Sunday 15 March 2015

Beef Short Ribs

Wine, meat and long slow cooking = SICK. And I mean sick in a good way of course; not vomit. Like someone said on Towie the other night, "this is such a sick club!" and they were clearly having a very nice time. Anyway, anything involving meat, doused in red wine, plus some veg, herbs and whatever, then braised slowly all afternoon to tender unctuousness .. just cannot fail.
So I had a beef short rib in my meat box from Field & Flower. It was quite long actually, a bit too long for my casserole pot. I had to do it in a roasting tin, but this was no hardship.
I seasoned the rib with salt & pepper, then browned it on all sides in the roasting tin, over the heat. This took a couple of mins. Then I let it sit on one side, while I gently softened some chopped onion, celery, carrot and garlic in a pan. I added a bit of dried thyme and a spoon of flour, and stirred that in. 
The next step was to pour red wine into the hot pan. It was about a third of a bottle. I let it boil and reduce quite a bit. Then I added some stock, about half a pint I'd say. I gently poured the contents of the pan into the roasting tin, around the rib. I added black pepper but not salt (best not to until the end).
It cooked for three hours at about 150c. I checked it every hour and added a bit more water to the liquid, so it didn't dry out. If you had it in a casserole with a lid, you might not need to worry - however, I liked cooking it uncovered because the meat and fat on the rib went a bit crispy and burnished. You do want this to happen. 
So it kept on roasting, and I topped up the liquid a couple of times. All ovens are different aren't they, so twiddle with the temperature as you see fit. 
When it was done, the bone just pulled away easily. I lifted the meat out and let it rest. Then I poured the winey, meaty, vegetables and juice into a saucepan. It would be possible to do whatever you liked to this gravy. Strain it if you want (I didn't) or increase its volume by adding more water or whatever. It was necessary to spoon off some of the fat. It tasted amazing. 
I cut the meat into two pieces, sat them on some mash, then ladled the gravy on top. 

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