Braised Short Ribs

Last night we hosted a little dinner party for two friends - an engaged couple who I will refer to as Helmut and Gertrude (to protect their identities). The featured dish was braised short ribs. Short ribs are one of those dishes I make that are fairly simple to prepare but taste so good that I almost feel guilty they didn't involve more work. When I get compliments about them it feels as if I got an 'A' on a term paper that I purchased, if that makes sense. Typically I trim the excess external fat from the ribs, brown them in my pressure cooker (in batches so I don't crowd the pan), saute coarsely chopped onions and carrots in the empty pan, deglaze the pan with some liquid (wine or broth) then add the full compliment of liquids to create the braising liquid. Usually the liquid is a cocktail of red wine, chicken and/or beef stock and tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes. I recently started adding one shot of espresso to the mix with very good results. For this batch I switched from red wine to white wine and used only chicken stock because I didn't have any homemade beef stock on hand. I completed it with tomato sauce and espresso along with a couple bay leaves and whole pepper corns. When it reached a simmer I returned the browned short ribs along with the liquid that had pooled around them into the cooker and capped it. I brought it up to the first pressure line, stabilized it and let it go for two hours. I usually cook it at the second, higher pressure setting for one hour but I wondered if a gentler, longer cook time would produce more tender meat. Two hours later the ribs were fall apart tender, with the bones slipping right off the meat, so I sequestered them to their own bowl. I poured the liquid and vegetables through a standard mesh strainer into a separate bowl, discarded the vegetables and put the sauce and the meat into the fridge overnight. As mentioned previously, I completed most of the short rib preparation the night before so I could remove the 'fat frisbee' from the top of the braising liquid after a congealing night in the refrigerator. Also, with most of the cooking done, Helmut and I had time to soak in the hot tub before dinner (Gertrude and the wife preferred watching 'Lost', the modern incarnation of Gilligan's Island). After removing the fat from the sauce, I heated it back to liquid consistency and poured it through a fine mesh strainer in order to give it a smooth texture. I returned it to a simmer on the stove without a lid to reduce and thicken it while the short ribs slowly heated in a 250 degree oven in a casserole dish. The sauce didn't thicken much so I added cornstarch (mixed with a small amount of cold milk prior to adding to the sauce). After thickening I added the sauce to the short ribs and returned the casserole dish to the oven to complete its heating. To round out the meal I boiled russet potatoes, pressed them through a ricer and stirred in sour cream, butter and buttermilk. Not rocket science - just fluffy mashed potatoes ready to soak up any juices from the short ribs. I boiled green beans in a pot of salted water for four minutes, drained them, tossed in a little butter and squeezed a wedge of lemon over them. The short ribs were fantastic. They seemed especially tender which may have come from the kinder, gentler pressure cooking or from their high quality (purchased at Whole Foods) or both. The sauce was excellent and curiously very similar to the red wine-based sauces. So similar that I have no strong preference between the two. With the fat removed from the sauce the dish wasn't nearly as heavy as short rib dinners often are. Washing it down with a bottle of Wente Reserve Cabernet completed the dinner nicely. Helmut and Gertrude said they enjoyed it. Notes: Pressure Cookers: I highly recommend pressure cookers. If you don't have one this dish can be made conventionally by putting the pot in the oven at 350 degrees for about 3.5 hours instead of cooking under pressure on the stovetop. However, some of the sauce will evaporate unless the pan has makes a tight seal. Short ribs - in case you're not familiar with these, they are short, thick rib sections from the chuck/prime rib area. They are very well marbled with fat and sell for about $4/pound in my area. They are not the long ribs that are frequently barbecued/smoked.