La pluie et le pain

I don’t know if I ever ate short ribs before moving to Vancouver. It’s been a pretty popular dish for a while now, but for some reason or another it’s one that just didn’t cross my palate in beef-mad Alberta. Since coming to the coast, though, it’s been a different story. You could probably assemble an entire cow out of the all the short ribs I’ve consumed in the last two and a half years.

Short ribs, for the uninitiated, consist of dense layers of rather tough meat intermingled with fat, connective tissue and a chunk of rib bone. They’re popular in Korean barbequing (in which they are sliced thinly across the ribs, which is how many grocery stores will carry them) as well as European cuisine, in which they are generally bigger, meatier square cuts perfect for long, slow braising.

The thing with your braised meat recipes is they have the seductive aura of simplicity. You toss a few chunks of meat into a pot with some vegetables, herbs and liquid and just bugger off for a couple of hours. Piece of piss, a child could do it, etcetera. Well, no. Between the prep work, the browning, the turning and fork prodding, the skimming, the reducing and so forth you’re probably looking at an afternoon dashing to and fro the stove. Unless you’re one of those weirdos with a slow cooker. But if you pull it off (and it really is simple, albeit more labour intensive than you imagine) the results can be pretty damned mind blowing.

I’ve looked at more than a few short rib recipes over time, and I’ve never quite found one that had me convinced enough to follow it chapter and verse. Instead, I usually just take some notes on quantities and general cooking times and go off on my own. Here’s two takes on short ribs. The first is a basic Franco-Italian version I trotted out earlier this week with some green beans and pan-fried gnocchi and topped with a dollop of horseradish sour cream.

Basic Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

• 4 pounds square cut beef short ribs (about six to eight ribs in total)
• 2 large celery stalks, finely chopped
• 2 large carrots, same
• 1 medium large onion
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs fresh or 1 tsp coarse dried thyme
• 1 Tbsp black peppercorns
• 2 cups full-bodied red wine (Shiraz)
• 1 ¼ cups beef stock (low sodium)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, tie the bay leaf, thyme and peppercorns together in a piece of cheesecloth to make a bouquet garni and season short ribs with salt and pepper.
2. On the stovetop, heat a tablespoon of oil over medium high heat until hot but not quite smoking. Reduce heat to medium and place the ribs in the pot two or three at a time. Working in batches, cook the ribs until well browned on the outside, about 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate with paper towels to drain and work through until you have a nice big pile of ribs.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, add another splash of oil if necessary and throw in the onion, carrots and celery. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes, then add the garlic. Cook until fragrant, about one minute, then add wine and bouquet garni and bring to a boil.
4. Let the wine reduce for a few minutes until it’s down by about half, then add the stock and return the ribs to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover pot and place in oven. Let them cook for 2-3 hours, turning ribs occasionally and adding more stock and wine if necessary (you do not want them drying out on you).
5. Once the ribs are fork tender, remove from oven and set aside to cool for a ½ hour to an hour. Once cool, take a spoon and skim the fat from the cooking liquid. Intermission: there a couple of ways you can go after this. If you’re hungry or hurried, you can skim the fat, put the pot back on the stovetop, bring to a hearty simmer until liquid is reduced by half, then serve. Or you could keep going to the next step…
6. Take the ribs out of the pot and set aside (taking care not to shred them before they are ready). Pour the remaining contents of the pot through a fine mesh sieve (pressing on the solids to get as much liquid as possible) into a saucepan. Place saucepan on high and boil liquid furiously until reduced by half. Skim off any remaining fat and pour sauce over short ribs. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with mashed potatoes, polenta or whatever you please.

Note: this is actually best if prepared a day in advance of serving. In that event, once the pot has cooled as in Step 5, refrigerate overnight. Then, just continue on as per usual once you’re getting set to eat. The flavours will have mingled beautifully and the cold fat will be easier to skim from the top.

Maple cider braised short ribs

This is a sweeter variation of the above I made for a dinner party a few months back that met with a pretty rapturous reception when served alongside butternut squash and sage pyrohy (pyrogys to all you non-Ukranians).

• 6 pounds boneless beef short ribs, trimmed
• 3 medium onions, sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 1/2 cups apple cider
• 1 1/2 -2 cups low-sodium beef stock
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/3 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, plus more for garnish

1. Prepare short ribs as in Step 2 above.
2. Add onions to pot; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add garlic; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in maple syrup, cider, stock, and 1/2 cup water. Add thyme, rosemary, and parsley. Return beef to pot. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover and transfer to oven. Cook until almost fork tender, about 2-3 hours.
3. See Step 5 above
4. Put on the stove top and simmer until ribs are warmed through and liquid is reduced by half (10 minutes or so). Season to taste with salt and pepper and chopped parsley/rosemary sprig and serve.

Oh, one other thing. Short ribs make phenomenal leftovers. Last night, I had myself a grilled cheese sandwich with short ribs, arugula, caramelized onions and havarti. Oh. My. God.