Zinfandel-Braised Beef Short Ribs

The first part of this week was rainy and cold. I always want hearty foods when that happens. I figured this would be my last chance for a good old stew or something similar before the Summer heat arrives. I'm attempting to slowly cook my way through our freezer as it is way too jam packed of who knows what. In my search for a good stewing meat I came across a package of bone-in beef short ribs, perfect!

I had a recipe from Bon Appetit that I've been wanting to try and I had nearly everything on hand. These were surprisingly easy to make, moist and very flavorful. The meat literally fell off of the bone so I removed the bones when serving. Also I didn't have parsnip on hand so used carrots, a delicious substitution. One more caveat, I didn't have Zinfandel but had 3 bottles of random red wines open. I simply added a little of each to equal a full bottle of wine. Perhaps someone with a really sophisticated palate could tell I mixed and matched wines but to me it tasted great!

 

Zinfandel-Braised Beef Short Ribs

 

Ingredients:

 

3 T butter, room temperature,  divided

8 3-4" long meaty beef short ribs (about 4 pounds)

Coarse kosher salt

2 1/2 c. red onions, chopped

2 c. parsnip, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

6 garlic cloves, chopped

2 T. fresh rosemary, chopped

1 bottle Zinfandel, 750-ml

2 c. low-salt beef broth

1T. flour

Directions:
 

Preheat oven to 325°F. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in heavy large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle ribs with coarse salt and pepper. Add to pot in single layer and sauté until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer ribs to large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon butter to pot along with onions; sauté until brown, about 6 minutes. Add parsnips; sauté until beginning to color, about 6 minutes. Mix in garlic, then rosemary. Add wine and broth; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits.

 

Return ribs and any accumulated juices to pot, arranging in single layer. Bring to simmer; cover and place in oven. Braise until ribs are very tender, about 2 1/2 hours.

 

Using tongs, transfer ribs to clean bowl. Spoon fat from pan juices. Boil juices until just beginning to thicken, about 10 minutes. Mix 1 tablespoon butter and flour in small bowl to smooth paste. Whisk into juices in pot; simmer until thickened enough to coat spoon, about 5 minutes longer. Season gravy with coarse salt and pepper. Return ribs to pot; spoon gravy over. Serve on top of mashed potatoes.

 

Do Ahead: Can be made 2 days ahead. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm over low heat before serving.