Short Ribs

Spring is officially here, but the weather in March is insane, a few days of almost summer then days of icy cold drizzle, snow and freezing winds.  I cleaned off the grill this weekend, planned my first grilled out meal of the season then we were struck by icy cold wind and rain... did I still grill out?  of course... I just laugh at myself that this time of year I tend to pick the wrong meal for whatever the weather.  Yes yesterday I was trying to turn my grill away from the wind and still keep myself out of the rain for long enough to get my chorizo laced burgers done.

The day before was just as out of place... as all of my neighbors were firing up their grills I was inside on a warm sunny day slow brazing Short Ribs.  These guys rocked by the way!  The recipe was adapted from epicurious.com (by adapted I mean that I didn't have all the ingredients on hand)

1/2 ounce dried morel mushrooms
1  cup boiling water

For the dry rub
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds meaty short ribs
2 tablespoons olive oil

To braise  the meat
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1cup canned low-salt chicken broth
3/4 cup liquid that the mushrooms soaked in
1 bay leaf

For the crumbs
2 TBS butter, room temperature
1 cup bread crumbs
3 of the above mentioned mushrooms chopped
2 TBS Dijon mustard

Start by soaking your mushrooms in a cup of boiling water I let mind go for about 3 hours...

 Pre heat the oven to 325.  Mix the thyme, salt and pepper together and rub on all sides of your short ribs then heat olive oil in a large pan  and sear on all sides until brown (took about 10 minutes).

Take the meat out and set aside for for the next step, add the onions, garlic and carrot to the pan and saute for about 10 minutes until soft then deglaze the pan with the red wine.  Scrape any of the yummy brown bits off the bottom of the pan then put your ribs back in and add the chicken broth and mushroom water (being careful not to spill any of the sediment into your pan).  Rinse your mushrooms well then add them to the pot and finally the bay leaf.  Cover tightly put in the oven... Cook until these are very tender (3 of my 5 fell off the bone when I picked them up) these took about 2 hours.

Somewhere while the short ribs are braising start your bread crumb mixture, I know you will find the time.  mix the butter and breadcrumbs together and set aside.  When your meat is done pull it out of the oven then turn it up to 425, let the meat cool until cool enough to touch.  While it is cooling pull out 3 large mushrooms, chop them up and mix them into the breadcrumb stuff.  Smear about a teaspoon of mustard on each rib then pack the crumb mixture on them.  Put them on a baking sheet and put them back into the oven to brown (this part took about 10 minutes).  While that is going cook your drippings over medium high heat until it thickens a bit.

Here it is with the sauce, very tasty, not as photogenic.

These are served over mashed potatoes.

How was it?  Mixed reviews... 

Bryan, "It rocked!  what a perfect mixture of flavors and textures.  The meat was just falling off the bone and tasted wonderful"

Kris, "It tasted fine but looks like barbarian food."

Miss Lu, "It smells good but I'll just have grilled cheese."

I was OK with the leftovers here it is for lunch the next day!