Red Wine Short Ribs w/ Horseradish Mashed Potatoes & Bacon Braised Kale

Cheap cuts of beef are some of my favorite to use. Since they typically come from parts of the cow that do a lot of heavy lifting, they have a lot of connective tissue which means that if you cook it like you would a steak, you will get an inedible piece of meat akin to eating a tennis shoe.

The magic to cheap cuts of meat is too cook them at low temperatures for long periods of time (AKA “low and slow”). This allows that connective tissue to melt away slowly and help the dish become rich and tender.

Cheap cuts of meat are great because you can set them, forget them, come back a few hours later, and have an amazing, flavorful meal waiting for you.

The short rib is one of these inexpensive cuts that, with tender love and care, can become an amazing dish.

 
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Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs thick, bone-in short ribs

  • 1 yellow onion

  • 1 large carrot

  • 4 stalks of celery

  • 1 - 750ml bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon is STRONGLY recommended)

  • 1 - 6oz can of tomato paste

  • 2 - 48oz boxes of no-salt-added beef broth

  • 1 bunch of thyme

  • 1 bay leaf

Instructions:

  1. Place a large stainless steel pot on medium high heat and add vegetable oil

  2. Season short ribs heavily with salt and pepper

  3. Sear all the sides of the meat until nice and brown. Make sure a nice crust forms around the short ribs

  4. Set aside meat and in the same pot add all of your vegetables (AKA mirepoix) and saute. After about 3 minutes throw in the thyme.

  5. Once the vegetables are cooked through, add the can of tomato paste and cook. Continuously stir at the bottom of the pot to make sure none of it sticks and burns.

  6. Cook out the tomato paste for about 5 minutes and then pour the entire bottle of wine into the pot.

  7. Reduce the red wine by half. Consistency should be nice and thick.

  8. Add your beef stock and cook down on a simmer for half an hour

  9. Add stock, wine, and veggies into a crock pot set on low heat.

  10. Gently place the short ribs in the pot and cook for 4 - 5 hours. Check every 30 minutes to an hour after cooking for three hours.

  11. Once meat is tender enough to rip away with a fork, gently pull short rib out trying to keep the pieces intact.

  12. Strain the cooking liquid and reserve. Return half to crock pot and place short rib in there to keep warm.

  13. Simmer the other half of the cooking liquid into a sauce pot to reduce until thick and rich.

Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs redskin potatoes, halved

  • ½ cup sour cream

  • ¼ lb butter

  • 3 TBSP fresh horseradish

Instructions:

  1. In a large pot add the halved potatoes and enough cold water to cover by about half an inch and bring to a low boil

  2. Once potatoes are just cooked through enough to stick a fork through them, strain the water and preserve the water for now

  3. Add butter, sour cream, and horseradish and mash with a steel wire potato masher.

  4. If the mashed potatoes seem to dry, slowly add some of the cooking water until the potatoes are nice and thick

  5. Season with salt and pepper to taste

Bacon Braised Kale

Ingredients:

  • ½ lb uncured thick-cut bacon, cut into half inch slices

  • 1 small bag of chopped kale

  • No-salt-added beef broth

Instructions:

  1. In a medium sized pot, on low heat add the bacon and slowly render out the fat until the bacon becomes nice and crispy.

  2. Drain off the excess fat onto a paper towel and return bacon to pot

  3. Add kale and just enough beef broth to cover and bring to a simmer

  4. Simmer for five to ten minutes

Luis Fayad