Braised Beef Short Ribs
Photo: Douglas Merriam
Serve this hearty winter dish over mashed potatoes. You can prepare the braised short ribs and reheat just before serving. Reheat the beef on the grill to give a hint of smoky flavor, if you like. Veal demi-glace—veal stock reduced to a concentrated gelatin—adds depth and richness to the sauce. Our favorite brand is Bonewerks Culinarte, which is available at lobels.com under the pantry section. Williams-Sonoma also carries a store brand.
How to Make It
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°.
Step 2
Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle beef evenly on all sides with salt and pepper; dredge in flour. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add beef to pan; sauté for 8 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove beef from pan.
Step 3
Add diced onion, diced celery, diced carrot, and chopped leek to pan; sauté 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute, stirring frequently. Place peppercorns, juniper berries, 3 thyme sprigs, and bay leaves on a double layer of cheesecloth. Gather edges of cheesecloth together; tie securely. Place herb and spice bundle in pan; return beef to pan. Dissolve demi-glace in 3/4 cup hot water, stirring well. Add demi-glace mixture and wine to pan; bring to a boil. Cover and bake at 350° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is fork tender. Remove beef from pan; strain cooking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. Discard solids. Serve cooking liquid with beef. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.
Step 4
Wine note: With the richness of short ribs, you need to pull out a cabernet as an accompaniment. (Well-marbled beef loves to tame this grape's tannins.) Slingshot 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon is a Napa bottle that, at $23, won't break the bank. But it offers beautiful nuances of cedar, spice (juniper's a big player), and aromatic dried cherries, with bright acidity. —Sara Schneider
carolfitz's Review
Made yesterday and dinner was great. We also lifted the idea of having some veg in the finished sauce from CL's "braised short ribs with egg noodles." BUT two stars because we can see where someone might have really yucky results following this recipe: there's no instruction to remove the beef fat. After you strain the cooking liquid you can either put it in a fat separator and let the fat rise -or- you can put the liquid in the freezer and after awhile lift off the fat from the top -or- make the ribs one day ahead, refrigerate, and then lift off the congealed fat from the top before re-warming.
fairydragonstar's Review
Loved this and it was even better the next day....the one and only change I made was instead of cooking it in the oven I used the crock pot which eliminated the problem with the liquid totally evaporating...I then took the left over flour from dredging the short ribs and mixed it with a little cold water for a fantastic gravy for over the marscapone mashed potatoes from the same issue
tPozPhotography's Review
This is one FAAABulous meal! I used the demi-glace found at Whole Foods, and the Juniper Berries found at Wegmans, which I think made the recipe that much better! I also used the Screw Kappa Nappa Cab Sauv for my red wine selection - a very drinkable red wine! I definitely recommend adding more red wine either at the beginning or about 1/2 way into the cooking time, otherwise you'll have a dried out mess! But wow - these were DELISH!
promogal's Review
Used Gin instead of juniper berries & used concentrated beef stock gel instead of veal demi glace. I found this a bit greasy but the flavor is incredible--next time I will make with a pot roast or chuck steak.
Tealwins's Review
Love this recipe. I have made it many times. Always delish.
Jajooo's Review
I followed the recipe exactly as written, and while nothing burned or stuck to the pan, the short ribs came out really fatty and greasy. Especially given all of the expensive/specialty ingredients for this, I have had much better luck with other short rib recipes so I will not make this one again.
JamiGirl's Review
thought with all of the ingredients it would be deficult but it wasn't at all! I didn't use the juniper berries and used beef stock instead of veal demi-glaze and it was amazing!So easy to make and worthy of a special occasion!
floridagirl66's Review
Had the same problem as 3 other reviewers. I followed the recipe to the letter and after 2.5 hours, I had a sticky burnt mess floating in beef fat. I think I might try Williams Sonoma's recipe next time. Has great potential, but I'm not sure how to fix this one.
d2eberle's Review
This is one of our new favorites. Instead of juniper berries (hard to find), I used fresh rosemary. Instead of the demi-glace, I use low-sodium beef broth. Then I serve with a parsnip & potato puree--wonderful! Have even served to company (and my MIL to boot!), and got raves. Will make it again and again.
PJWelch13's Review