about
covered the meat. Add the thyme bundle and bay leaves. Cover the pan and place
in the preheated oven for 3 hours. Check periodically during the cooking
process and add more water, if needed. Turn the ribs over halfway through the
cooking time. Remove the lid during the last 20 minutes of cooking to let things
get nice and brown and to let the sauce reduce. When done the meat should be
very tender but not falling apart. Serve with the braising liquid.
Recipe courtesy of Anne Burrell
As an accompaniment
to the braised ribs I decided to include something else I’ve never cooked,
Mushroom Risotto. Risotto is a northern Italian rice dished cooked in a
flavorful broth to a creamy consistency. The key factor in a successful risotto
dish is the rice that is used. There are so many types of rice, each having it’s
own unique characteristic. Classic risotto calls for a short grain with a high
starch content. The most common type is Arborio.
Here’s the
ingredient list.
4 cups
chicken broth, low sodium
2
tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 onion,
diced, divided
2 garlic
cloves, minced, divided
1/2 pound
fresh crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 bay
leaves
2
tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
2
tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
2
tablespoons butter
Salt and
pepper
1 -ounce
dried porcini mushrooms, wiped of grit
1 cups
Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry
white wine
1/2 cup
fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
Fresh
Italian parsley, for garnish
It’s time
to sauté the mushroom and herb mixture.
Here I used 8 ounces of cremini mushrooms and 1 ounce of dried porcini
mushrooms. Before adding the porcini
they need to be reconstituted in 1cup of hot chicken broth. Add them to the
broth and wait about 10 minutes. They should be plumped up and easy to
chop.
Add 1
tablespoon of olive oil to a skillet and heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion, mushrooms, bay leaf and thyme.
Once this is cooked and the onions are translucent remove them for addition to
the rice later in the process.
Since you’ll
be adding simmering chicken broth to the rice, 4 cups should be brought to a
simmer and kept nearby. You’ll be making 1 ladle full additions of broth to the
rice during the cooking process. Allow each ladle full to be completely
absorbed before adding the next.
To begin
with the rice should be toasted in an open skillet with butter and onion or
shallots. Shallots are sometimes
preferred but since I had access to fresh sweet Vidalia onions I used that. For
one cup of rice, I used ½ cup of minced onion with 1 tablespoon of butter. Cook rice, onion and butter for about 1
minute making sure each grain of rice is well coated with butter. The purpose of this is to help the rice
retain its starches during the cooking process.
If the
first steps weren’t easy enough, the next will be even simpler. Add one ladle
full of chicken broth and stir to combine. You don’t have to constantly stir,
but keep an eye on it. You’ll know when
it’s time to add the next portion of chicken broth when you take spoon or
spatula and draw it across the bottom of the pan. If you leave a clean swath without chicken
broth running to fill in the gap then it’s time to add the next ladle full of
broth. Repeat these steps until you’ve used all the broth.
Add the
mushroom mixture and Parmesan cheese and stir.
Here’s the
result…
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