Friday, December 9, 2011

Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

Perfect Pairing:  Celery Root and Apple Puree
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I am a little intimidated by certain kinds of meat.  I am not likely to take on a big rack of ribs because I know there are experts out there that would say I am doing it all wrong.  Ribs are religion to some people.  I will leave them to the professionals, at least for now.  I think short ribs are much more approachable.  It seems like they are becoming extremely popular these days along with pork belly.  Has anyone else noticed that? 
I had never done anything with short ribs before but decided to give them a try in my slow cooker.  Ohmygoodness.  They were so extremely good and easy!  Since they are so fattening I will not be making them on a regular basis, but they are great for a special dinner.  The slow cooker does all the work for you so that when you are ready to serve them the meat has fallen off the bone.  You can barely get them out in one piece because they are so tender. 
There are quite a few ingredients in this recipe because I was using what I had on hand.  It is definitely not a science, and I think you could leave out a couple of items if you don’t have them on hand, or don’t want to buy them.  I don’t think it would compromise the flavor.
The Perfect Pairing for this short rib dish is the celery root and apple puree I featured here.  You are definitely going to want something to soak up the sauce on these ribs.  You could also serve them with mashed potatoes but I really liked the flavor of the celery root puree because it was lighter than your standard mashed potatoes.  Enjoy!


Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs
Lindsay at Perfecting the Pairing

Ingredients:
·         1/3 cup flour
·         1 tsp salt
·         ½ tsp black pepper
·         2-3 lbs beef short ribs (I trimmed the excess fat off of the ribs)
·         1 Tb butter
·         1 onion, chopped
·         ¾ cup red wine
·         ¼ cup red wine vinegar
·         ¾ cup apple cider
·         ½ cup brown sugar
·         1/3 cup chili sauce
·         ½ cup ketchup
·         ¾ cup beef broth
·         ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
·         ¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
·         1 tsp chili powder
·         3 cloves of garlic, minced
Directions:
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a large sealable bag.  Shake to combine.  Add the short ribs and toss with the flour.  Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Shake off any excess flour and add the ribs to the pan.  Brown the ribs on all sides.  Once browned, transfer to a slow cooker that has been coated with cooking spray.
Add the chopped onions to the skillet and sauté until they begin to soften.  Be sure to scrape up any of the brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Taste the sauce and adjust per your preference.  Pour the sauce over the ribs.  Cook on low heat for 8-10 hours.  If you don’t have that much time you can cook them on high heat for 2 hours and then reduce to low for 4 hours.
Before you serve the ribs skim off the clear fat at the top using a large spoon.  You may get some of the sauce with it, but it is worth it.  Get as much of the fat as possible.

3 comments:

  1. Very good! I love the idea to sear them before putting them into the slow cooker. The sauce was also good--very sweet (which I love!). Yum!

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  3. We just had this tonight with the celery root and apple puree and I have to say this was fantastic. Like anything you cook doing the prep work first is a must. I will make this again and next time we will have some company over. I was not able to use a slow cooker so after braising the ribs I followed the rest of the instructions for the liquids and put everything in a dutch oven set at 375 for 2.5 hours. Half way through I started on the celery root and apple puree. Everything came together perfectly. Thanks. This was a pleasure to make and eat.

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