Zinfandel-Braised Beef Short Ribs

duonyte's Note:

I was on my home from the grocery, all set to make a different recipe, when I stopped at the library and saw this one in the May 2009 issue of Bon Appetit. I had to sub potatoes for the parsnips and used chicken broth instead of beef, but ended up very pleased with this recipe. I did not thicken the gravy, but include the instructions for doing so. This goes very well with mashed potatoes.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 8 beef short ribs, about 4 lbs
• coarse kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 cups chopped red onions
• 2 cups cubed parsnips, 1/2 in cubes
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 (750 ml) bottle zinfandel
• 2 cups low sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Melt 1 tbl butter in heavy large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat.
2. Sprinkle ribs with coarse salt and pepper, and add to pot in single-layer without crowding. (Do in batches, if necessary). When browned on all sides, remove to bowl.
3. Add 1 tbl butter to pot (I did not as my ribs exuded enough fat). Add onions and saute until brown, about 6 minutes.
4. Add parsnips and saute until they begin to color, about 6 minutes.
5. Add garlic and then the rosemary.
6. Add wine and broth and bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
7. Return the ribs and any accumulated juices to the pot in a single layer. Bring to a simmer, cover, and place in oven.
8. Braise until the ribs are very tender, about 2 1/2 hours.
9. Using tongs, remove ribs to a serving bowl and keep warm.
10. Skim fat from the gravy, and boil until it starts to thicken, about 10 minutes.
11. In the meantime, mix together 1 tbl butter with the fhour. Adding it in bits, whisk this into the gravy and continue to cook until it's thick enough to coat a spoon, about 5 minutes longer.
12. Season with salt and pepper. Cover ribs with gravy.
13. Note: This can be made up to two days ahead. Rewarm over low heat before serving.

Reviews

[IngridH]

This was really yummy! I had never cooked with either short ribs or parsnips, and was very pleased with both. The sauce was heavenly, and smelling it cooking was almost torture during the 2 1/2 hours in the oven- I couldn't wait to try it. Next time, I'll chop my vegetables in larger cubes and add another cup or so, as they really cooked down into the sauce.I only needed one Tablespoon of butter, the ribs gave off more than enough fat to cook the vegetables, enough in fact, that I removed nearly a quarter cup of fat before moving on to step 3. I also didn't use the extra butter for thickening- I just spooned out 1/2 a cup of sauce and whisked it with the flour, then whisked that mixture back into the sauce. Overall, a great dish, and one I plan to make again.

[Baby Kato]

Thank you for posting this tasty dish. We enjoyed it very much. The meat was tender and oh boy the sauce. It was wonderful, so full of flavor. My parsnip hating dh, fell in love with the parsnips prepared this way. I will be making this again.

[momaphet]

These were very tasty short ribs. Overall they had a nice flavor though I thought the sauce flavor needed more depth compared to a similar recipe I've previously made. I ended up reducing a half cup of wine down to about a tablespoon and then deglazed the pan with some of the suace and then added a couple of TBLS of beef demi glace I get from a local butcher. This added the extra umph that was needed. I really didn't taste much of the rosemary which surprised me since it can be so dominant. Personally I would use carrots over the parsnips next time, they weren't worth the extra expense for me. I used olive oil for browning and sauteing the veggies (I didn't need to add any extra for the veggies). The ribs cooked out nice and tender and we delicious as left overs. I served them with mashed potatoes. Made for PRMRT