killing me softly: wine-braised short ribs

It's been pouring rain outside all day long. While I would have rather been inside working (although I did manage to do some of that too), I also ran about doing things like renewing my driver's license (I don't drive, but it's nice identification), "rolling off" a bowling game (I'll be away in Portland, Oregon* and need to bank a game for my league), and pick up groceries and wine. My driver's license photo will most likely be horrific, my bowling game was dismal (sorry team!) but I stayed dry and managed to get all the ingredients for some delicious braised short ribs which will be our dinner tonight. Now, this is something I can take comfort in.

Normally, we don't cook with a lot of meat other than chicken or fish, but I'm designing some birth announcements for a friend and we made a deal that included 10 pounds of free-range, grass fed beef along with a cash deal. So I've got short ribs along with a bunch of other stuff in the freezer. I've never had short ribs before but after looking at a lot of recipes, I decided that braising would be ideal. So I browned the short ribs until they were golden and crispy and looked (and smelled) incredible and then worked off the rest of the ingredients. They've been cooking in the oven under a low heat for the past few hours and the smell has been killing me softly. I'm so ready to dig in!

As you can see, I illustrated my meal instead since a big ol' mess of brown wouldn't make the most appetizing photo. But don't let that steer you wrong...this meal is rich and special. Just let that meat fall off the bones and into your gullet. It's good. Reaaallly good. Oh hey, if you are in Vancouver, pick up the Georgia Straight this week cuz there's a big ol' photo of me (along with an interview about Vancouver bloggers). You can find the online version here.

* Oh that's right, I'll be in Portland again! My favorite city ever. So send me your things to do, eat, and all the good stuff. Things will be silent here until mid-next week, so feel free to browse my archives.

wine-braised short ribs
2 short ribs
1 T olive oil
4 shallots
4 garlic gloves
2 large carrots, chopped
4 small potatoes, cut in half
1 large can of tomatoes
4 sprigs of thyme
3 sprigs of rosemary
1 bottle of nice drinking red wine

Preheat oven to 325F. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper and brown in the olive oil in a heavy cast iron pan. Do not skimp on this step, as you really bring out the flavour by browning (I let mine brown for close to 15 minutes). Remove ribs and add in the shallots and garlic and saute for a few minutes, adding in carrots and potatoes. Throw in the can of tomatoes, the bottle of wine and the herbs and bring to a boil, letting the liquids reduce slightly. Put the lid on your dutch oven and place the whole shebang into the oven for the next 3-4 hours or so. Check in once in a while and if you like, you can skim off the fat (and oh, there will be fat!) into a bowl and place it in the freezer so that the fat firms up. Throw out the hard fat, leaving behind the lovely jus and dump that back into the pot. When you can't stand it anymore, dig in!