Wanted: World's Best Beef Short Rib Recipe

[Tom Hall]

I want the most tasty, flavorful and exquisitely great (and red wine friendly) beef short rib recipe. We host friends (and vice versa) every year or two and try to serve each other the best home cooked meals possible as all four of us love to cook and appreciate each others efforts. Thanks.

[Tom Hall]

What I did: I got great big meaty short ribs and applied salt, fresh black pepper and chopped fresh oregano, sage, rosemary and parsley and covered the ribs with plastic wrap for about 4 days. I browned 4 large pieces of the short ribs which I removed from the pot and then sauteed onions, garlic, celery and a little carrot. I added some chicken stock, water, 375 ml decent red wine and a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes. These were heated to around boiling and I put the short ribs (not submerged but sticking about 1/3-1/2 way above the liquid is about right) back in the pot with the veggies, etc. These were braised in the oven at around 250+ degrees for about 5-6 hours. About 20 minutes before I served the ribs, I added a half oz. of DemiGlace Gold. Great with mashed potatoes the first night and the leftovers were wonderful a couple days later with polenta. The flavor from the herbs were very, very tasty and noticeable especially the first night. Highly recommended as a technique.

[mamaciita]

A bit of an aside. . .

We just got back from 10 days in San Francisco/Napa/Sonoma, and one of my favorite dishes was short rib ravioli at Bistro Ralph in Healdsburg.

If I ever have leftovers, I'm going to try this one myself.

[c oliver]

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1849,...

This is an OLD recipe from Bon Appetit for Jalapeno Beer-Baked Short Ribs and it's our favorite - so far, since I bookmarked this thread and intend to try some. Even if I use few ribs than called for, I use the full amount of sauce. I also don't add the green bell peppers cause we don't like them. We've been cooking this at least 10 years I'm guessing and it always gets raves.

[roxlet]

IMO the best short ribs recipe is Gray Kunz's. It is iconic in his restaurants, and the recipe appears in his cookbook "The Elements of Taste." It is a fabulous combinations of tastes, and something I have ordered at all his restaurants and something that my husband now makes from the recipe in the book.

[oakjoan]

roxlet: I don't know if you've made the Goin shortribs from her Lucques cookbook, but if not, it sounds as if you should try it and I should try Kunz's. Will look it up!

[roxlet]

oakjoan -- I have not yet made Goin's shortribs, but coincidentally, I was looking at the recipe tonight. I will try that recipe the next time I make short ribs. I've been reluctant because I don't know how crucial the horseradish cream is -- my DH doesn't like horseradish, though I adore it. Definitely look Kunz's recipe up. Whenever I have eaten at any of his restaurants, I am always stymied trying to figure out what is in any given dish. When you look at this recipe, I think you will see why!

[MMRuth]

The horseradish cream is not crucial, but it is wonderful. I serve it on the side - you can add some and he can omit it!

[rednyellow]

My dad made awesome short ribs. He marinated them over night, on the counter, not in the refrigerator in red wine, salt, garlic, black pepper and oregano worchestershire and I'm sure some other stuff, maybe chilis. Then he cooked them over grey hot coals on the bbq. While he was grilling he put the marinade in an enameled pan on the grill. As the ribs charred on the grill, he'd move them to the simmering wine and let them finish cooking there for a long time. delish.

[valerie]

I love this recipe...

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[Deenso]

My all-time favorite - and most requested by family/friends - is this one from Alex Stratta. Absolute perfection, in my opinion.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[c oliver]

Bob made these yesterday and they were GREAT!!! I'm sharing the recipe and this will probably be our new go-to. The house smelled amazing what with the vinegar, honey, red wine, port, etc. And why have I never thought to add horseradish to mashed potatoes? Brilliant. I highly recommend this recipe.

Not the greatest photo.

[dhedges53]

Look, this isn't a recipe for short ribs, it is Alton Browns recipe for a beef stew, using short ribs. Everyone on this board can adapt the short rib cooking technique Alton Brown used, to a "short rib" recipe. These were the best short ribs I've ever eaten. As I said, you can take some of the other recommendations folks have posted on this board, and they all sound great, and adapt Alton Brown's short rib cooking tips. Damn, those short ribs were good. Even as a stew.

[Marge]

Molly Stevens' Short Ribs braised in Porter Ale with Rosemary-Maple Glaze!
http://www.marga.org/food/blog/archiv...

[jfood]

This is jfood's go-to short ribs recipe. John Besh is a great chef and it is hard to believe how good they are.

http://secretsauce.ivillage.com/food/...

For a sunday dinner, jfood starts the marinading of the ribs on friday night. cooks them on saturday and then reheats and serves for sunday dinner.

outstanding

[fourunder]

{jfood starts the marinading of the ribs on friday night. cooks them on saturday and then reheats and serves for sunday dinner.}
________________________________________________________________________________

Many commercial kitchens prepare braised meats in this manner. Meats are marinated for a day, cooked the next day and then allowed to rest and additional day for a total three day process. Short Ribs, Ox Tails....even Brisket of Beef is cooked and allowed to cool and soak in the liquid for a later re-heat. The thought is the meats will be more moist by allowing the liquid to be absorbed back into the meats over night.

Some Chefs will remove the braised meats from the braising liquid after the cooking time has been met and replace back into braising liquid after it has cooled(both meat and liquid) to room temperature. and then place it in the refrigerator for next day serving.

[alkapal]

the braised meat is always better the next day, imo.

[lynnlato]

I second Jfood's recommendation. I started a thread a few months ago and jfood and chef chicklet pointed me toward this recipe. It produced the best short ribs I've made to date. Serve them over polenta - pure heaven. Here's the previous thread:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/565652

[RPMcMurphy]

Braised short ribs are my "signature" dish.

this is the recipe I use (i'd copy and paste it here, but it's a pictoral)

http://randallpmcmurphy.blogspot.com/...

a few things.....use a good beef stock, (veal stock if you have it) and a red wine you like...you can get crazy and do a zinfandel, or stick with a Chianti or something. I probably cut it 50/50 with beef/veal stock.

I don't flour when I brown my meat, but I do rinse it good, it's up to you.

I use tomato paste after sweating the mirepoix to give it a little structure.

Im going to try the recipe in the french laundry cookbook that I just finally got as it does look amazing.

also,

[kgebhard]

I just made this a couple of days ago and it is fantastic: Short Ribs Provencale With Creme Fraiche Mashed Potatoes...
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[FuzzyDunlop]

Seconded--this is one of my favorite recipes ever.

I live where creme fraiche cannot be found, but the gravy you end up with is so awesome that you can serve it over smashed potatoes and it still tastes amazing (and presents well).

[somervilleoldtimer]

Creme fraiche can be made at home, with the recipe in the Silver Palate cookbook.

[MMRuth]

For the Goin Creme Fraiche sauce with horseradish, I just used sour cream as I couldn't find creme fraiche and didn't feel like making it. Still delicious.

[chowser]

Creme fraiche is so easy to make at home but you do need to plan ahead. Basic recipe:

http://www.joyofbaking.com/CremeFraic...

[MMRuth]

My favorite recipe - and I've still not tried Goin's - is the one from the Balthazar cookbook (which is actually a great book, surprisingly for a restaurant cookbook).

Other threads I found while looking for my Balthazar link:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/508524
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/320469
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/487372

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/4873... - link to Balthazar recipe.

[Miss Needle]

I have done both Goin's and Balthazar's. They are both delicious. Personally, the edge goes to Balthazar.

I haven't tried Daniel Boulud's recipe yet -- three bottles of wine for eight short ribs! Sounds quite decadent (and expensive).

[charmedgirl]

Daniel Boulud's short rib recipe is, hands down, THE most delicious thing I ever made. I still dream about those ribs and the sauce. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

[Miss Needle]

Charmedgirl, what type of wine you are using for the Boulud recipe? For the other short rib recipes, I'm not using really great wine. But it's not a two buck chuck either. I generally use a California red around $12 to $15 a bottle.

[charmedgirl]

I made them last Christmas, and I was lucky enough to have someone else do the shopping for me. If I remember correctly though, I used a cabernet, that was about $10 -$12 a bottle. Definitely nothing fancy. Seriously. These ribs are amazing. Even if you wanted to use an expensive bottle, it would be totally worth it.

[Miss Needle]

As I still have quite a bit of the Balthazar ribs vacuum-sealed in my freezer, it will probably be some time before I attempt the Boulud one. But my next batch, I will definitely try it!

[sibaik]

Made the Daniel Boulud short ribs recipe this weekend. Really impressive and delicious. Not fatty, just tender, flavorful meat. I browned the ribs in the oven at 450 for 45 min, then took off fat with bulb baster and put back in oven for another 20 min. Cooks Illustrated recommends doing this b/c it's less messy and you really get rid of most of the fat as opposed to doing it on the stove. Made 24 ribs, with 3 bottles $10 cabernet and 1 bottle ruby port, 4 quarts beef stock, and doubled the veggies. Refridgerated the ribs and sauce separately. Skimmed off a layer of fat the next day and boiled the sauce down to 2 quarts. Warmed up ribs in the oven (for a little crispness) and warmed up sauce on stove. Really delicious. Fun part was lighting 4 bottles of booze on fire. Flames went up 14 inches and took about 10 min to burn out. What with cabs these days having 15% alckie and all, no wonder. Served with mashed potatoes. Loved it!

[masha]

I do use 2-Buck chuck Cabernet for the Balthazar recipe and it works just fine. The New York Times did a taste test about 1 year ago and concluded that using inexpensive wine in most recipes has no adverse consequences.

[Miss Needle]

Hmmmm... Interesting. Do you know what type of recipes where the quality of wine would be more important in?

[masha]

Here is the link to the story: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage...

[Miss Needle]

Thanks for this quite interesting article!

[westvillager02]

I made the Bouloud recipe last winter and used about $45 worth of wine in it. It was fun to try a recipe from such an esteemed chef but for the time/effort/cost involved in the recipe I'd never do it again. It wasn't that much better than other short ribs I've done in the past so next time I'd do a simpler recipe.

[JanBrandt]

Hi-- I was just on Amazon trying to find a Bouloud cookbook-- in a search for his fantastic short ribs which I just had at one of his restaurants. Where can I find this recipe-- his short ribs were absolutely the best!

[Miss Needle]

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[itryalot]

Made Balthazar's. Didn't have veal stock so used half chicken and half beef. Was still delicious. My goal this fall/winter is to make a really good, rich veal stock for this purpose. Also liked the three ribs per cut, not cut individually. Makes for more moist meat.

[MMRuth]

Sometimes I do buy veal demiglace for this - still haven't tried to make it myself.

[Miss Needle]

Oh, if you do try to make it yourself and follow the Balthazar recipe for veal stock, I would really be cautious of the length of time and temperature that the book says. My oven is accurately calibrated, and following the Balthazar instructions led me to have a lot of charred veal bones. As I never made veal stock before, I thought the char was appropriate to give it that body I've always read about. Well, the char made it unbelievably bitter and disgusting.

[twodales]

Tom:

Try this link

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/333540

[jinet12]

To me, the tastiest short ribs are those that are bought on the bone and cooked quite slowly...I have no absolute recipe, but it involves browning the salt and peppered short ribs in a little oil, in a nice large dutch type oven pan, removing when browned, and browning in the juices left over, chopped onion, finely chopped celery, and garlic nicely minced, at the end of the saute...Take the best Italian plum canned tomatoes that you can find, the large can, and add that to your saute including the juice, and about 2 cups of good Chicken Stock, of course homemade is best, but if not, get the low or unsalted kind in the box, along with a cup or so of some really nice Cabernet, maybe more, bay leaf and whatever spices you like....Add back the browned ribs, and bring to a boil then cook slowly covered until they are so tender they break up with a fork...Now you can also cook for awhile on the stove, and finish in the oven...About 20 minutes before you serve, add chopped Italian parsley....If you want a thicker sauce, you can take the ribs out and reduce the sauce on top of the stove...Serve over some garlic mashed potatoes, and you have a great meal...along with more wine, and some great bread....

[todao]

I like this one but I leave out the jalapeño pepper:
http://www.oodora.com/health-and-food...

[oakjoan]

I think the finest short rib recipe is from Suzanne Goin's book Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Braised Short Ribs With Potatoe Puree, Swiss Chard and Horseradish Cream. It's flavored with balsamic vinegar, red wine, port wine, stock, thyme, pearl onions, etc. It is a bit of an undertaking, but it's so delicious you won't mind.

I'm sure there was a lot of discussion of this dish here on Chowhound and the recipe is probably in one of the threads. If not, I'm pretty sure it's online because I made it and didn't have the cookbook at that time.

[Siobhan]

I will second this. This recipe is FABULOUS!

[conspicuousconsumption]

I made this for 75 people and it was wonderful! I was afraid that doubling it so many times would affect the flavor or consistency of braising liquid, but it was perfect. The meat was falling off the bone. I had exactly enough brasing liquid left over to fill a small tupperware container and freeze it for future use. I called Lucques for advice on serving so many people. They told me to braise the short ribs in the liquid ALMOST covering the ribs and then drain them and store overnight separately, reserving the liquid. When it is time to reheat, let the ribs sit at room temp for about an hour and then cover no more than halfway with the liquid to reheat. Best short ribs ever!

[Ellen]

In Bill Buford's book Heat I finally found the recipe (and the proper explanation of the technique) for short ribs I've been looking for all my life. Buy the book for the read and the recipe.

[Tom Hall]

Well, I have the book (and read the first chapter even though I should be reading my bookclub book). So where may I find the short rib advice? There is no index. Thanks.

[essvee]

Here's Todd Humphries's take. I have had these at Campton Place many of years ago and also made them. They're incredible.

http://saveur.com/article/Food/Braise...

[Tom Hall]

Did you use ALL the wine he recommends? It's quite a bit. Thanks.