Yesterday I wrote about my new blue purchase, a Le Creuset dutch oven. The saleswoman teased about being able to cook anything down in there, and I decided to take her word and and lift the lid on unexplored regions of my culinary mind. I wanted to cook the toughest, cheap cut of meat and turn it into a succulent, mouthwatering experience. It was time to braise some short ribs.
Short ribs, apparently, are all the rage, thanks in part to Mario Batali's influence. Though many expensive cuts of meat are softer, and better for grilling, neglected cuts of meat can have more flavor and be fall-off-the-bone tender, if cooked properly. In this case, properly means a long arduous process occupying many steps over 3 hours. But I had the magic pot and a bottle of hearty Italian wine that could distract me from eventual 10pm dinner bell. If only I could figure out what braising meant.
When I got to the grocery store I had no idea what short ribs look like, so I simply asked for 2 pounds of them, and that amounted to 4 short ribs. Thankfully the butcher didn't look at me funny or say "They're right in front of you, bub" (which they were). They were only about 6 dollars a pound, amounting to 12 dollars of meat feeding four people. This was looking good.
It was time to learn how to braise. Definition: I'm not really sure. What's the difference between stewing and braising? Here's what I knew going in: you need a really heavy pot of some kind, and you start by getting it super hot and searing the outside of whatever cut of meat you're using. This develops a lovely brown/golden texture and gets some rich flavors happening.
Sometimes you take the meat out and saute the vegetables, and sometimes it goes in at the same time. Then you scrape up the little caramelized bits of meat that are stuck to the bottom (the lovely Frenchmen who crafted my Le Creuset pot would call it the fond (the French have cool words for all things food--how about "the soft interior of bread," la mie?) and you add liquid, like a wine or stock, and once that's all mixed up and happy, you turn the heat as low as it can go, and you put the meat back in to get fall-off-the-bone-tender. Alternatively, you can stick it in the oven.
Batali provides this recipe, which calls for Barolo red wine and seems to be similar to the one from his Babbo cookbook. (Side note: according to Bill Buford, while an "apprentice" in Mario's restaurant, he discovered that the Short Ribs in Barolo is actually braised in cheap Merlot. N.B. Our wine guy, who is excellent at finding complex and surprising Italian wines that are rarely over twenty bucks, recommended a region just outside of Barolo, because they used the same grape - though they call the Nebbiola grape Spanna there - and it's much less expensive than the Barolo bottles. Or, apparently, you can use cheap Merlot).
Short Ribs in Barolo
Serves 4. Available online at MarioBatali.com.
6 tablespoons EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
2 pounds boneless BEEF SHORT RIBS, cut into 3-inch cubes
SALT and freshly ground BLACK PEPPER
2 large Spanish ONIONS, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 medium CARROT, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
2 ribs CELERY, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
4 ounces PANCETTA, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 cups Barolo or other HEARTY RED WINE
2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce*
*Lacking the time, we bought some nice tomato sauce from Citarella. However, we've made his sauce before and it's so friggin' good. You can make loads of it and it freezes well.
First, heat the oil in your dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pan, until it's smoking (that's really hot). Cut the short ribs into three pieces (there should be three bones in each cut of meat you've bought, one for each chunk) and brown them for awhile in the oil, around 10-12 minutes. Don't overcrowd the pan as you want the heat to stay really high, and if it's too crowded the moisture won't evaporate quickly enough and they'll begin to steam. In my 5-qt. Dutch oven, I did two batches.
Next, remove the meat to a platter and put all the vegetables and the pancetta into the pot. The recipe says to drain the excess fat but considering the ridiculous amount of vegetables, we bypassed that step. At this point I started getting worried about the inexact instructions from Mr. Batali to use a "large" dutch oven. They're all large. Large has a different definition when you're discussing dutch ovens. I thought mine was large, but I think I got the 2nd-smallest one available. How are these vegetables going to cook when they're in the pot 8 inches deep?
When the vegetables are soft and have begun to brown slightly, add the tomato sauce and the red wine. Bring to a boil, then add the meat to the pot, turning the heat as low as it can go to a simmer.
So is this looking like beef stew to anyone else? I thought there was supposed to be just a little liquid in the pot. Was I supposed to use a dutch oven three times this size?
2 hours of fretful wondering late, the recipe asks you to remove the ribs to a platter, then crank up the heat and reduce the sauce to 2 1/2 cups. In the meantime we whipped up a Pasta with Parmesan and Nutmeg as the wonderful, flavorful sauce began filling the apartment.
Yep, it looks a little like beef stew. I'll admit: the flavors were outstanding, really remarkably rich and complex. But the meat just wasn't quite right. It's wasn't tender enough, it was slightly sinewy still, and it was just too wet. Tasty, but not transporting. This one, obviously, can't be blamed on bad cookware. What had gone wrong? Not cooked long enough, slowly enough? Should have gone in the oven instead of the stove top? Butcher was laughing all the way to the meat slicer as he sold me the wrong cut of meat to make me look stupid?
More adventures in braising with my Le Creuset, hopefully to more success, will follow.
Update: A later attempt at short ribs, with renewed enthusiasm and a lot more education, was very successful.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Mark Bittman's essential book "How to Cook Everything" has a wonderful short ribs recipe in it.
I had a very similar experience braising short ribs a few months ago. It was a drawn-out labor of love on a rainy Saturday afternoon that ended in disappointing mediocrity. I used what looked like beautiful short ribs from Fresh Direct (4 pounds), the freshest veg from the Union Square farmers market, a decent wine, and the recipe from Cooks Illustrated. Hours and hours later my apartment smelled wonderful and I had a perfectly presentable dinner for my guests, but the ribs were definitely lackluster. A little tough, soggy in spots and dry in others, and hardly infused with the flavors of the delicious braising sauce that it cooked in for hours. (Just for reference, I browned the meat on the stove and then braised in the oven.) Perhaps I had hoped for too much, but I've had some truly outstanding braised short ribs in various haute feed-lots around the city so my aspirations were high. I would love to know what I did wrong – I'm not yet ready to give up on these babies. Is there a secret the restaurant chefs are leaving out of their recipes in a grand conspiracy to make short ribs purely restaurant fare?
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enjoy your writing and photos…
I have braised short ribs many times and I find it becomes a better dish if you braise one day and serve it the next. This allows the fat to harden in the refrigerator over night and then you can skim it off and re-heat to serve. I have found that short ribs tend to be fatty and this method solves the problem. Put me on your e-mail list. Thanks
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I think the problem here is that you didn't cook them long enough. I braise mine on the stovetop until it seems they must absolutely be done, then I braise them some more. The same goes for lamb shanks. Undercooked (say, two hours) and they are tough and simply awful. "Overcooked" (say, four or five hours) and they are divine.
By the way, I know you are in Manhattan, but $6 per pound is really a hefty price for this cut of meat. Enjoy your new Le Creuset. I have several and use them constantly.
sorry, but you took that wonderfull recipe and executed it with complete ignorance. cookng is a multi dimensional process, it appears you only cook on one level.
I always like to slow cook any type of meat for braising in liquid that covers it . Then I either do it on a low flame or in the oven at, say, 325 degrees, until the meat falls off the bones and has absorbed the flavor of the liquid. Just being soft isn't enough; it has to really absorb the flavor. Then it will fall off the bone, be so flavorful, and will taste as good as it gets. Let me know how it turns out next time. His oven may be hotter, or he may have underestimated the time, because sometimes I've left meat overnight in the oven at that temperature, until it does fall apart and off the bone.
Great recipe, delicious. I (gasp) put it in the crockpot, after sauteing the veggies separately and after browning the meat. Then, I threw it all in together. Set it to high and kept it on for about 6-7 hours. The meat was falling off the bone and was wonderful. Very rich flavors. There was a layer of fat on top of the crockpot at the end, and before I served it, I just put it all in a strainer with cheesecloth and then poured the liquid in a fat seperator and that was that. Then I poured the good liquid back into the dish. I also used a can of Citarella tomatoes and some tomato paste insead of tomato sauce. I got the short ribs also from Citarella.
You likely didn't cook it long enough. Also, considering the bones, it likely needed at least 4 hours. I prefer 4 to 5.
A terrific book: "All About Braising" by Molly Stevens…
I made this once and it was AWESOME. I think the only problem with yours was that you used bone-in ribs and the recipe called for boneless. I used a cheap cab and it was yummy.
very good
I tried the Mario Short Ribs in Barolo for the first time yesterday, and they came out just wonderful. Le Creuset dutch oven on the stovetop, just like Mario’s recipe says. My other Food TV favorite, David Rosengarten, also has a braised short ribs recipe in his book, “It’s All American Food”, but Mario’s is significantly easier, and gives equivalent results – at least in my amateur hands.
I have found, that with braised short ribs or lamb shanks, each extra minute you spend browning the meat pays off huge dividends.
Mario’s “Molto Italiano” cookbook has made me very popular with my family. Thanks, Mario!!
i’d also attribute it to the cooking time. for how long did you cook them? this is best suited for an all-day affair, as in sunday ragu`! since this is very similar to the slow-cooking ragu`, i’d apply that same process, though i haven’t tried this yet. also i’d only put 1 cup of wine.
start with the oil and veggies and sweat them out, then once they are clear, add the meat and let them cook for a bit. once the outside looks cooked, add the wine and stir to de-glaze. (all at a low heat) then after at least an hour, add the tomato puree or “sauce” (you can either skin and seed canned plum tomatoes and then puree them, and even strain if you’re fussy about texture, or just buy “passata” which is simly pureed tomatoes…no need for “sauce” as this is what you’re making). bring this to a boil. then stir and let it “stew” at a lower heat for at least 2 hours.
Yay! Thanks so much for this post! This is exactly what I needed with all the little bits of info I needed to try this out. I don’t cook, but I just got the dutch oven, and have a huge hankering for ribs… I look forward to trying this with my cheap bottle of Merlot!
Sorry you had problems. To me, short ribs are cheap, but only great if time is taken to tenderize and develop flavor.
My tip: Deep brown your ribs on Oil in a heavy pot (I use olive) for a good 18-20 min. Transfer these to a tray and add your veggie composition to pot. Cook veggies unil tender. Add a wine to pot that is composed of lucious Plum or Plum/Cherries.
Add prunes for an even more deep complex flavor. Reduce until half.
Re -introduce the shortribs and let cool. Refrigerate over night. The ribs will absorb all the flavors and tenderize too.
Next day add chicken stock and about 2-3 cups of chicken stock or veal if you can get it. (sometimes I add tomatoe gravy for a nice italian touch instead of stock) cook 350 covered for 1 and1/2 hours , uncover and cook another 45 min. If your gravy is too thin, thicken with tapioca. Directions are usually on box.
Great wth mashed potatoes!
d, then 45 min. uncovered. enjoy!
remove to a tray and add your veggie composit to
oops, don’t forget to add your herbs when you you add the wine.
This is a great recipe. I got it in a little recipe booklet when I bought Mario’s own (orange) 6 quart dutch oven.
*Mario’s dutch over was about $125 cheaper than the comparible Crueset one and the sales person said Mario’s was equal in quality… which it does seem to be.*
I serve it with some soft polenta and veggies.
The family raved about it… Boneless or bone in… YUMMY!
here it is!
Definitely not cooked long enough, cook 5-6 hours let rest at least a couple of hours, make a mild attempt to remove fat. I use cooking vegetables in the beginning: Carrots, onions, celery; half cup of each while I brown. Also I use Balsamic Vinegar when browning about 3 tablespoons. When the beef is very browned, 10-12 minutesI remove and set aside. Use a spatula to scrape out solids, some of that fat comes along, then pour away and reserve clear fat in case I want it cook the veggies later. One final note: Never understood the idea of cooking the vegetables 5-6 hours along with the meat. They turn to mush. So I add fresh vegetable to a large fry pan with the reserved fat and brown later adding them to whole pot about an hour or more before meat is done.
Love your blog will be a regular. BILL