Words

I don't bring a lot of meat back to my apartment but when I do I make sure it's 1. cheap 2. delicious and 3. flexible! I managed to find just the cut at the farmers market this weekend and spent my spare Saturday cycles preparing the best darn meat I could muster.

The meat man gave me his meaty nod of approval as I purchased my short ribs in-n-amongst a river of prime rib, ny strip and monsieur mignons. Perhaps a butchers subtle acknowledgment of the potential greatness waiting to be extracted from these humble scraps of beef. After meat, I managed to pick up a carrot, some celery and a bouqet of red chard before the throngs of f-marketers blackballed me with their icy stares and bartlet pears.

Home again, home again with half a bottle of a crappy pinot noir (from Oregon), a whole afternoon of sunny sky, a fridge full of beer, some random guest appearances and a half-assed recipe kinda in my head. What follows is how I spent my Saturday afternoon at the stove... as best I can remember.

Numbers

1. Seasoning

Rub the ribs with some salt, pepper and lots of fresh rosemary. Wrap, stick in fridge for a couple hours before removing and letting come back up to room temperature.

2. Searing

In your dutch oven get some oil pretty dang hot and prepare for a sizzling mess! Cut the ribs into individual bones and brown for a minute or two on each of the three meaty sides. Once nicely browned remove to plate and prepare for the next step.

3. Vegetables

Finely chop an onion, carrot and celery and fry in dutch oven until everything is transparent and soft. Add a couple cloves of garlic a minute before the end of this step. Add the ribs back into the pot and wiggle them around to get them in contact with the pot. Add the crappy bottle of wine and maybe a bit of beef broth to cover the ribs.

4. Baking

Put the lid on and stick these babies in the oven for 3-5 hours at 350. You want the liquid to reduce by half and the meat should be dark, dark and easily peeled from the bone.

5. Braising

We're not done yet! Bring the heat on the oven up to 450 and stick the ribs (sans liquid) back in for 30 minutes. We want to dry them back out a little and get them nice and crispy.

6. The Other Bits

Seperate the liquid (fat) from the vegetables bits.

The fat/liquid is pure gold - the marrow content makes it thick and glassy and oh so delicious. I used it as a gravy for all parts of the meal - chard, carrots and meat too. I even added a bit of butter to the mix just to make it a little more delicious and artery clogging.

The carrot, onion, celery mixture will now have tons of flavor and makes a great second vegetable all on its own. I also used it the next day in some cous cous and boy-howdy it was good there too.

The red chard stood up very well to the overall beefiness of the meal. I removed the stems (saved for another meal) added some butter and cooked it covered for 5 minutes or so.

Pictures

Out of the oven - filled with fat, flavor and everything lovely.

After the braise.

Gravy of the Gods!

The finished product.