Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

These short ribs are out of this world!  So delicious and as good or better than any I've had at a restaurant.  Plus, its so much cheaper to make them at home! (Especially if you stock up on short ribs when they go on sale at your local grocery store).  This recipe is another one of those beautiful fall/winter braising recipes, where you do a little browning and then let the oven take over and do the rest.  I made this for company and it was a total hit!  My children loved it too.  I chose to serve this with some simple mashed potatoes along side some roasted brussel sprouts and asparagus.  I hope you give this one a try!

Happy Cooking!
Sarah

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
my recipe was based on http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/beer-braised-short-ribs-mario-batali only I used red wine instead of beer
4 lbs bone-in beef short ribs (cut into pieces - let your butcher do this)
salt & pepper
olive oil
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 1/2 cups of good quality red wine (I used a Merlot, but as long as its good enough to drink, you are good to go!)
2 cups tomato sauce (I used 2 - 8 oz cans)
1 cup beef stock
1/2 bunch fresh thyme
1/2 bunch fresh rosemary
1/2 bunch fresh oregano

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees. In a large oven proof dish, (such as a dutch oven), brown the short ribs on all sides in a couple tablespoons of olive oil.  You may have to do this in batches, as you won't get a good brown if you overcrowd the pan.  Once you have them browned (not cooked through at this point), remove them from the pan and pout out any remaining fat. 

Now its time for the veggies.  Cut the carrots, celery and onions into equal size pieces.  I left mine rather large because I like them that way, but either way is fine. 

In the same pot, (after browning the short ribs), saute the veggies for 3-5 minutes in 1-2 T of olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add the garlic and stir until the garlic is fragrant.

Add the red wine to the vegetables and deglaze the pan. 

Allow the red wine to come to a simmer and continue to cook until it has reduced by half.  (Should look something like the picture below.)

Once the wine has reduced, add the tomato sauce and stock.  Stir until well combined and bring it back to a boil. 

Add the fresh herbs, (thought I would include a picture so you could see approximately how much I used - the stem and all!), and put the short ribs back in.

Place the entire pot in the oven at 275 for 3-4 hours or until the short ribs are falling off the bone.   Here is the after picture...

At this point, I poured most of the liquid into a fat separator I have so that I could enjoy all the juices poured over my mashed potatoes without all of the fat.  Genius invention!  You can actually see all of the fat sitting at the top (kind of gross, but nice to know that we won't be eating that).

And look at all those delicious short ribs and veggies!  The veggies are so flavorful too.  Cooked carrots are not my favorite, but I couldn't get enough of these. 

Serve with your favorite sides with some extra cooking liquid (gravy) poured over the top.  Enjoy!!!