Braised Short Ribs

I love short ribs. They're like a decadent comfort food. And I've had some sitting in my freezer for months, just awaiting that perfect day when I was motivated enough to take the time to fix them. Well, that day came this past weekend. It's not that they're difficult to make, but the prep does take a little time. Of course, once the prep is done, that's about it. They cook, you serve. Easy peasy.

Here's what you'll need for these deliciously braised short ribs:

• 3-4 lbs. short ribs, you can use boneless or bone-in
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/3 cup flour
• Bacon, cut into small pieces (about 4 strips if you're using thick-sliced like I did or 6 regular slices)
• 2-3 tablespoons cooking oil 
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 32 oz beef broth
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

Season your ribs with salt and pepper.

Then lightly dredge in flour.

Set aside.

In a large Dutch oven, over medium heat, cook the bacon until all of the fat is rendered and the meat is crispy, but not burned.

Remove bacon to paper towel.

Crank up the heat to high and add your oil to the bacon fat. Brown the ribs in batches.

Remove from pan and set aside.

Lower the heat and add the carrots, onion and garlic.

Stir that around for a minute or so, then add a little bit of the beef broth, scraping the bottom of the pan to incorporate all those little bits of meat.

Add the remainder of the broth, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil.

Now add your browned ribs and top with thyme and rosemary.

And don't forget about that cooked bacon.

Cover and place pot in oven for two-and-half to three hours.

Remove from oven and allow to rest with the lid on for at least 20 minutes.

Oh, the aromas of this feast will have you counting the seconds.

I like to whip up a batch of creamy cheese grits to serve with these. You can find that recipe here. But if you prefer, mashed potatoes are an option, too.

So here we are, two weeks into 2019. Life has been fairly peaceful here at the ranch, which is good since I have proposal due at the end of this month and I'm also working through line edits. Though I did have to pause to celebrate my baby's birthday Sunday. How he can be 20, I have no idea. It seems like only yesterday I was cradling him in my arms. Time sure has a way of flying by, making me realize just how important it is to savor every moment. Something that's hard to wrap your head around when you're dealing with the terrible twos or three AM feedings. Then one day you wake up and realize those challenges may not have been so bad after all. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

Now it's your turn. What are some of your favorite comfort foods? Do you have a favorite dish you love to indulge in but don't make it very often because it requires too much effort? 

Three-time Carol Award finalist, Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com 

  

Comforting Short Ribs

Tex here, and ever since we got back from our trip to Ouray, Colorado last summer, I have wanted to make short ribs. You see, while we were visiting my favorite town, we went to a then-new restaurant called Brickhouse 737 where I had the most amazing short rib dinner.

It was comfort food to the max, with a gourmet flare.

Oh, how I wanted to replicate that amazing flavor back here in Texas. So, after watching and waiting for short ribs to go on sale, I scooped up a few packages and set out to prepare my own comforting version of this memorable meal. After pulling from a couple of different recipes, this is what I came up with.

Here's what you'll need:

• 3 lbs. short ribs, I used boneless, but bone-in will work, too
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/3 cup flour
• Bacon, cut into small pieces (about 4 strips if you're using thick-sliced like I did or 6 regular slices)
• 2-3 tablespoons coconut oil (you can use canola or olive)
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 32 oz beef broth
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

Season your ribs with salt and pepper.

Then lightly dredge in flour.

Set aside.

In a large Dutch oven, over medium heat, cook the bacon until all of the fat is rendered and the meat is crispy, but not burned.

Remove bacon to paper towel.

Crank up the heat to high and add your oil to the bacon fat. Brown the ribs in batches and set aside.

Once all the meat has been browned, lower the heat and add the carrots, onions and garlic.

Stir that around for a minute or so, then add a little bit of the beef broth, scraping the bottom of the pan to incorporate all those little bits of meat.

Add the remainder of the broth, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil.

Now add your browned ribs and top with thyme and rosemary.

And don't forget about that cooked bacon.

Cover and place pot in oven for two and half hours.

Remove from oven and allow to rest with the lid on for at least 20 minutes.

Oh, the aromas of this feast will have you counting the seconds.

Now the Brickhouse served their short ribs over mashed potatoes, but after seeing our favorite pioneer cook serve hers over cheese grits, I decided to go that route. And I'm so glad I did.

Y'all, I was in heaven. This savory dish was beyond my expectations. Even hubby commented that "This is an excellent meal. You need to make this again."

And I definitely will. In the meantime, we had plenty for dinner the next night and lunch the day after that. My taste buds were tickled pink.

And yes, I did this one-pot meal as the one-armed wonder. It's amazing what you can do with one hand, especially when you're determined. Of course, I did have to have my son and husband help me move the pot, but they've been such good sports. Especially when they know I'm fixing food for them instead of the other way around.

According to my physical therapist, recovery is moving along as expected. Shoulder still aches, some days more than others, and after two weeks of sleeping in the recliner, I'm finally back in my bed. Oh, and I don't have to wear that nasty sling at home unless I want to. Otherwise, the therapist says only whenever cars, kids and crowds are involved.

And then there's our BIG move.

You'll be hearing me talk a lot more about that in the coming weeks. We've been purging and packing, preparing to put our house on the market in just a little under a month. Something that is as scary as it is exciting. We have much to do on both ends of the move and trying to get everything lined up is proving to be rather daunting. But it'll all come together.

Now it's your turn.

Have you ever had something at a restaurant you were determined to recreate at home? What was it? And how did it turn out?

Mindy Obenhaus lives in Texas with her husband and kids. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs or Boeuf Bourguignon

Hi everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back with a recipe that I thought was a fail, but was actually delicious. How's that for a ringing endorsement, eh?
So, first of all, I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season. I think he's glad we're home and my opinion is that there's nothing cuter than a kitty under the Christmas tree. We came home from midnight Mass and found him like this.

 We've been on the move so we haven't cooked as much as we do this time of year but we have gotten a batch of tamales and some sugar cookies done. It's not Christmas without those crazily frosted cookies!
Ingredients:
Short ribs, several pounds
2 cups chopped carrots
2 chopped onions
3 celery stalks
5 TBS flour
1 small can of tomato paste
1 bottle full bodied red wine
4 cups of good beef stock
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp rosemary
3 lbs of small potatoes
Although I love mushrooms, I forgot to add them to shopping list and so this isn't completely a traditional boeuf bourguignon... but then with short ribs, that's probably obvious!
                                      
So, the first step in this recipe is to brown the short ribs in small batches, about seven or eight minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate and pour off the drippings except for about 5 tbs. Add about 2 cups of chopped carrots, 2 chopped onions, 3 celery stalks to the drippings and stir on medium high heat until the onion is translucent. Add about 3 TBS of flour to the veggies and let brown, stirring constantly.

 Add the wine, return short ribs to the pot, and let simmer for approximately 25 minutes, or until reduced by half. I don't cook much with wine and I took a taste at this point and was horrified. LOL. Apparently, the alcohol has to cook off before it tastes okay. Never too old to learn new things, right?

 So, here it is, nicely reduced. Add the beef stock, garlic and all the herbs. Bring everything back to a boil and let it simmer for another 30 minutes or so, until it's again reduced by about half. By this point, it was MUCH tastier.

After this point, add the peeled small potatoes, transfer the pot (if it's a dutch oven or cast iron) to the oven and bake at 350F for about 2- 3 hours, or until everything is very tender. The sauce should be very savory and since the beef stock has salt, I didn't feel like I needed to add salt at this point but I did add some pepper. 

All in all, it was a very time-consuming dish but it looked wonderful on the table and our guests definitely recognized it as boeuf bourguignon.  Bonus!

I hope everyone is keeping warm, whether you've stayed home for the holidays or have traveled. Feel free to stop by my facebook page Mary Jane Hathaway, check out my posts at Huffington Post Books, or on my blog The Things That Last. Until next time!