Balsamic Braised Short Ribs

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.

• Ready In: 10 hrs
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

•  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
• 1⁄4 cup  minced garlic
• 2  cups low sodium beef broth (home made broth preferred)
• 1  cup dry red wine
• 3⁄4 cup  balsamic vinegar
• 1⁄4 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!