Yeah, yeah… it’s the blazing heat of summer and braised meats aren’t exactly light fare. But they damn sure taste good, especially with some inky, robust red wine. Although we used Petite Sirah in this recipe, you can use any dark, tannic red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah for your braising liquid. The acidity in the wine helps break down the meat’s tough fibers and, of course, adds to the rich, roasted flavor.
Once you’ve done the upfront work — which takes about 30 minutes — the recipe is pretty much hands off. A primer on braising.
Serve the dish with the wine you use for cooking and voila! A perfect food and wine pairing. Here are some wine recommendations.
Recipe modified from one found on foodnetwork.com.
Petite Sirah Braised Shortribs
2.5 pounds beef short ribs (about 4)
Kosher salt
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 ounce can tomato paste
2 cups red wine
1 cup water
5-6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Liberally salt short ribs on all sides. Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large dutch oven and brown ribs on all sides. Remove from pan and keep warm.
3. While ribs rest, puree all vegetables plus garlic in a food processor until the mixture resembles a chunky paste.
4. Add remaining 2 Tablespoons olive oil to the short ribs pan. Transfer chunky paste to dutch oven and brown on high until very dark. This will take 7-10 minutes. Stir often.
5. Add tomato paste and brown for another 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add wine, scrape crusty bits from bottom of pan and reduce by half. Lower heat if it starts to burn.
6. Return short ribs to pan and add water until it just about covers the meat. Add thyme, rosemary and bay leaf.
7. Cover and cook in the oven for three hours. Turn ribs half way through cooking time and remove lid during last 20 minutes of cooking to allow sauce to reduce.
Yumm this looks good! Did you happen to try this recipe yourself yet?
I did. Developed it from a recipe from Food Network. Tweaked it and voila… it turned it really well.
Yum, must try making it this weekend if I have time or to have my significant other make this for me since it’s my birthday this weekend 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!
To answer the question in your newsletter…no. It’s never too early to braise short ribs. Suddenly starving…