As we approach chilly winter days, we like to prepare meals that warm the heart and “stick to the bones”. This braised short rib recipe served with warm creamy polenta fits the bill and satisfies the soul ….
Our daughter, Michelle came into town this week… so naturally, she was excited to get in the kitchen and create her own version of this special dish. What a thrill it is to see our daughters develop their own style of cooking as well as a shared passion for quality ingredients and the joy of eating well.
Her dish was a total hit and a real WOW for your taste buds. The short ribs were fork tender and melted in your mouth. The rich, savory red wine sauce was thickened by a slowly reducing the sauce and blending some of the veggies in the broth along with a slurry of cornstarch and water.
She served the ribs atop a mound of creamy polenta flavored with mascarpone and pecorino romano cheeses. What a delicious combo. We all went back for seconds. Talk about satisfying…it was just fabulous Michelle. You can just taste the passion and love she put into this dish and we loved sharing this beautiful meal and our time together.
Below is a mixture of freshly chopped vegetables… fresh leeks, fennel, tri color carrots, onions, shallot, garlic and celery. We call this mixture Soffritto
The beef short ribs were seasoned with salt, pepper, dusted with flour and then browned quickly in a little oil in a large heavy roasting pan on top of the stove.
The meat is set aside and the vegetables are sautéed next in the same roasting pan next until soft and then the pan was deglazed with a bottle of red wine. Michelle used Cabernet Sauvignon; but any good quality dry red wine will do. Beef broth is added to cover the meat and the broth is seasoned with salt, pepper, a little brown sugar and a herb bundle of rosemary and thyme. The roasting pan is tightly covered and the meat braise in the oven at 300 degrees or on “low ” on top of stove. It cooks for about 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender. We remove the top for the last 30 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit. This batch served approx 8-10 people.
Michelle used a large deep roasting pan like this one
This is the Polenta she used. A 1lb package of Bellino instant Polenta.. It only takes 3 minutes to prepare and is delicious.
- 16 beef short ribs
- salt/ pepper
- flour for dredging
- 4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil for frying
- 16 oz carrots, we used organic rainbow carrots
- 1 head of celery with leaves, chopped
- 1 fennel bulb, chopped
- 1 stalk leeks, whites only
- 3 small yellow onions
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 10-12 pearl onions, peeled kept whole
- 2 shallots
- rosemary and thyme leaves, tied into a bundle
- 1-1/2 bottles of good quality dry red wine ( we used Cabernet )
- 6 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 lb Instant Polenta (cooks in 3 minutes)
- 4 oz of mascarpone cheese
- 1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese
- salt/pepper to taste
- Prepare veggies,
- Chop all veggies to a similar size. Set aside for sauteing
- tie rosemary and thyme in a small bundle with cooking twine, set aside
- Prepare meat:
- sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper and dust with white flour, shake off excess
- Heat oil in a large roasting pan, add meat and brown quickly on all sides until nicely browned.
- Transfer meat to platter and set aside
- Add a little more oil to pan and add chopped vegetables. Saute until veggies are softened but not brown.
- Deglaze pan with 1-1/2 bottles of red wine and 5 cups of broth.
- Season broth with salt, pepper and add brown sugar.
- Add meat and herb bundle. Make sure meat is covered in broth.
- Cover roasting pan tightly and place pan in oven and cook at 300 degrees for approx 3 hours or until meat is fork tender.
- Take top off and cook for another 30 minutes to reduce liquid
- Remove from heat and remove meat to a large warm bowl
- Take out 3 cups of broth and veggies and blend mixture in a blender. Return to pan and continue to cook down.
- Mix 2 tbsps cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water. mix into a slurry
- Add to sauce to thicken sauce To desired consistency.
- Turn off heat and return meat to thickened sauce.
- How to prepare Polenta:
- bring to a boil 2 liters of water and add 2 tbsp salt
- slowly add 1 lb of polenta to boiling water and stir constantly until mixture is smooth and creamy ..about 3 minutes
- add cheeses and salt/ pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
- Spoon a mound of polenta on individual bowls and add 1 short rib and sauce on top… so yummy.
The beauty of this recipe is that it can be made with a variety of vegetables and adapted to suit your own tastes.. It freezes well and can be portioned to serve a small intimate party of two and it can be made ahead for large dinner parties. I prefer to serve it with polenta, but it is also delicious when served over creamy mashed potatoes or buttered egg noodles with parsley. So try it out and enjoy! Mangia!
Michelle Riley….3 Italian Sisters..