Braised Short Ribs

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs of short ribs (get them from a decent butcher please)
• 2 tablespoons of canola oil
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1-1/2 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
• 4 large cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 bottle of good fruity red wine – Zinfandel or Syrah
• 1 whole pomegranate
• 1 medium size orange
• 3 branches of thyme
• 4 stems of parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. On the stove, place your stock pot or Dutch oven on the burner and turn on to high. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil. Brown the short ribs on all six sides. As you cook, sprinkle salt and pepper on all sides. You may have to do this in batches. It should take about 20 minutes. Remove the ribs from the pot and wash the pot.

2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3.  On the stove top, turn a burner to medium high heat. Using your just washed and dried pot, add another tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of oil. Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook about 10 minutes until tender. DO NOT BROWN.

4.  Add wine, thyme, parsley stems, bay leaves and bring to a boil. Add the short ribs, cover and put in the oven for 3 hours. Turn the meat once per hour.

5.  Transfer ribs to a platter and drain fat. Strain the liquid from the stock pot or Dutch oven into another pot. Make sure to get all of the juice out of the veggies.

6.  Crush your pomegranate in your hand over a strainer and into another stock pot. Juice your orange and add that to the same pot. Add the juice to the wine liquid. Bring to a simmer and reduce by half. Add a tablespoon of butter. Season to taste and serve over short ribs.

HELPFUL TIPS. It’s much better if you can do a two-day process. It’s just as easy. After the 3 hours are up, take the short ribs, put them on a platter and cover. Put the ribs and strained wine sauce in the refrigerator overnight. The next day strain the fat. Add the fruit juice and butter and reduce by half.