Cathartic Cooking - Braised Short Ribs

I wouldn't consider myself an emotional eater. I do love food and I find the process of both cooking and baking to be extremely relaxing and calming, especially when my mind is in a state of chaos. Cooking requires some organization and some slow and methodical timing that allows one to simply focus on the task at hand and not let the mind wind up tight and tick tock at a million beats per minute. It helps that I usually put on some music and dance away in the kitchen as I stir and taste and chop and smell and add ingredients to the bubbling pot. Saturday night was that sort of night. It had been a difficult week and as the rain and cold weather settled over our city, I decided to make something that would stick to our bones.

Bring out the Dutch Oven (a fantastic birthday gift, I might add, where have you been all my life?) and off to the grocery store to see if the butcher could cut me up some short ribs. It was time to conquer the Braised Short Rib recipe I had come across months before. I gathered up the ingredients, popped the baby gate in the kitchen door, which I might add did not please my 15 month old son who rather enjoys hanging out in the kitchen with mom. The recipe wasn't overly complicated, brown the ribs, and puree some veggies. Allow them to turn into crud and scrape, repeat, add tomato paste and some wine and presto, pop that beautiful blue, rather heavy for this pregnant lady, pot into the oven and allow to cook. The smells wafting through my house were divine. My mouth was watering for most of the three hours that it required in the oven. Add some of my "famous" (to my husband and son) mashed potatoes and a side of broccoli and we had a very filling dinner. It was very satisfying and for a few hours, I sank into the warmth and happiness that is my humble little home.

Braised Short Ribs


Ingredients:

• Bone-in Short Ribs (about 6lbs)
• Coarse Salt
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large Spanish onion, 
• 2-3 ribs of celery
• 2-3 carrots, peeled, and chopped
• 2-3 Cloves of garlic
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 3 cups of hearty red wine (I used an inexpensive Shiraz) - also, finger wagers, the alcohol content burns off during cooking so I am not breaking any baby laws.
• 2 cups of water
• 1 bunch of fresh thyme
• 2-4 bay leaves

Directions: 

1.  Season each rib on both sides with the coarse salt. Coat a dutch oven with the olive oil and bring to a high heat. Brown the short ribs briefly, in small batches to prevent over crowding. Move to a plate and put aside. 
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Puree all the vegetables together in a food processor until it forms a coarse paste. Drain the fat from the dutch oven and add more oil, turn down heat to med-high. Add the vegetables, season with salt and pepper and brown until they turn dark and form a crud at the bottom of the pan, this will take quite a few minutes. Scrape and allow to form again. Scrape again and add the tomato paste. Brown for about 2-3 minutes being careful it doesn't burn (turn down the heat if it begins to burn). Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, mix well. Reduce the mixture by half.
3. Return the short ribs to the pan and add enough water (approximately 2 cups) to just cover the meat. Add the thyme bundle and the bay leaves. Cover and put into oven for 3 hours.
4. Remove the lid for the last 20 mins so sauce can thicken.
5. Serve with the braising liquid. 

Side note: The recipe says that the meat should be tender but not falling apart. The meat is not flaking but it does come off the bone beautifully. It is very succulent and delicious.