My Quest for the Perfect Beef Short-Ribs

It was a cold, rainy, miserable day several Saturdays ago when I decided fix all the word's ills by making beef short-ribs for dinner. After all, what other food could be so completely comforting and restorative (for those of us who eat beef, that is)? With its rich, satisfying broth and tender, fall-off-the-bone meat, short ribs make me feel warm just thinking about them! So I procured a packet of ribs from my favorite grass-fed beef supplier at the market (see Happy Cows, October 9), Olsen Farms (their web-site has apparently not been updated to reflect the fact that they have branched out from their original potato-only business), and set off to make a satisfying meal.

After consulting several recipe books, I decided to loosely follow a recipe that called for braising the short-ribs on the stove-top (as opposed to in the oven). The recipe also included dried cherries which I am particularly fond of and I thought might make for a nice contrast to the rich beef. The results of this meal were entirely disappointing. The beef was tough, dry and rather chewy, and the cherries overwhelmed the nice red wine we had picked out to go along with the beef with their tartness and acidity. Disappointed, I was not deterred. Knowing what good short-ribs can be like, I returned to the market the following week determined to make another go of it.

I started first with the beef broth. I bought large marrow "soup" bones from my friends at Olsen Farms, along with another packet of short-ribs. I've made homemade beef stock in the past, but it's always tasted overwhelmingly greasy to me. This time, however, I roasted the beef bones in the oven first which served two purposes. In addition to deepening the overall flavors of the stock through the roasting of the bones, cooking the bones first also releases a ton of their natural oils. After roasting them, I poured off nearly a cup of fat! I was also able to skim off the fat from the stock pot as it simmered, as well as after the stock had been strained and chilled. So although beef bones may be extremely fatty, beef stock doesn't have to be. And while it may sound like an ordeal to make, the actual hands-on time required for making any stock is minimal. As long as you're home for nearly a whole day, little other attention is required on your part. (I've included at the bottom of this post a recipe for making beef stock from scratch. I highly encourage anyone who might be interested to try the homemade version over store-bought beef broth.)

The next thing I decided to change was the way I had braised the short-ribs. Braising refers to slowly cooking any meat in a small amount of liquid, and it can be done either in the oven or on the stove-top, provided that the heat is sufficiently low. When meat is cooked in this way, the tough connective tissues and collagens contained within the meat are broken down and the meat is magically transformed from an inedible hunk of meat into a tender, succulent, delightful dinner. Braising is a method of cooking that has been used for thousands of years, and the two keys to its success are low heat and time. I began to wonder if the stove-top method that I had tried was too hot and too fast. Even though the short-ribs had simmered for nearly two hours, if the heat had been too much for them, then they would have cooked all the way through before any of the collagen had had a chance to melt within the meat, resulting in a dry meat with tough, inedible connective tissues remaining. Sounds just like our dinner!

Armed this time with my vat of homemade beef stock and my oven set to a meager 250 degrees, this batch of short-ribs did not disappoint. Similar to the process of making beef stock, once I got the pan into the oven there was very little attention required on my part. Knowing that these types of braises or stews also do best with a day or two of sitting, I let it cook for about two hours in the oven the first night, and then two nights later when we were ready to eat it I returned it to the oven for another hour (after first bringing it to a boil on the stove-top). Not only did this help to deepen the flavors further, but it also made for an extremely good Tuesday night dinner! Yes, my experiment paid off. The beef was everything I hoped it would be; tender, juicy, and full of hearty, beefy flavor.

Braised Beef Short-Ribs

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 pounds beef short ribs, cut into individual pieces
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. whole coriander, crushed or cracked coarsely
1/4 cup flour plus 2 Tbsp.
1 large sweet onion, sliced thinly into rings
4 whole garlic cloves, ends trimmed, smashed and skin on
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup dry red wine
1 14.5-oz can stewed tomatoes
4 cups beef stock (for a homemade version, see below)
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stock pot over medium high heat. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, and crushed coriander over the pieces of short ribs, pressing them into the beef with your hands. Dust the ribs with 1/4 cup of the flour, and rub them some more until the flour and spices are evenly caked onto the ribs. Once the oil in the pan is hot (it moves around very quickly on the bottom of the pan) but not smoking, add the ribs. Cook for about 10 minutes, turning once or twice until evenly browned on all sides. Remove the ribs to a clean plate and reduce the heat to medium.

Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, then add the onions, tossing to coat with the oil. Cover the pan with a lid and allow to cook for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. Once the onions begin to soften and turn brown on the bottom, remove the lid and increase the heat to medium high. Continue to cook, stirring more frequently now, until the onions are evenly carmelized throughout. At this point, add the whole garlic cloves and the pepper flakes, and cook, stirring continuously, until the garlic releases its fragrance, about 1-2 minutes. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan with the back of a wooden spoon until the wine is reduced by about half. Add the tomatoes, the beef stock, and the browned short ribs. Allow to come to a boil, then cover the pan with a lid and place in the oven. Cook for 2–3 hours.

When the ribs are done, remove the pan from the oven and use tongs to transfer the short rib pieces to a clean plate; cover with foil and set aside. Bring the juices/beef broth to a boil. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp. flour to the 2 Tbsp. softened butter. Using a fork, mash them together to make a paste. When the beef broth has come to a boil, use a whisk to add the butter/flour paste to the broth, whisking continuously until the broth thickens slightly. Reduce the heat the medium low and simmer. Add the chopped thyme and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, place desired amount of short ribs into a bowl, and ladle broth over top.

Beef Stock

2 Tbsp. canola oil
About 4 pounds beef bones
2 large sweet onions (about 2 pounds), ends trimmed off, peel left on, and quartered
2 carrots, cut into one-inch pieces
2 celery stalks, cut into one-inch pieces
1 bunch of green onions, green tops only and/or one leek, roots trimmed, split lengthwise, rinsed well, and cut into 2-inch pieces*
2 large thyme sprigs
2 large parsley spring
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp black peppercorns (whole)
5 whole garlic cloves, ends trimmed, smashed and skin on

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place a large roasting pan in the oven to preheat for about 10 minutes. Add about 1 Tbsp. canola oil to the hot pan and swirl the oil around to coat. Add the beef bones and roast for about 1 hour, turning once after about 30 minutes when the bottom side has browned completely.

Remove the bones from the oven and reduce the temperature to 400 degrees. Place the bones in a colander set over a baking sheet to drain (tongs work best for moving these awkward things around). Drain the fat from the pan and add 1 cup of water. Set the pan over medium heat and scrape the bottom to release the pan juices. Continue to cook and scrape until all drippings come off of the sides and the bottom of the pan. Add this fond to a large stock pot.

Transfer the bones to the stockpot and cover with cold water (about 5 quarts). Scrape off any fat that comes to the surface, then bring to a boil, skimming off any fat or impurities that rise to the surface. Simmer for about 3 hours.

Meanwhile, add the onions, carrots, celery, and green onions or leeks to the roasting pan and toss with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Roast for about 30-40 minutes, stirring once, until the vegetables are browned and carmelized. After the stock has simmered for about 3 hours, add the carmelized vegetables, the herbs, garlic, and peppercorns and simmer for another hour. Turn off the heat and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes. Pour the stock through a fine mesh strainer into a large, heat-proof container. If possible, prepare an ice bath (in your sink?) and set the container of stock into the ice bath. Stir both the ice and the stock frequently to cool it down as quickly as possible.

When chilled completely there should be a thin layer of fat on the top that can be easily scraped off. The beef stock can then be used as is or reduced further for a very rich stock.

*This can be a good chance to clean out the veggie bins of your refrigerator. Feel free to use any extra onion tops, etc., that you may have hiding out in your veggie drawer. As long as they are clean and not completely wilted, they’ll only add more depth to the stock. Plus, you can feel good about using things rather than letting them go to waste.