Recipe Box: Braised Short Ribs, Slow-Cooker Style

Braised short ribs is actually a very easy dish to make. You just need to have patience since there are a lot of steps, but each one is worth it. This recipe is a slightly adapted version from Chef Tom Colicchio. The end result is a tender, flavorful dish that melts in your mouth. Make sure to start this recipe a day ahead of time!

Ingredients (serves 2):
4 bone-in short ribs, cut about 2 inches thick (They look like this:)
Canola or vegetable oil
Salt & Pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 750-ml bottle of dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
4 fresh thyme sprigs
3 cups chicken stock

Method:
In a large skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons of canola oil over medium heat. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper, and add them to the hot pan. You want to hear that searing sound so they get a nice brown crust. Don't move them around too much, just turn them 3 times to get all sides. You don't want to actually cook the short ribs, so only brown them for about 4-5 minutes a side.

In the meantime, prep your veggies.

Once browned, transfer the short ribs to a shallow baking dish. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to the same skillet (don't clean it out). Cook these over very low heat, stirring occasionally until they are very soft. This will take about 20 minutes.

Now, pour in that whole bottle of wine! Also add the thyme sprigs and bring the whole thing to a boil. This is the marinade.

Pour this hot marinade over the ribs and let it cool on the counter for a couple of hours. Food is usually safe for about 4 hours while not refrigerated or heated. Any longer and it will enter the "danger zone" where bacteria can breed. To be safe, you can put the meat in the fridge immediately, but that will raise the temperature inside your fridge, thus putting the rest of your food at risk. It's best to let the meat cool for about 2 hours, then let the fridge do the work. This is why you need to use a shallow dish, which will dissipate the heat faster. Leave the food in the fridge overnight (or up to 2 days), turning it once at some point.

End of day one! See, that was easy.

Day 2:

This is where we deviated from Colicchio's recipe. He calls to preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then you would pour everything into an enameled cast iron casserole dish, cook for 1.5 hours, and then braise for 45 minutes. Enameled cast iron pans (e.g., Le Creuset, Le Creuset 5 1/2 Quart Enameled Cast Iron Casserole) are extremely expensive! We have a non-enameled cast iron pot, but wine dishes can leach into the iron, thus ruining the pot.

Instead, we used our slow cooker. This very useful kitchen appliance has come through for us in a pinch on several occasions. Pour the meat and marinade into the slow cooker, add the chicken stock, set to high, and forget about it. After 4 hours, remove the meat and place in a pan under the broiler to crisp up a bit for about 10 minutes( turn them once or twice during cooking). Be gentle, because the meat is tender enough to fall off the bone at this point. It's not a big deal if it does, but the bone gives a nice presentation.

Now, strain the sauce/marinade to get rid of the solid bits of vegetable, etc. Skim off as much fat as you can from the top. As the meat broils, pour the liquid into a pan and set to medium heat to thicken up, or reduce.




Place the meat on plates and spoon some sauce over the top. Beautiful!

Delicious, too! The sauce has become nice and meaty at this point, and the wine has given the meat a slightly sweet flavor. The meat falls apart and all that gorgeous fat has given up all the goods!

If you're willing to plan ahead and have a little patience, the payoff for the minimal amount of technical difficulty here is absolutely worth it!

Happy cooking!