short ribs

I made short ribs last night for dinner and I was too lazy to take a picture of them, so I thought I'd borrow some cool image from the internet. I've made some interesting discoveries this way; the latest find is the Texas A&M Meat Science department website, particularly the Texas FFA Meat Judging Contest/Meat Identification.

Braising is my favorite cooking method; these short ribs can be put together quickly and ignored for a couple of hours.

Place 4 short ribs in a very hot, heavy pan containing a few tablespoons of oil and brown well on each side. Remove from the pan and drain out all but a couple of tablespoons of liquid and add

2 diced medium onions and 3-4 cloves of crushed garlic; saute until soft and golden.

Add 1-2 cups of sliced mushrooms, 1-2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary, 3 bay leaves and 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme and saute mixture another 5 minutes. I threw in a big old carrot for extra flavor and removed it after cooking.

Add one bottle of bargain Cotes du rhone or Shiraz and stir to get all those good brown bits off the bottom of the pan, and then add 2 small cans of tomato paste, a tablespoon of brown sugar and two cans of beef or chicken broth (enough to cover).

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer and go watch a dvd.
Cook for 2-3 hours, or until the ribs are tender and the movie is over. The ones I had last night were large so they took 3. If the pot is ovenproof, you could hurl it into the oven at 275-300 instead.

Add diced potatoes and carrots about 20-30 minutes before serving.

Serve over wide egg noodles or spaetzl, if you got it.