Short Ribs, Again

"You gonna shotgun that?" - Charles

For Iain's hot date with Callie tonight, we're making short ribs again. Charles liked them, and I like to try something more than once before deciding that it's Absolutely The Best Thing Evar. So tonight is Part 2 of our short rib odyssey.

This time, I took a few photographs. My recipe calls for searing the meat, in batches. You can see that, below.

And a closeup. Note that each piece has a rib bone and that you want ribs that are meaty. There's a lot of connective tissue and fat on these, so unless there's some yummy meat in there it's kind of gross. Also, note that they are salted and peppered. I had bacon fat today, so I mixed that with vegetable oil for this step.


After searing on all sides, the chunks have a very pretty color. The focus here is bad, but you can see that you're looking for really brown.


After the searing, it's time to sweat. I tossed in all the chopped up celery, onion, and carrot and let it sizzle for 10 minutes on a slightly reduced temperature (medium or medium low). Then I added tomato paste and flour, cooked that for 2 minutes, deglazed with red zinfandel, put the meat back in the pot, added thyme, garlic, and beef stock, and popped this puppy into a 300 degree oven (more specific instructions here). In about 2 hours, we'll be straining the sauce and reducing it for service.


Also on the menu tonight: buttered noodles with Italian parsley, spinach salad (with bacon!), and tarte tatin.