Balthazars Braised Short Ribs Recipes

BRAISED SHORT RIBS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, boil wine until reduced by about half. Meanwhile, place a large, wide Dutch oven over high heat. Add olive oil and when it is very hot, add short ribs and sear until well browned on all sides. Transfer short ribs to a platter.
• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Return Dutch oven to medium-high heat. Add carrots, onions, garlic and thyme. Sauté until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add butter and continue to sauté until vegetables are tender, another 1 to 2 minutes. Add brown sugar and tomato paste. Cook, stirring, another 2 to 3 minutes.
• Return short ribs to Dutch oven and sprinkle with flour. Cook, stirring well, until flour is incorporated and beginning to brown. Add reduced wine and bring to a boil. Skim any foam. Cover, leaving lid slightly ajar, and transfer to oven. Cook until meat is very tender and falling off the bone, about 3 hours.
• Short ribs may be served on the bone or the meat removed and served in chunks or shreds. To serve sauce, strain vegetables and any liquid from Dutch oven, pressing down to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. To de-fat sauce, skim surface or chill to remove excess fat, reheat, and serve over or mixed with short ribs.

GARLIC BRAISED SHORT RIBS WITH RED WINE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 275 degrees. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season short ribs on all sides with salt and pepper. Working in batches, sear short ribs on all sides until deeply and evenly browned, 6 to 8 minutes per batch. Transfer browned short ribs to a large plate and continue with remaining ribs.
• Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of remaining fat, leaving the good browned bits behind. Reduce heat to medium, and add garlic, cut side down and cook, undisturbed, until golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion, celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat and continue to cook until vegetables are softened but not yet browned, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to coat. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato paste has started to caramelize a bit on the bottom and up the edges of the pot, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add red wine and, using a wooden spoon, scrape up any browned or caramelized bits. Let this simmer 2 to 3 minutes, just to take the edge off and reduce a bit. Stir in beef stock along with thyme. Using tongs, return short ribs to the pot, along with any juices that have accumulated, nestling them in there so that they are submerged (if they are just barely covered, nestle them bone side up so that all the meat is submerged, adding more beef stock or water as necessary to cover). Bring to a simmer, then cover and transfer to oven.
• Cook, undisturbed, until short ribs are meltingly tender and falling off the bone (you should be able to shred the meat with a fork), 3½ to 4 hours.
• Using tongs, remove the ribs from the pot, taking care (for presentation purposes, really) not to let the bone slip out and transfer them to a large plate. (While you could serve the short ribs right out of this pot, the vegetables have all given up their flavor and texture and aren't worth much now, so feel free to strain the sauce for easier eating.) Scatter parsley, chives and lemon zest over the top of the short ribs. Separate the fat from the sauce, season with salt and pepper and serve alongside.

TANGY BRAISED SHORT RIBS

Steps:

• Season short ribs with salt and pepper at least 1 hour (at room temperature) and as much as 48 hours (covered and refrigerated) in advance.
• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. Working in batches, sear short ribs until deeply golden brown on both large flat sides, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer short ribs to a large plate or cutting board and drain all but about 2 tablespoons fat from the pot. Discard remaining fat. Repeat with remaining short ribs. Drain all fat from the pot and carefully wipe out. (No need to wash, just get rid of any scorched bits.)
• In the same pot over medium-high, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and add onions and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions and garlic get a bit of color, 4 to 5 minutes. Add honey and cook, stirring until it starts to bubble furiously, turning a darker amber brown and sticking to the bottom of the pot as it cooks.
• Add vinegar and soy sauce, and, using a wooden spoon or spatula, scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pot. Bring to a strong simmer and cook to reduce by about half, 5 to 8 minutes. Add broth and thyme, and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper and add short ribs back in, bone-side up, making sure they are as submerged in that braising liquid as possible. Cover the pot and place in the oven. Do not look at it or remove the lid for 3 hours. (Nothing bad will happen, promise.)
• After 3 hours, check the short ribs, they should be extremely tender and nearly falling apart, almost having the jiggly texture of a baked custard or Jell-O. (If not, continue roasting another 20 to 30 minutes.) Remove from oven.
• At this stage, you can remove the lid and using a spoon, carefully skim as much of the top layer of fat as possible. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees, and return the pot to the oven, uncovered, to let the short ribs brown a bit on top and thicken the braising liquid a bit, another 35 to 45 minutes. (Alternatively, you can remove the short ribs from the oven, let them cool at room temperature and place in them in the fridge, overnight. When ready to serve, remove them from the fridge and using a spoon, scrape off the solidified fat on the top layer. Return the short ribs, covered, to a 325-degree oven until totally warmed through, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the lid and increase temperature to 425 degrees, and continue to cook, uncovered, to let the short ribs brown a bit on top and reduce the braising liquid, another 35 to 45 minutes.)
• Meanwhile, combine parsley and chives in a small bowl and season with flaky salt.
• Remove the short ribs from the oven and serve straight from the pot or transfer them to a shallow bowl or plate with high sides, spooning the braising liquid over. Squeeze lemons over, letting the juice season the braising liquid. Sprinkle with parsley mixture before serving.

BALTHAZAR'S BRAISED BEEF RIBS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F
• Bind each rib with cotton kitchen twine. Place the rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf between the two celery halves and bind with kitchen twine.
• Season the short ribs with 2 teaspoons of the salt and the pepper.
• Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over a high flame until it smokes.
• In two batches, brown the short ribs well on both sides, about 3 minutes per side, pouring off all but 3 tablespoons of oil between batches.
• Remove the ribs and set aside when done.
• Lower the flame to medium, and add the carrots, onion, shallots, and garlic to the pot and saute for 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and light brown.
• Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add the flour and stir well to combine. Add the port, red wine, and the celery-herb bundle.
• Raise the flame to high and cook until the liquid is reduced by a third, about 20 minutes.
• Return the ribs to the pot (they will stack into two layers).
• Add the stock and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt; if the stock doesn't cover the ribs by at least 1 inch, add water up to that level.
• Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, transfer to the preheated oven, and cook for 3 hours. Visit the pot occasionally and stir the ribs, bringing the ones on the bottom up to the top -- they're done when the meat is fork tender and falling off the bone.
• Transfer the ribs to a large platter and remove the strings.
• Skim any fat from the surface of the sauce, and then strain through a sieve into a medium saucepan.
• Discard the solids.
• Over medium heat, bring the sauce to a strong simmer and reduce the liquid until slightly less then half (4 cups) remains, about 1 hour.
• Return the ribs to the pot, simmer for 10 minutes to reheat, and serve.