Garlic Braised Short Ribs with Red Wine with Creamy Polenta

 

We've cooked short ribs several times since discovering this cut of meat. It's not cheap and they can be hard to find.

When visiting Mario's Italian Deli in Fort Myers last week, I had the butcher package up 2 pounds. Well, in the end, 2 pounds was 4 short ribs! Three were nice and meaty and thick, although the fourth was on the small side. 

I wanted to have polenta with them, so settled on this New York Times recipe that seemed to scream POLENTA PLEASE!

First off, you will need a medium or large Dutch oven. I bought a large one for our Fort Myers kitchen on Amazon. It is a Lodge and it was a special price of $49. I am sure that there is a reason to buy a Le Creuset, but not for my needs. I love my Dutch ovens. I have a pair of Tramontina Dutch ovens I bought at Costco for $79 and they are my go-to pots in Marion.

Heat the oven to 275 degrees.

SHORT RIB SEAR: Heat 2 T oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the short ribs on all six sides with salt and pepper. This recipe calls for 5 pounds (a better number of ribs than just 2 pounds) and you will need to sear them in batches until they are deeply and evenly browned, about 6-8 min. per batch. Transfer them onto a large plate. Most of the visible fat should be cooked off.

COOKING SAUCE: Use 2 T of the fat from the Dutch oven, but leave all the browned bits. Reduce the heat to medium and add the following, in four steps:

1. 2 large heads of garlic, halved crosswise between the top and bottom. Remove most of the papery stuff but not so that the garlic cloves fall apart. Cook cut side down until golden brown, being careful not to burn (about 1-2 min.) 

1. 1 medium onion, chopped; 4 ribs of celery, chopped; 2 medium carrots, chopped. Add these to the pan with the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Be generous with the seasoning - I found my sauce to be a bit less rich than I would have liked. Cook until all the vegetables are softened, about 5-10 minutes. Add 3 T tomato paste and cook until the paste has started to carmelize, stirring constantly, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add 2 cups dry red wine and scrape up the bits, deglazing the pan. Let this simmer 2-3 minutes, taking the edge off the wine and reducing the liquid slightly. 
3. Stir in 2 cups beef stock or bone broth along with 4 sprigs of thyme.

BRAISE IN OVEN: Using tongs, return the short ribs to the pot along with juices - bone side up. Cover them in the sauce. Bring to a simmer and cover and transfer to the heated oven.

Cook until the short ribs are tender about 3-1/2 to 4 hours. 

Remove the ribs from the pot being careful not to remove the meat from the bone (or rather, capture the bone along with the tender meat.)

Either strain the sauce OR keep all the vegetables in the sauce and cool quickly and try to spoon off extra fat.  Pick up the large pieces of garlic paper. Process the sauce and vegetables, seasoning to taste. 

Hint: Make the ribs the day beforehand and chill the sauce in the fridge AND remove the fat the next day. Process the sauce in a food processor until chunky but not pureed.  Reheat with ribs. 

CREAMY POLENTA: 

An instant pot comes in handy for polenta. Place 4 cups water and 1 cup polenta in the IP pan. Stir and add 1 tsp. salt. Cook on porridge for 20 minutes. The IP will vent constantly in the porridge setting.

When the cooking is done, carefully vent and remove cover. The polenta will have a layer of water on top. Stir vigorously until creamy, adding in 1 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese and light or heavy cream as you need to for a creamy polenta. Add salt and pepper. 

FINALLY, serve ribs with creamy polenta, sprinkled with sauce and 1 cup finely chopped parsley, 1/2 c. chopped chives, and 1 T. lemon zest.