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Braised Short Ribs w/ Caramelized Onions

Source of Recipe

My own invention, with a lot of help from folks at CK, inspired by a lamb shanks recipe from Bon Appétit


Recipe Introduction

I make a similar recipe with lamb shanks that is one of our favorites. I was trying to find something to make when Daddy and Katie were here in October 2008 and wasn't sure if they liked lamb. So I decided to make it with the ribs. I asked at cookskorner.com how I should change the recipe for the ribs and got lots of good information from Dave Solomon, Marlene and Dana. Start this the day before as short ribs are VERY fatty and you'll need to defat the sauce after cooling. Instead of using flour to thicken the sauce, I just used my trick of dehydrated potatoes right at the end. It works great and is undetectable. I served this with savory bread pudding and Brussels sprouts steamed and sauteed with pancetta.

List of Ingredients

Olive oil
1 pound onions, sliced
5 large shallots, sliced (about 1 cup)
2 T. Italian parsley + more for serving
2 bay leaves
2 t. chopped, fresh thyme
6 meaty short ribs
2 1/2 cups dry red wine
2 1/2 cups canned beef broth (or equal Better than Bouillion)
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste



Recipe

Heat a bit of olive oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle salt on all sides of the short ribs, then add them to the pan in small enough batches to avoid crowding the pan. Brown on all sides then remove the meat to a side plate, deglaze with a little of the wine and pour off the deglazing liquid into a fat separator cup. Repeat this step until all meat has been cooked and the pan is basically clean again. Strain the deglazing liquid and add the fat back to the pan. Add the sliced onions and shallots to the pan and let them cook over medium-low heat until they're a caramelized. Add minced garlic near the end of the process. Remove the onions from the pan, add the wine, bring it up to a boil and flame it. Pour the wine into the same vessel you're holding the deglazing liquid in.

Put the tomato paste in the pan and cook it briefly over medium heat, once it's up to temperature and starts taking a little color, add the stock/wine mixture in small batches, stirring as you go to incorporate the tomato paste into the liquid. Add the herbs, the meat, and anything else you feel like adding (dried mushrooms, whole peppercorns, more herbs, etc). Bring up to a simmer, cover and let simmer until tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove the meat and onions and refrigerate with a little beef stock to keep moist. Refrigerate the sauce. The next day, remove the solid fat from the top of the sauce. Add the meat and simmer gently to reheat. This is the point where I add the dehydrated potatoes to thicken.

Serves 4 - 6.