short rib question
Hi folks, short rib novice here. It's snowy and wintery here in Toronto and I'm looking for some serious comfort food. I'm planning on making Daniel Bouloud's short rib recipe off of Epicurious (link below). But I'm quite clueless when it comes to cuts of short ribs. I know there is the standard cut, which is lengthwise with the bone (so one long bone with meat on one side). There is the flanken cut, which is across multiple bones.
But when I've ordered short ribs in restaurants, I've usually gotten one big bone with a huge chunk of meat on it. Which cut is that? Is it the standard cut? Or is it the flanken cut, separated? Or some other beast all together? And which cut does the recipe below call for?
Ack! Help!
TorontoJo
Dec 14, 2005 09:21AM
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What I've seen in most restaurants, and what it sounds like you had, is the "standard" cut, which typically has a very rib-like bone of a few inches in length alone one side (as you described). My guess is that's what you'll find in the markets as well, though I have no experience with how meat is cut in Toronto. I have never seen the flanken cut offered for sale here in the Boston area, but I don't think it really matters which you use for Boulud's recipe or any of the other standard recipes I'm familiar with.
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Jo,
I lived in Toronto for the summer and attempted several meat dishes while there, not easy as I'm a vegetarian and clueless about cuts. I generally just took the recipe (ingredients, instructions and all) to wherever I was going to shop (boy do I miss St. Lawrence and Kensington Markets!!!) and showed it to the butcher/associate. They always knew the right cut based on the recipe.
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Good suggestion, thanks. I'll make a visit to my local butcher. And yes, the SLM and Kensington market are local treasures!
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That's a good recipe. I like where they strain the veggies out of the stock at the end of the braising. The veggies are already cooked to mush and have no texture anyway and you got all the flavor out of them. I serve them with a variety of starches and veggies.
I like wide egg noodles (German style) as well as potatoes for a starch option.
I like braised leeks or sugared carrots as a veggie option.
I use beef ribs cut about 3" long. And yes the meat is on one side. I guess that's how the cow is made.
One more point (I've cooked these many times over the years) you should wash the ribs good when you get them home. The point is not are they clean, but rather when the ribs are cut across the bone there can be bits of bone haging around and you want to be sure to get rid of these. Man biting into a bone chip can take the pleasure out of the meal.
Enjoy
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Thanks for the feedback -- the recipe looks like a good one. Have you tried the celery root puree that accompanies it?
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Have not. I'm sure it'll be fine. It's all a matter of taste.
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I think what youve had in restaurants is a single rib of the standard cut (aka plate or English cut short ribs). As you observed, the meat is on one side of the rib. The layer of meat is typically much thicker at one end of the rib bone than the other. A band of cartilage runs through the meat layer and around the other side of the bone holding it in place. When braised, the meat and the connective tissue contract to create that chuck of meat you describe (probably the restaurant cleans up the bone at the skinny end to promote this look).
What Ive done with success is bought standard-cut short ribs and had the butcher saw them in half so that each piece is about 3-4 inches long. This seems much more manageable for the home cook (for this home cook anyway).
Another key thing Ive learned is how to control the greasiness of short ribs. This requires that you start the day before you want to serve the ribs. Your recipe calls for the ribs to be browned on the stove top which can be very messy and not the most effective way to render excess fat. Browning is obviously a very important step, but Ive found it easier and better to brown them in the oven. Season the ribs with salt and pepper and roast in a 400 degree oven until browned, approximately 20-25 minutes. Discard most of the rendered fat, saving a bit to brown your veggies as your recipe describes.
You can proceed with your recipe from there, but I like to braise in a 300-350 oven instead of on the stove top. No need to skim fat during the braise. Cook until the ribs are very tender. Remove ribs, strain liquid, add ribs back to the stained braising liquid. Allow ribs to cool in the liquid (so they wont dry out). Refrigerate overnight. I like to refrigerate them separately (with the ribs in just a bit of the liquid) so that it is very easy the next day to remove the thick layer of fat that will have risen to the top.
The next day, reduce your de-fatted braising liquid as your recipe describes and proceed from there. Note that sometimes the meat will stay attached to the rib, sometimes it wont. Not much you can do about that, unless you want to tie the large pieces with kitchen twine so they keep their shape. Ive never bothered. I do, however, trim the cartilage off of the bottom of the chunks of meat that fall off the bone for a cleaner presentation. Thats just a matter of taste.
Braised short ribs would be excellent with a potato-celery root mash. Theres a great recipe for that on epicurious.
Good luck.
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Eel, thanks so much for the helpful post. I'll definitely be making this the day before so that I can get rid of the fat. And I'm also planning on making the celery root puree that is associacted with this recipe -- it calls for celery root and yukon gold potatoes... sounds yummy!
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Can anyone tell me many pounds of short ribs to buy?
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