Braised Bone-In Short Ribs

Braised Bone-In Short Ribs

4 bone-in short ribs, patted dry

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary and thyme, If desired

For braising:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup carrots, peeled and diced

3 garlic cloves, crushed with the side of a knife

2 sprigs thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

1 bay leaf

3 black peppercorns

1 star anise

the peel from one orange, removed using a peeler

1 cup good quality red wine

2 cups beef broth / stock, plus extra if needed

Season the ribs all over with pepper and herbs if desired. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

When ready to cook, preheat your oven to 350˚F. Season the ribs with salt. In a large heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the oil and sear the short ribs on all sides until golden brown. Set aside on a plate. Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the pan, cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and continuing cooking until the vegetables begin to caramelize. If desired, use butchers twine to tie together the herbs with the bay leaf. If you don’t have twine, just add the rosemary, thyme and bay leaf into the pan once the vegetables are caramelized. Add in the peppercorns, star anise and orange rind. Add the red wine and reduce down ¾ of the way. Add the beef broth to the pan. Return the ribs and any juices from the plate into the pan. Cover with foil and place in the oven to cook until the ribs are very tender and can easily put apart with a fork, about 3 hours. Check the ribs everything 30 minutes after the first hour. If the liquid in the pan reduced too much, add more beef broth as needed.

To serve, remove the bones from the rib. If desired, spoon out the cooked vegetables and serve with the ribs. I love to refrigerate the sauce until the fat sets so I can remove it, if you don’t have time, just skim off as much fat from the sauce as possible. Serve the sauce with the rib.