Secret Recipe Club: Red Wine Braised Short Ribs - Crumb: A Food Blog (2024)

FAQs

What is the best wine for braised short ribs? ›

For braising beef, look for a dry, full-bodied red wine such as Cabernet, a fuller-bodied Pinot Noir, or Chianti Classico. Don't Overcook the Beef. Believe it or not, it is possible to braise short ribs for too long.

You don't need any special equipment to braise ribs. First, brown or sear the ribs at a high temperature then cook them in liquid at a lower temperature for a longer period of time. This is an excellent cooking method for tougher cuts of meat that will become tender after prolonged cooking!

If they aren't braised long enough, they can be super tough to eat; if they are cooked too long, the meat will just fall apart. The key to preparing short ribs is to cook them until they reach a point that is just before they would fall apart.

Choosing the right cut of short rib:

First of all, pick the correct cut, English cut. Flanken or Korean style will not be good for this recipe. Look for well-marbled, bone-in short ribs with a good amount of meat versus fat. This marbling adds flavor and keeps the meat moist during the cooking process.

You definitely want these short ribs to be meltingly tender and fall off the bone so make sure you cook them long enough. That said, don't overcook them or they could turn out dry or even too mushy.

Serve these with mashed potatoes, polenta, or some good crusty bread. You could even remove the bones and shred the beef into the finished sauce to create an absolutely killer sauce for fresh tagliatelle or pappardelle pasta.

Searing meat before slow cooking adds flavor through caramelization, but it's not mandatory. If you skip searing, you might miss some depth of flavor, but the slow cooker will still cook the meat thoroughly.

When the rib bone is cut into a 3-to-6-inch (7.6 to 15.2 cm) length, left as a section of meat (a "plate") containing three or four ribs or cut into individual ribs with meat attached, the short rib is known as an "English cut". They may also be known as barbecue ribs, braising ribs, or fancy cut ribs.

To thicken, mix flour and cold water to create a slurry, then slowly whisk into sauce until desired consistency is reached. If necessary, reheat the short ribs in the sauce in the oven until hot. Serve.

Check periodically during the cooking process and add more water, if needed. Turn the ribs over halfway through the cooking time. Remove the lid during the last 20 minutes of cooking to let things get nice and brown and to let the sauce reduce. When done the meat should be very tender but not falling apart.

Do you have to brown short ribs before cooking? ›

Short ribs are a fatty cut of meat, but don't let that deter you. Fat is flavor, and it plays an important role in making this dish rich and decadent. We brown the short ribs before adding them to the slow cooker, which renders off some of the fat. The red wine and tomato paste in the braising liquid are also key.

Butchers cut beef short ribs in two dominant fillets: flanken and English. We also know flanken short ribs as crosscut ribs, kosher ribs, and Korean-style ribs. Chefs may refer to English cut short ribs as braising ribs, barbeque ribs, or fancy cut ribs because of the dense slab of meat perched atop their bones.

You'll need about three-quarters of a pound of bone-in short ribs per person.

Braising, which is actually slow simmering (after browning in a bit of oil or butter), brings irresistibly tender and boldly flavored results to this meaty cut of beef. Because short ribs require long, slow cooking for tenderness and flavor, braising is the perfect technique for cooking them.

“The tenderness that braising creates really calls for a softer wine like an Argentinian malbec or Australian shiraz.” He also likes carmenère with lamb because its spiciness plays off the meat's gamey and herbaceous quality.

Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, and dry sparkling wines labeled "brut" are especially good choices. Fuller whites with strong, oaky flavors, like some Chardonnays, don't work as well for cooking because they are lower in acidity and don't provide as much punch as the crisper wines.

If you're serving hamburgers, steak, barbecued ribs, or beef tenderloin, only the big red wines will do.

The savoury flavour of beef rib demands depth and backbone making the Bordeaux reds an excellent match, particularly those from the Left Bank, such as Saint-Estèphe or Haut-Médoc, which have more Cabernet in the blend. If a big juicy steak is on the menu, then pour one of the great Malbecs of Argentina.