short ribs 2.0 - part I

i am having a small psuedo dinner party tomorrow and i'm serving short ribs. i snagged said short ribs from my dad's meat freezer. he bought a 1/2 a cow at the county fair which resulted in a big deep freeze full of beef. for my birthday he said i could raid it and raid it i did. i grabbed three packs of hamburger, a pack of ribeye steaks, shanks, a roast and a pack of short ribs. mmmmmm.

i've made short ribs before but this time i tried a new method based on this recipe and some tips from michael ruhlman's book 'the elements of cooking' (great xmas gift - thanks aunt aggie!).

so i seasoned the short ribs with salt and pepper.



and then i seared them over high heat in a lil' olive oil.



since i have the single woman's dutch oven (which i LOVE but isn't up to snuff for braising seven short ribs. this is my dream oven. sigh....) anyways, i had to use two pans.

before i started any of what i already said i chopped up carrots, celery and an onion. one thing i learned this year - FINALLY - is that is best to have everything you need ready to go before you start.



SO many times i have been a step or two behind but tonight i finally had my shit straight and was able to pay total attention to searing my ribs.

and then all hell broke loose.



i started sauteing the veggies in one pan and still had ribs searin' in the other - the rest of the ribs were over on a platter. after about 7 minutes of sauteing i added half a bottle of wine to each pan. i deglazed the pans and reduced the wine by about half. then i put the ribs back in and added enough beef stock to just reach the top of the meat.

for multi-tasking like this you'll need a nice cold beer. i suggest a christmas ale before it is all gone.



which leads me to my latest idea - i've decided that the holidays aren't over until i can't get christmas ale anymore. i mean, could you part with this tree? i can't.



the recipe i was using said to bring everything to a boil and then put it in a 350 degree oven. but when i consulted "the elements of cooking" i discovered that you should never boil - just gently simmer - and you should not braise in an oven over 300 degrees.



i trusted the latter and put the two pans - covered - into a 300 degree oven and let them go totally unattended for 2 1/2 hours.

this is 2 1/2 hours later.



mmmmmmmmm.

these babies are cooling on my counter and before i go to bed i'm gonna cover them and put 'em in my fridge. then tomorrow i'm going to skim off the fat and braise 'em for another hour or so.

i'll also be serving some grilled asparagus and a chicken breast which is currently marinating in some fresh rosemary, garlic, a lil' olive oil and the juice of half a lemon for the shitetarian. she is bringing along her new roommate (wink. wink.). those two will be bringing smashed potatoes and homemade tapioca and aNw and kMw will be bringing a lovely salad.

i may attempt a pumpkin roll for dessert since i have some homemade pumpkin puree a la pioneer woman hangin' out in my freezer and a package of unnecessary cream cheese. we'll see.