Balsamic Braised Short Ribs

Julesong's Note:

These flavorful ribs can be made ahead of serving, which both heightens the flavor and makes it much easier to remove excess fat from the dish. Short ribs are the meaty ends of the rib bones - choose cuts from the chuck, which are the most flavorful, or from the rib, which are a bit leaner. Adapted from Cooking Light. Prep time includes chilling.

• Total Time: 10 hrs
• Prep Time: 8 hrs
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• cooking spray
• 4 lbs short rib of beef , trimmed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt , divided
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper , divided
• 2 cups finely chopped red onions
• ¼ cup minced garlic
• 2 cups low sodium beef broth (home made broth preferred)
• 1 cup dry red wine
• ¾ cup balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups chopped plum tomatoes or 2 cups chopped roma tomatoes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
2. Over medium-high temperature, heat a large Dutch or French oven and spray it with cooking spray.
3. Season the ribs with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
4. Brown the ribs in two batches in the heated pan, about 8 minutes per batch, until browned; remove from pan.
5. Add the finely chopped onion to the pan and saute until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.
6. Add the minced garlic and saute for 1 minute.
7. Add the browned ribs back into the pan, then add the wine, vinegar, brown sugar, and tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
8. Cover pan and transfer to the oven, and bake at 300°F for 90 minutes or until tender.
9. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, then transfer pan to refrigerator and let chill for 8 hours or overnight.
10. After chilling, skim the solidified fat from the surface of the broth mixture and discard fat.
11. Over medium heat on the stove, cook the ribs in the Dutch or French oven for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
12. Season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, and serve.
13. Serve along with potatoes, pasta, and/or vegetables - the sauce goes quite well with them, too!

Reviews

[Brewer Buddy]

My family and I really loved this recipe and look forward to making it again. The recipe steps never said what to do with the beef broth so I assumed that it was to go into the mix at step 7. After the ribs were done cooking, I plucked the meat off the bones and chopped it up. My "gravy" wasn't as thick as I would have liked it so I strained the veggies out of the broth (saving the broth, of course), then mixed meat and veggies back together. Next I cooked some of the broth down until it was as thick as I wanted it and poured it over the meat and veggie mixture and stirred away. I served it up on little rolls and made short rib sliders. Man they were good. I used the excess broth as a base for soup the next day.

[- Momma Loon]

Very tasty moist and delectable short ribs. Lots of sauce and and reduces to a nice rich gravy for the next days leftovers. My family was very happy with the meal and we will make these again.

[andypandy]

These short ribs were melt in my mouth tender. Braised to perfection. The recipe was very pricey with the amounts of balsamic and wine. There was so much sauce left over I didn't know what to do. The first evening these were made the vinegar and wine taste was extremely strong, they were much better on the next night as leftovers when the flavours had a chance to meld and mellow. I served this with a pasta side dish, but found I needed something more like a baked or mashed potato to absorb the extra sauce. Very nice french cuisine and I will certainly make these again, though I would reduce the amount of liquid next time.