Author Notes
This recipe borrows from so many classics -- Julia Child, Paula Wolfert, Pierre Franey -- that I gave up trying to credit anyone and am just calling it plagiarized short ribs. It's best if started a day ahead of time in order to marinate the beef overnight, a la Wolfert, but in a pinch, you can do it all at once. You can also expand this recipe to as large a Dutch oven as you possess, or you can move to a big roasting pan. I love this for a dinner for a crowd on a winter occasion. And while I usually serve it over buttered egg noodles, it's also excellent over polenta or spaetzle or mashed potatos, with nothing else except a big green salad and a fresh, piping hot loaf of French bread, And butter. And lots and lots of red wine and some good friends. —Kayb
Ingredients
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2-3 pounds
bone-in short ribs
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1
beef marrow bone; ask your butcher to cut in 3-inch lengths
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3
medium onions
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6-8
cloves garlic
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2
carrots
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1
parsnip
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2
750 ml bottles red table wine
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2 cups
beef stock
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8 ounces
shitake or porcini mushrooms
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1 tablespoon
fresh rosemary, minced
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2
bay leaves
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1 teaspoon
dried oregano
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1 pinch
thyme
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1 pinch
marjoram
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salt and pepper
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duck fat
Directions
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Peel cloves of garlic, but leave whole. Peel and quarter one of the onions. Cut carrots and parsnips up into 2-inch chunks.
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Put vegetables and short ribs into a non-reactive container and marinate in the fridge overnight in 1 bottle of the wine.
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The next day, open second bottle of wine and pour yourself a glass. Remove the meat and veggies from the marinade (reserve marinade). In a large Dutch oven, heat 2-3 tablespoons of duck fat over medium high heat. Salt and pepper the ribs and brown them a few at a time, to avoid crowding. Remove to a plate when all surfaces are well browned. Brown the cut sides of the marrow bones as well, and remove to the same plate.
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Slice the remaining two onions and brown in the remaining duck fat (adding fat if necessary). Remove those to the plate (or another one, if that one's getting crowded).
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Roughly chop the veggies removed from the marinade. Carrots and parsnip should be in about one-inch chunks; just give the onions and garlic a rough chop. Brown them slightly in the remaining fat, and then pour over the reserved marinade and bring to a boil. Reduce wine in volume by half.
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Add short ribs and caramelized onions back to pot, trying to keep ribs in a single layer if possible. Add beef broth and herbs. Bring back to a boil, lower heat, and cover.
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Move Dutch oven to a pre-heated 275-degree oven and go away and forget it for at least four hours. Add some of the second bottle of wine, if needed and if you have not already consumed it all; if so, add beef broth. Somewhere during this time, saute' the mushrooms and add them. Test meat with a fork to see if it's falling apart; if not, put it back and ignore it until it is. This may require a third bottle of wine.
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Remove meat to a platter and strain marinade, pressing veggies to get all the liquid out. Remove marrow from marrow bones and add to liquid, pureeing if needed. Return that liquid to the pot and bring to a boil over medium high heat until reduced to sauce consistency. Serve over the starch of your choice (polenta, spaetzle, mashed potatos, egg noodles, rice), with salad and bread and more wine. Enjoy!
I'm a business professional who learned to cook early on, and have expanded my tastes and my skills as I've traveled and been exposed to new cuisines and new dishes. I love fresh vegetables, any kind of protein on the grill, and breakfasts that involve fried eggs with runny yolks. My recipes tend toward the simple and the Southern, with bits of Asia or the Mediterranean or Mexico thrown in here and there. And a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a float in the lake, as pictured, is a pretty fine lunch!
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