- Perfectly braised fall apart tender beef
is just something that doesn't get much better.
Let's braise some short ribs today.
I'll show how easy it is.
(calm music)
So when I think of comfort food,
it's normally something that's been braised
and today, we're gonna braise some chuck short ribs
and it's important to note that the chuck short rib
has so much great marbling
and that's what adds so much beefy bold flavor to this dish,
keeps it really moist
and it promises that fork tender tenderness at the very end
and we're actually gonna braise today
with a little bit of red wine
which adds even more boldness to this dish.
Let me show you how easy it is.
I'm gonna start by oiling my favorite Dutch oven pan
and preheating it to a medium high heat.
Using some flakey sea salt
and some freshly cracked black pepper,
I'm going to season my beef well.
We're gonna get every crevice of these seasoned
just to ensure that this dish is rounded out perfectly
and then going into our preheated pan,
we're gonna hear that beautiful searing sound.
The sear on these ribs is very important.
We're developing flavor here.
The caramelization on the outside of this beef
is what's gonna give it so much deep, rich flavor.
Don't be afraid of a little bit of smoke.
Smoke just means that it's hot enough
and it's doing its job.
Don't worry, I promise this is going to be perfect.
Making sure that I'm flipping as we go
searing all sides of the beef
just ensures that much more flavor.
If you didn't know,
the Dutch oven lid is actually the perfect place
to rest your beef
while you saute the rest of your ingredients.
So removing the seared pieces of beef from my pan,
I'm getting ready to prep the mirepoix.
Mirepoix is the classic flavor base
to all classic French cooking.
It's a mixture of diced carrot, celery and onion
and it's just the most aromatic mixture.
You'll find mirepoix in so many classic braising dishes
because all of it cooks down so beautifully together
and adds so much deep flavor.
Using fresh herbs is such a great way
to highlight really intense earthy flavors in your cooking.
Using fresh rosemary and fresh thyme in this dish
really kicks it up a notch because it balances so well
with the acidity from your red wine and the savory beef.
Remove them from the stem
and make sure you give your fresh herbs a nice fine chop.
Going into the same pan that we use to sear off our beef,
I'm adding a little bit more olive oil
and then in goes our mirepoix.
I'll give this a good stir to make sure everything's coated
and we'll cook it down for just a couple of minutes.
Adding in our chopped fresh herbs and our tomato paste.
I'm gonna give this a really good stir
to make sure that that tomato paste
is coating everything in the pan.
Once it's coated, we deglaze with our red wine
and add in our beef stock.
Place your seared beef into the braising liquid
and make sure that it's at least half submerged
in that liquid just to ensure even cooking.
Add in your bay leaf, cover and simmer.
Okay, guys, so I just pulled this out of the oven.
I want you to come in kinda close and take a look at this.
I'm gonna show you what to look for
to check for that perfect doneness.
See how this just flakes apart?
So you'll feel that it doesn't bounce back
when you're pulling it apart
and that perfect flaky moist piece right there.
Let's get this plated.
We've gotta try this.
I'm choosing to plate this up really traditionally
with some beautiful creamy Parmesan polenta
using a little bit of that braising liquid
as an extra addition of sauce
and then of course that perfectly braised beef right on top
and then the addition of fresh herbs
makes everything better.
This to me is true comfort.
I'm gonna dig in.
Oh, we've nailed it on the tenderness, you guys.
It's fork tender.
I hope you enjoy this recipe.
Like and subscribe
and we'll see you next time in the Test Kitchen.
(calm music)