Easy Braised Short Ribs in Red Wine

I love anything with a rich gravy over buttery mashed potatoes or a creamy risotto……but I get super excited when this includes short ribs.

Read more: Easy Braised Short Ribs in Red Wine

Braised short ribs is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods; they’re melt in your mouth delicious, crazy easy to prepare and your guests will shower you with compliments -believing you to be a culinary genius…..Ah yes…I am a sucker for accolades.

Short Rib Cuts

There are two cuts of short ribs: Flanken style, which is the flat cut also known as the Korean cut, and English style, which is a thick slab that sits atop of the bone, usually sized into 2 to 3 inch chunks. When braising and for this recipe you want to use the English style short ribs.

What a special piece of beef – well marbled, full of flavour and it screams “please braise me” to produce five star table fare.

This recipe requires only a few everyday ingredients, but there are three key steps. First, when adding the wine, make sure to bring the sauce to a light boil (lid off) for 20 minutes. This will reduce the wine by about half and will concentrate and intensify the flavour into a rich silky base. In addition, make sure to liberally season all sides of the beef and as my dad use to say, “sear the pants off it” to a crusty dark brown. Finally, when completing the sauce, do not strain to remove remaining bits and pieces but puree into a smooth gravy – do not discard all that flavour.

This dinner was prepared for a party of four. We braised five short ribs and served them on a creamy risotto with a crusty baguette and a first course caesar salad. It was absolutely delicious. Other pairing options include mashed potatoes, cheesy polenta or buttery egg noodles… – choose your favorite, you can’t go wrong here!

Enjoy and try not to blush at the folly of compliments!

There is a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Braised Short Ribs for Four – Ingredients:

• 5 pieces of short ribs (I always cook an extra piece or two for my homemade ravioli)
• 1 onion, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks – diced into equal size
• 2 bay leaves
• 2-3 sprigs of Rosemary – remove the leaves and finely chop (can also use thyme and basil if desired)
• 2 TBSP of chopped parsley
• 4 garlic cloves crushed and coarsely chopped
• 2 TBSP of tomato paste
• ¾ bottle of dry red wine – we used a Cabernet
• Beef stock – 3 to 4 cups to bring sauce to top of short ribs
• 2-3 TBSP saltless butter
• Salt and pepper
• 2 TBSP cooking oil – I use extra virgin olive oil

Braised Short Ribs Method:

Searing the Meat

• If need be, trim the ribs of any excess fat, gristle or silver skin
• Liberally season meat on all sides with salt and pepper
• Add 2 TBSP of olive oil to the pot on medium high heat
• Sear the meat on all sides – about 2 minutes per side until crusty and dark brown
• Remove the ribs and and place on a plate

Building the Sauce

• Add 1 TBSP of butter to the pot
• Add the carrots/celery/onion to the pot (the sofrito) and cook for 4 to 5 minutes occasionally stirring
• Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes – occasionally stirring
• Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes
• Add approximately ¾ bottle of wine and stir – 2 to 3 cups (If I was serving 8 or 10 pieces I would use the entire bottle of wine and adjust the seasoning, sofrito, tomato paste and garlic accordingly)
• Bring the sauce to a light rolling boil for 20 minutes to reduce (lid off)

Braising the Ribs

• Place the ribs back into the sauce – make sure to pour in any drippings
• Add enough beef stock to slightly cover all the ribs
• Toss in the bay leaves
• Bring sauce to a simmer
• Cover the pot and place into a pre-heated oven at 325F
• Braise in the oven for approximately 2 and a half to 3 hours (For the last 45 minutes with lid off)

I always let my short ribs cook for 3 hours and take the lid off at the 2 hour and 15 minute mark. But if you want to test for doneness, a knife should easily poke into the meat.

Finishing the Sauce

• Remove the ribs and place on a sided plate – cover
• Remove bay leaves and excess fat at the top of the sauce with a spoon – some fat is normal, but if there is excess than take some time to remove it
• With the lid off, bring the sauce to a light boil to further reduce – 10 to 15 minutes
• Pour the sauce into a blender or use a hand blender to puree the sauce

Serving Your Masterpiece (Immediate or next day)

• Bring the sauce to a light simmer and add 1 TBSP of butter to melt in
• Note: If your sauce needs to be thicker, feel free to mix a cup of sauce with 1 TBSP of cornstarch and mix in to the sauce to thicken – a little at a time until you reach your desired density. If the sauce is too thick, add in beef stock until you reach the desired density……Stir…
• Place warmed ribs atop of the potatoes, risotto, polenta etc……
• Note: As we sometime do, if a rib is too large cut it in half but make sure to place the uncut side face up
• Generously ladle sauce onto the ribs
• Sprinkle with parsley and serve…………….
• Note: This dish serves very well the next day and some would say even better – just refrigerate overnight, reheat and serve

Bon appetit…oh …goes very well with a big (full bodied) red wine.

Below is a printable recipe card from RecipesGenerator. Please give it a try!

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