Rustic Italian Braised Beef Short Ribs
From the Kitchen of Chef Jeff

This is a great “one pot” dish that can be served with many different side dishes, including garlic mashed potatoes, oven roasted yams, and mushroom risotto.  It is one of only a few tomato-based beef dishes, and is extremely hearty and satisfying.

The key with this dish is that it is “braised”, or slow cooked, in an oven.   This type of cooking is done in a large diameter oven safe pot with a lid, usually referred to as a Dutch oven.  The large diameter allows for all the meat to be in contact with the bottom of the pot which prevents “steaming” the meat.  This cooking style is done at low temperatures for 2.5 to 3.5 hours to allow for thorough tenderizing of the meat and blending of flavors.

Another somewhat unique aspect of this type of cooking is that it starts on the stove top, as browning the meat is essential to sealing in the juices.  This is typically done in the same pot that is used for the braising phase of the process.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as my family and friends do.  Buon Appetito!

INGREDIENTS (for four people):

2 pounds of boneless beef short ribs, cut into approximately 3 inch pieces. (Pre-season the meat with a dry rub of sea salt, garlic, and parsley.  I use Suzie Q’s.  Let pre-seasoned meat sit in the refrigerator overnight.)

1 large onion, chopped (Texas Sweets are my favorite)

3-4 cloves of roasted garlic, chopped

2 cups brown mushrooms, sliced

3 cups of chopped carrots

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup fresh chopped Italian parsley

4 cups roasted or stewed tomatoes

3 cups dry red wine

Heat oven to 300 degrees F

Place the meat into the Dutch oven and brown on all sides. Remove the meat and put aside. Drain the remaining fat.

Place mushrooms in Dutch oven and sauté` until the slices are reduced in size by at least ½. Remove and set aside.

Place onions in Dutch oven and sauté` until caramelized.

Add meat, mushrooms, garlic, and celery to the Dutch oven, sauté` for 5 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.

Place lid on Dutch oven and put in oven for 2.5 to 3.5 hours, checking for tenderness every hour or so.

Place Dutch oven on stove top.  Remove the meat and set aside.

Blend the remaining ingredients in the pot with an immersion blender or place ingredients into a food processer and blend until smooth.  Add water as needed to attain a gravy-like texture.

Return the meat and the blended ingredients back to the Dutch oven, cover and let stand for 5-10 minutes.

Serve by placing meat on a plate and ladle the gravy-like blended ingredients over the top.