Braised Short Ribs

Did you catch Salem Farmers Market on WMUR's Cooks Corner this morning?

This time each year my household is insane. Year after year how can I not be prepared for the start of the school year? It comes at the same time, like Christmas, but that seems to sneak up on me, too. To make it a bit easier during the first few weeks I try to stretch a main dish into several meals.

In honor of Julia Child’s 100th birthday, I recently purchased my first Le Creuset French oven from the outlet store in Merrimack. I told the staff that I was getting ready for a taping on WMUR’s Cooks Corner. They were incredibly helpful. My first purchase will not be my last. The outlet store sells “seconds” but I could not find anything wrong with mine.

How have I not become obsessed with Le Creuset until now? Even after watching Julie cook in the well-worn pot in Julie and Julia umpteen times. Searing and cooking in the same pot also saves time on clean up. There’s something magical that happens after two and a half hours in the oven…the meat falls off the bone.

On Sunday I wore my Pats jersey along with a set of pearls, and opened a bottle of wine. {To sip from and to cook short ribs I’d picked up from the farmers market.} Braising is one of my new favorite cooking methods and short ribs have become my best friends.

From this batch of short ribs I made short rib ragu with polenta, short rib pot pie, short rib mac ‘n cheese and grilled short rib mac ‘n cheese sandwiches. (Yes, I typed grilled mac ‘n cheese sandwich. Double the carb, but double the deliciousness.)  I also made short rib sloppy joes – no recipe needed; I added some root beer bbq sauce (from Williams Sonoma) and smothered a slider bun with the beef and added blue cheese. The ragu and the mac 'n cheese can be frozen.

If you don’t have a wondrous cast iron French pot, sear your ribs in a cast iron fry p, or other sauté pan, and transfer to a slow cooker. Cook on low for about 4-5 hours for the magic to happen.

Braised Short Ribs

What you need:

• 6 lbs beef short ribs
• flour, for dusting
• 3 tbs grapeseed oil
• 1 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes
• 1/2 c sugar
• 2 c beef broth
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 lg onion, chopped (1 c)
• 4 med carrots, diced (1 c)
• 2 stalks celery, diced (1 c)
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 3 c red wine
• Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper

What you do:

• Heat oven to 350˚.
• Generously season short ribs with salt and pepper.
• Dust ribs with flour.
• In processor puree tomatoes.
• In lg bowl whisk tomatoes, sugar, beef broth, garlic and thyme and set aside.
• Place French oven over high heat.
• When very hot, add grapeseed oil and reduce temperature to med-high.
• When oil smokes, place ribs carefully into pot and sear for 4-5 min on each side.
• Transfer ribs to plate.
• Add onion, carrots and celery to French oven.
• Cook until onions caramelize, about 10 min, stirring frequently to avoid burning.
• Add tomato paste.
• Deglaze with wine and cook for 3 min.
• Add tomato mixture and ribs to French oven.
• Bring to a boil.
• Cover and place in oven to braise, about 2 1/2 hrs or until meat is easily removed from bone.
• Skim fat off top.
• Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
• Transfer meat to plate.
• Remove/shred meat from bone, discarding fat.
• Return to pot and mix with braised vegetables.