Also known as Merlot Braised Short Ribs with Rasberry Chipotle glaze.

I like boneless (yes, I know bones are traditional) make sure that the ribs are at least 4 inches long and 1 inch thick. If boneless ribs are unavailable, substitute 7 pounds of bone-in beef short ribs at least 4 inches long with 1 inch of meat above the bone. If you buy whimpy ribs, you’ll regret it. I was inspired to write this recipe at a food and wine festival after I had tasted a rasberry chipotle sauce and immediately thereafter took a swig of JAQK Cellars Black Clover merlot – match made in heaven. I make and serve this dish with JAQK wine but I understand that you might not be able to get JAQK wine in your area (yet) or that it’s not always a fiscally feasible to cook with high quality wine. If you substitute, I recommend a hearty Merlot or Cabernet with a nice ‘fruit forward’ flavor. Or…. skip the wine snobbery and choose the red wine that you like best and invite some friends over to love it too.

Serves 6
Ingredients
3 1/2 pounds boneless short ribs , trimmed of excess fat

Salt and ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 Large onions , peeled and sliced thin from pole to pole (about 4 cups)

5 Tablespoons of rasberry chipotle sauce (or substiture rasberry jam with 1/2 teaspoon of chipotle powder)

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

6 Medium garlic cloves , peeled

2 Cups red wine (see note above)

1 Cup beef broth

4 Large carrots , peeled and cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces

4 Sprigs fresh thyme

1 Bay leaf

 1/4 Cup cold water

1/2 teaspoon unflavored powdered gelatin

 Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Pat beef dry with paper towels and season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat until smoking. Add half of beef and cook, without moving, until well browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Turn beef and continue to cook on second side until well browned, 4 to 6 minutes longer, reduce the heat if things get a little too smokey. Transfer beef to medium bowl. Repeat with remaining tablespoon oil and meat.

2. Reduce heat to medium, add onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes. (If onions begin to darken too quickly, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water to pan.) Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until it browns on sides and bottom of pan, about 2 minutes. you will now have a mess in your pot and will doubt that this is right — carry-on, I promise this is both necessary and will wash out. Add garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Increase heat to medium-high, add wine and simmer, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, until reduced by half, 8 to 10 minutes. You will see that I wasn’t lying about the clean pot promise.  Add broth, carrots, thyme, and bay leaf. Add beef and any accumulated juices to pot; cover and bring to simmer. Transfer pot to oven and cook, using tongs to turn meat twice during cooking, until fork slips easily in and out of meat, 2 to 2½ hours.

3. Place water in small bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top; let stand at least 5 minutes. Using tongs, transfer meat and carrots to serving platter and tent with foil. Strain cooking liquid through fine-mesh strainer into fat separator or bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Allow liquid to settle about 5 minutes and strain off fat. Return cooking liquid to Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until reduced to 1 cup, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin mixture; season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over meat and serve.

Serve with egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or roasted potatoes.

Tagged: Beef recipe, Braised Beef, Braised Short ribs, cooking, food, food and wine, recipe, Short ribs, suzy-homemaker, suzyhomemaker