You asked for it so here it is….Beer Braised Short Ribs

January 20, 2011

When we were snowed in last week there was not much to do but cook and then eat. Thankfully I had a well stocked pantry and was able to place some warm, yummy comfort food on the table. Earlier in the week I posted my Chicken and Dumplings recipe and some of you asked for the Short Ribs so here it is!

5 pounds beef short ribs
olive oil
2 to 3 garlic cloves minced
salt an pepper to taste

1 to 2 onions cut in wedges

For braising liquid:

2 – 14 to 16 oz beef broth or one 32 oz box, but you will only need half of it to start with, reserve the remaining half if necessary later on.
1 – bottle of dark beer, but up you can really use any beer you like. You can also just omit the beer and use all broth if you don’t like beer.
1/4 molasses
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon bottled hot sauce (you can increase this if you like your food spicy!!!)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Polenta, Mashed Potatoes, Hot Buttered Noodles or Buttered Rice

Let ribs sit out for a few minutes to come to room temperature.

In a large bowl or cookie sheet lay the ribs out and sprinkle with salt and pepper and minced garlic on all sides.

Massage seasoning into the meat with your fingers then set aside.

Assemble braising liquid in bowl or large measuring cup and stir until well mixed then set aside.

In large skillet pour several tablespoons of olive oil and let pan heat up, when the oil is hot put short ribs in pan and brown off on all sides, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. The ribs need to be nice and brown on all sides with a nice crusty brow coating.

Remove ribs from pan and set aside.

Take the braising liquid and deglaze pan that the short ribs were seared off in with the braising liquid. Why waste all they yummy goodness in the bottom of the pan I say!

Give your crock pot a coating of non stick cooking spray and place the cut up onion on the bottom of the crock pot.

Place the browned off short bibs on top of the onions and then pour the brazing liquid over the ribs. If you need to add additional beef broth to completely covered the ribs you need to do it at this time with the remaining beef broth.

Cook on low setting for 8 hours.

When the ribs have finished cooking they will fall off the bone.

Just prior to serving I take a ladle and remove as much of the cooking liquid as possible from the crock pot and transfer it to a fat separator.

The hubs bought me a new fat separator for Christmas just like the one pictured and I just love it. It has a nifty little plunger the prevents the fat from going up the spout so you are able to pour only the liquid with out any of the fat in it at all. LOVE IT!

And there will be a lot of fat floating on the top of the liquid. Short ribs are a very fatty meat.

As you are removing the cooking liquid you will need to fish out the bones and discard them before serving.

You can expect to get at least 1/2 cup or more of fat off the top with a fat separator. I usually transfer this liquid to a sauté pan and let it reduce down by half over a medium heat. If you like you can add some sautéed onion and a bit of flour to thicken this to a nice gravy like consistency.

Leave the remaining short ribs in the crock pot on low until the gravy is done to keep them warm until ready to serve.

I like to serve up the short ribs in a separate serving bowl along side the polenta and gravy and let everyone one assemble there short ribs as they like them. The daughter likes here side by side, I however like to put a generous serving of polenta in the middle of my plate and then the short ribs right on top of the polenta topped off with a nice drizzle of gravy.

Don't bother with utensils just dive in head first and enjoy!

I serve the short ribs with Polenta, my favorite way to serve it, but it is equally good with noodles, rice or mashed potatoes.

Totally yummy and totally worth all the extra calories.

I have also gotten everything assembled in my crock pot the night before and let it rest in the refrigerator and then put the ribs on to cook first thing in the morning.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, we have found it to be a big time family favorite!

Blessings