Braised Short Ribs with Tomato Barbecue Sauce

I don't usually eat ribs (too messy and too much work!) but I saw a recipe that looked good so I thought I'd try to make them for company coming to Sunday Supper - ran it past Dave and he vetoed pork spareribs (too messy and too much work haha) but requested beef short ribs. Um ok, well then I had to find a recipe that looked good for those since I've never made them before! I found this recipe in a cookbook "American Bistro" and decided to give it a try - like how I experiment on guests haha? 

geez I have a lot on my plate! short ribs,
smashed potatoes, roasted carrots, broccoli
slaw, and a roll. Yum...I'm still full.

So...this is a delicious and pretty easy recipe that everyone loved. I served them with smashed red potatoes and broccoli cole slaw (2 other recipes I've never tried before and turned out SO good - I lucked out that the whole menu turned out so good! I'll post those recipes on another day).

I followed the recipe with a couple tweaks: I increased the meat to 6.35 pounds (to serve 8), only used one onion so Dave wouldn't freak out, added more carrots and 1/2 cup more of the tomatoes, bbq sauce, and beef stock. Forgot to garnish with parsley and it totally didn't matter.

One thing I will do in the future is to cook the ribs and sauce ahead of time and let it cool so I can remove some of the fat, short ribs are a pretty fatty cut of beef. I tried to skim off what I could before serving, it would have been much easier to do when it was cool and the fat rises to the top and hardens. Otherwise this is a great, flavorful recipe.

braise the ribs in a large nonstick skillet, then transfer to a dutch oven. then in the skillet saute the veggies.

after sautéing the veggies and adding the other sauce ingredients pour over the ribs in the dutch oven.

finished ribs in the sauce.

Ingredients:

• 5 pounds lean beef short ribs, cut into 3 to 4" pieces
• salt and pepper
• 3 T. vegetable oil
• 2 onions, thickly sliced into rings
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2" thick slices
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup bottled barbecue sauce
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 t. Dijon mustard
• 2 T. finely chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, season the ribs with salt and pepper. 
2. Preheat the oven to 325'. In a 12" nonstick skillet, heat 2 T. vegetable oil over medium-high heat. In batches, brown the ribs on all sides, using kitchen tongs to turn and brown them evenly, for 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the ribs with a slotted spoon, drain briefly on paper towels, and then place in a large, ovenproof Dutch oven or other heavy pot. 
3. In the same skillet, add the remaining 1 T. oil, increase the heat to medium-high, and brown the onions for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently and watching carefully so that they brown but do not burn. Add the carrot and saute for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes, bbq sauce, beef stock, and mustard and stir well. Increase the heat to high and simmer for 1 minute to mix the flavors. Pour the tomato sauce mixture over the short ribs and mix to combine.
4. Cover and bake the ribs for about 3 hours, or until the meat is very tender, turning the ribs every 45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with the parsley. Serve immediately.

Can be prepared up to 3 days ahead, covered, and refrigerated. Reheat gently on the stove top.

Serves 6

from the American Bistro cookbook