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My husband came home from work early yesterday, so I decided to have him pick up a few ingredients at the store-I wanted to surprise him with this recipe. (I rarely cook beef, so its always a treat.)

Yesterday was so beautiful-especially after having such a rainy and overcast last few days (which really doesn’t ever help my creative cooking moods). All my windows were open and the sun was shining in-I had a nice glass of Moscato wine (which is generally how I like to cook dinners :o), and my favorite music was playing from my ipod-all of this just sets the perfect cooking conditions for me.

Do you ever get that feeling-when you “know” by intuition, that someone is watching you, so you start to turn around and look everywhere to find out who is there? That was me yesterday. Of course there WOULD have to be a lady walking her dog past my kitchen window-at the exact moment I decided to let loose and “break it down” right there in front of the stove. It was a great song…but now apparently, I’m just the “crazy lady” that dances in her kitchen. Haha, C’est la vie. SOMETHING must have been right in the kitchen last night though, because my ribs were perfection. My husband, who loves beef, said that it was the best beef he had ever had. Wow! That is really flattering, because he has been all over the world, and eaten so many beef meals. That really is the best compliment you can recieve as a cook-when someone you love, tells you (and the whole facebook community) that you made something fabulous.

My husband left to go to work this morning, and really wanted me to share this Beef recipe with you, so…here it is! I hope you will give it a try-this recipe is really easy-so savory, and succulent. The beef just melts off the bone-if you are cooking for a man-this is truly the way to his heart-a hearty beef meal, packed full of flavor.

*There is one condition to making this meal though-you MUST dance while you are making it-thats what gives it that little pinch of “extra deliciousness”! :o) Bon Apetit!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 packages of beef short ribs (mine had about 5 ribs in each package)
  • 2 tbsp. Fine herbs
  • 2 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 3 whole bay leaves
  • 2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 4 T olive oil
  • 4 carrots-chopped
  • 1 large yellow onion-chopped
  • 4 stalks of celery-chopped
  • 1/2 cup Lambrusco red wine (or 1/2 c. port wine)
  • 4 T. Aged Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1 cup Red Cabernet Sauvignon wine
  • 2 cups beef stock or beef broth

Herbs de Provence-typically contains savory, fennel, basil, thyme, and lavender

Fine Herbs-usually a blend of parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil-I use these in EVERYTHING

Rex-Goliath Cabernet Sauvignon-this is my favorite cab!

Riunite Lambrusco is a good wine to use for this recipe-some lambrusco wines are overpoweringly sweet. This one is perfect, and about $6.00

This is a nice aged balsamic vinegar-I prefer aged balsamic vinegar

*You will need to have aluminum foil or a Medium-large covered pot that is oven safe. The whole pot will go in the oven (I use Le Creuset)

Take all the herbs (except for bay leaves) and cover the beef ribs in all the herbs on all sides-with the salt being the first to rub over the ribs. Grind fresh pepper over all (I use a blend of 3 peppercorns. I love this blend-white pepper, black pepper, and pink pepper. Let sit while you chop all the veggies.

Chop Vegetables in small squares. (see picture)

Heat oil on medium heat. When oil is heated, carefully set each rib in the hot oil, and let sear for about 2 minutes or so-then flip and let sear on the other side for about 2 minutes-don’t move until at least 2 minutes. Take ribs out and put them on a plate.

Heat Oven to 325 degrees. In the pot with the oil from the ribs, add all veggies, and sauté for about 5 minutes. Then add the Balsamic vinegar, and let caramelize (probably another 3-4 minutes. Stir often. Add Lambrusco wine-or port. Let cook for 2 minutes. Then add Cabernet wine. Let sauce reduce for 4-5 minutes. (it should be hot enough that it is boiling lightly at this stage). Add Beef broth and bay leaves, and let cook another 5 minutes. Take ribs, and carefully place ribs in the sauce. Make sure you arrange the ribs so they are at the bottom of the pot with all the sauce and veggies on top. COVER pot with lid or aluminum foil. Place into oven and bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Serve with Mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, salad, green beans, peas etc. You can also serve over Fettucine. I prefer the mashed potatoes with the sauce poured over top. So delicious!