Ragu of Short Ribs over Polenta

SilverSage

Resident Crone
This is loosely based on the special dish during Mardi Gras Week from Red Gravy Cafe in New Orleans.


Ragu of Short Ribs
(serves about 6)

2 Tlbs olive oil
3-4 pounds meaty short ribs (you can do this with chuck or any cut of meat that has lots of fat and connective tissue)
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup red wine
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 250F.
Pat the ribs dry with paper towels, then season generously with salt & pepper. If you start with wet meat, you won't get a nice brown crust.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy dutch oven. Brown the ribs on all sides, working in batches. If you crowd the pan, you will steam or boil the meat instead of browning it. Set the first batch aside on a plate and repeat with the second batch. This whole process could take 20-30 minutes to do it properly, so have patience!

While the ribs rest, check your oil. You may have accumulated a lot of fat from the meat. If so, pour some off. You want enough left to saute the mirepoix, not deep fry it. Add the carrots, celery & onion to the hot fat, and saute until it's tender and lightly caramelized. Toss in the garlic for the last minute - it turns bitter if it burns.

Carefully add the wine. Stir it well to deglaze all the fond from the bottom of the pan. Add the bay leaf, red pepper, and the tomatoes. Nestle the ribs back into the liquid. Squeeze them all in a single layer if you can. If you need more liquid to barely cover the ribs, use a little beef stock....or more wine.....or water.....or........

Bring the pot barely to a simmer, then put the lid on and place it in the oven. (You can also braise this on the stove top over low heat at a low simmer). Now here's is where the rubber meets the road in braising. This could take 2 hours......it could take 4 hours. It all depends on:

  • the size of the pan
  • the size of the pieces of meat
  • the cut of meat
  • how tightly they're packed
  • the accuracy of your oven
  • how much connective tissue is in your meat
  • the heaviness of your pan
  • whether they're in one layer or two
  • the material your pan is made of
  • the amount of liquid used
  • the snugness of your lid
  • whether you used the oven or the range
Get the picture? Braising is a technique that turns a tough, fatty, grisly piece of meat into something that melts in your mouth. You have to remember that you are just barely simmering the meat - you are not boiling it! If you're real scientific and geeky, you will shoot for a liquid temp of 185-200. If you cook the meat at boiling temp (212F), you will have dry, stringy meat. But you have to be flexible. You have to check it and see how it's doing. It has to get fork tender and then pull it out of the oven right away. If you undercook it, you still have tough, fatty meat. If you overcook it, it will dry out. There is a line between melting down all that collagen into lush goodness, and cooking the protein so tight that it just squeezes all that silky collagen right back out.

So......check it. The meat should be falling off the bone, fork tender, and temp in the 180's or 190's. Take the pot out of the oven and LET IT REST! (Yes I really did say that in all caps, but it's important). After it sits around for a half hour or so, take the ribs out of the pot to cool down.

Now you have 2 things to do. First, check your sauce. Let the pan sit for a few minutes, and spoon off all the grease. Next, if it's thin and watery, you can either cook it down to reduce and thicken it a bit, or you can thicken it with a little flour and water slurry. If the lid on your pot was real tight fitting, you probably have a lot and can reduce it. If your lid wasn't so tight, and you don't have much gravy left, you'll have to use flour. Just be sure to cook it a little bit to get rid of the raw flour taste. Now's the time to get rid of that bay leaf.

While your sauce is doing its thing, pull the meat off the bones and discard the large pieces of fat and gristle. You can do this with your hands, breaking the meat into bite size pieces as you go. Stir the meat back into the sauce, and check the seasoning.

Serve this is over polenta with just a bit of parmigiano-reggiano stirred in. It would also be good over mashed potatoes or a wide flat pasta like pappardelle.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Oooooo baby!!!

I bet that was a HUGE hit at Red Gravy!!!

Did it sell out? Did you prepare that dish, SS?

Lee
 

SilverSage

Resident Crone
Oooooo baby!!!

I bet that was a HUGE hit at Red Gravy!!!

Did it sell out? Did you prepare that dish, SS?

Lee

It was fabulous! Under VB's instructions, I did prepare it up to the point of starting the braise. Someone else finished it (apparently that's the way in a pro kitchen). At Red Gravy, the quantities were also much larger, so I took liberties with estimating the measurements on the home-sized recipe. In the restaurant, it was braised on the stovetop, but at home it's usually easier to control the temp in the oven. I braised mine in the oven for dinner at home.
 
K

Kimchee

Guest
Well, that sounds just heavenly! I recently made Beef Burgundy, and this is really similar... so I KNOW it has to be good. Not to mention that I have yet to see a recipe
from Vera Blue that didn't look superb.

I've never cooked beef ribs of any sort, and this is a good place to start. YUM!

edit to add: Does anyone else really like the "gristle" off of well braised bones?
 
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JoeV

Dough Boy
Site Supporter
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

IMO, the key to this dish is searing the meat. I call my version beef tips in red wine sauce, and serve it over homemade basil-egg flat noodles or spaetzle. My mother called it "goulash" (Mom had her own names for a lot of foods:wink:) and served it over polenta that had set up and we spooned a big chunk out of a large mixing bowl. Mom made hers exactly like yours, SS, and I make mine sans the tomato and pepper flakes. We enjoy it the day it is served, but I make enough for leftovers because it seems to be even better the next day...kind of like chicken soup.

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QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Mmmm that brown gravy is making my mouth water, Joe!

Lee
 

Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I'll be trying this one. Thanks for the write-up with all the excellent tips.
 
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