Slow-Braised Short Ribs
This dish is from Hugo Ortega’s Backstreet Kitchen cookbook. I prepared it for a cooking club dinner the other night, and it was a hit. Although it may appear complicated, it’s actually easy to prepare (if you don’t count peeling the cipollini onions). The only modification I made to Hugo Ortega’s recipe was to double it, since I was cooking for eight. If you’re cooking for a smaller group, cut the ingredients in half.
Slow-Braised Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 6 lbs short ribs, cut in 2″ lengths
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- lots of coarsely ground black pepper
- kosher salt
- olive oil
- 2 large carrots, peeled & chopped
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 12 large cipollini onions, peeled & intact
- 2 large celery ribs, chopped
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 cups water
Directions
Pat the short ribs dry with a paper towel. Dip them in beaten eggs, then roll on a plate covered with ground pepper and salt. Set aside.
Heat about 3 tbsps of olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven, then brown the ribs on all sides. Set aside.
Leave the oil and scrapings from browning the ribs in the Dutch oven and add the chopped white onion, celery, carrots, and cipollini onions. Cook the vegetables for three minutes, gently turning them with a wooden spoon and being careful not to damage the cipollini onions. Add the wine and water to deglaze the vegetables.
With tongs, layer the short ribs in the Dutch oven with the vegetables and liquid (which should cover the short ribs about 3/4 of the way). Spoon some of the liquid over the short ribs that are on top of the liquid. Cover the Dutch oven and place it in a preheated 375° oven. Braise until fork tender (3 to 3 1/2 hours). Check occasionally and add water if necessary (I didn’t need to).
When cooked, gently remove the short ribs and cipollini onions from the pot with tongs or a slotted spoon. Leave the rest of the cooked vegetables in the pot and throw away, or save for something else (see the notes below). Arrange the ribs and cipollinis on a platter and spoon a little of the cooking liquid over them. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes.
Notes
You don’t normally see beef short ribs at the corner grocery store. I ordered mine from a local butcher, who cut them into 2″ lengths for me.
The best way to peel cipollini onions is to carefully slice off the root ends, drop a few at a time into boiling water for 30 seconds, then take them out with a strainer and plunge them into a bowl of iced water (to stop them from cooking). When you’re ready for them, pat them dry, snip off the pointy ends of the peels with kitchen scissors, and gently pull off the papery skins.
Ditalini asked me to save the leftover cooking liquid, chopped white onion, celery, and carrots included. She’s going to add some leftover steak and potatoes and make a beef stew with it. Should be heavenly.
