Farm House Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine Gravy
This red wine braised short ribs recipe is an easy-to-follow guide for making tender baked beef ribs in your Dutch oven. You will quickly see why short ribs are such a rich and hearty main dish, especially when served over creamy mashed potatoes.
Servings: 4 servings
Chef Alli
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Ingredients
- 2 Tbs. good olive oil
- 3-4 lbs. bone-in beef short ribs preferably 8 ribs total
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 small medium yellow onion diced
- 3 ribs celery diced
- 3 medium carrots diced
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 3 Tbs. tomato paste
- 1/2 cup good dry red wine I used Leanin' Shed Red wine from Grace Hill Winery, White Water, KS
- 2 1/4 cups beef broth divided use
- 2 Tbs. good balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbs. packed dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
- 2 Tbs. cornstarch
- 1 batch of your favorite mashed potatoes
- Chopped scallions, Italian parsley, or fresh rosemary, as a garnishment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Liberally season each short rib with kosher salt and pepper on all sides.
- In a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven set over medium-high heat, add the oil.When the oil is nicely hot, add the seasoned ribs, a few at a time, quickly browning them on all sides, working in batches as to not over-crowd the pot. Place the seared ribs onto a platter as you work; reserve.
- Reduce the heat to medium. To the pan drippings in the Dutch oven, add the onions, celery and carrots, cooking and stirring until the veggies are softened and browned, approx. 10 minutes.
- Add the crushed garlic to the pot; cook another minute, then add the tomato paste, cooking an additional 5 minutes to let it turn from bright red to a deeper more caramelized color, stirring often. (If needed, add a bit of broth or wine at this stage to keep the tomato paste/veggie mixture from sticking to the bottom and sides of the pot.)
- Add the red wine to the Dutch oven, stirring to deglaze the bottom of the pot, bringing up any particles attached to the bottom (all the good stuff!). Now add 2 cups beef broth, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, paprika and thyme; bring the sauce just to a simmer.
- Add the reserved short ribs from the platter to the liquid in the Dutch oven; cover with a lid. Bake the short ribs for 1 hour at 350 degrees F., then reduce the heat to 325 degrees F., continuing to bake the ribs for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until the meat is very fork-tender.
- Remove the pot of short ribs from the oven. Remove the lid, using tongs to gently place the short ribs onto a platter. Next, using a fine mesh strainer, strain the sauce from the pot, returning it to the Dutch oven once more.**Please Note: Once the sauce has been strained, you have the option to chill the sauce to allow the fats to raise to the top to harden so they are easily removed. Proceed with the steps below to finish the recipe, at any time, even the next day. The ribs will just need to be reheated while you make the gravy as directed below.
- Now it’s time to make the gravy! In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup of beef broth with the cornstarch until smooth; whisk this mixture into the sauce in the Dutch oven. Bring the heat to medium, continually whisking the gravy until it is nicely thickened; season to taste.
- To serve, place the warm mashed potatoes down as a fluffy bed; ladle with some gravy, then nestle in the short ribs, adding a bit more gravy over the top, as desired. Sprinkle with your preferred green garnishment and serve at once!
Notes
- When searing the short ribs in hot oil, be sure to put only a couple of ribs at a time into the hot oil. This allows plenty of room inside the pan for the heat to circulate around each rib so they can get really nice and brown.
- Use a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (such as cast iron!) for browning the short ribs. The heavy bottom of a cast iron vessel (whether a skillet or a Dutch oven) promotes really good browning. The deep sides of a Dutch oven prevent hot fats from splattering all over your cook top and that makes clean up lots easier.
- As you work in batches to brown the ribs in the hot oil, remove each batch to a platter while you finish the others so you have plenty of room to work inside the pan.
- Once you’ve browned all the short ribs and removed them to the platter, you’ll see that there lots of browned particles in the bottom of the Dutch oven with the remaining oil. These particles are called “fond” and they bring TONS OF FLAVOR to your dish. Utilize them!
- Add the aromatics (onions, celery, carrots, garlic) to the fond and oil that still remains in the Dutch oven, letting them cook together to caramelize, which creates an additional layer of flavor.
- When the vegetables have softened and caramelized, add the tomato paste and let it cook until it turns from bright red in color to a reddish-brown color, stirring it often. Add broth as needed to keep the veggies and tomato paste from sticking and burning to the pan. Letting the tomato paste cook until it is nicely caramelized is what helps make the sauce more flavorful and rich.
- Beef short ribs can be pretty fatty, especially when braised for slow and low periods of time. Some people to prefer to chill the strained sauce (once the short ribs are fully cooked) so they can skim the layer of chilled fat from the surface before thickening it with the cornstarch mixture. This is personal preference and I’ve done it both ways.
- We prefer to serve our short ribs over mashed potatoes but some prefer egg noodles, pasta, or gnocchi (potato dumplings).
Nutrition
Calories: 783kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 67gFat: 42gSaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 201mgSodium: 566mgPotassium: 1649mgFiber: 3gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 7695IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 69mgIron: 9mg
Nutritional Disclaimer
Chef Alli is not a dietitian or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate.
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