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Tender, succulent, & a show-stopping dish

Try this oven braised beef short ribs and impress with its ease and depth of flavour.

PREP TIME: 15 mins
COOKING TIME: 3 – 4 hrs – slow cooking so no stress
DIFFICULTY: easy
IDEAL FOR: one-pot meal, family, crowd-pleaser, Sunday lunch
BUDGET: £

Oven braised beef short ribs

If I’m describing it as a show-stopper then it must take a lot of effort, right?

Wrong.

This is a 15 min prep, followed by my favourite type of cooking.

Hands-off.

Beef short ribs are made for slow cooking.

And their flavour is knockout.

Let these little beauties slow-cook in a lush red wine sauce.

And you have yourself a new mid-week meal (albeit a very good one for mid-week!)

Or, a fantastic, show-stopping Sunday lunch.

But first, we better make sure you buy the right ribs.

Oven braised beef short ribs – tender and succulent

What is beef short rib?

Basically, there are two types of beef ribs, back ribs and short ribs

Short ribs come from the “short” portion of the rib—not the full rib – that would be huge.

A cow has 13 ribs and they count them from head to tail.

Rib no. 1 is at the shoulder (chuck primal)

And rib no. 13 is in the loin or mid-back.

Short ribs come from ribs 2 through 5, found in the chuck and brisket primal cuts.

And 6 through 8, found in the rib and plate cuts.

They often have a lot of fat and connective tissue.

This is why they lend themselves to hands-off, low-and-slow cooking, like braising.

Fatty plate short ribs, the cheapest of the lot, are usually sold together as a slab.

Meaty-but-tough chuck and brisket short ribs are moderately priced.

While beef back ribs from the rib primal, are the most tender and expensive.

This is the one you buy when you’re really treating yourself, friends and family.

The beef rib low-down

I’ve included an illustration from Three Little Pigs BBQ.

Which nicely explains the different cuts.

So, when it comes to ordering from your butcher, you know what you’re getting.

where ribs are cut from
Source: Edgewoodlocker.com

Short ribs

Plate short ribs, untrimmed

Plate short ribs, trimmed

Similar to the untrimmed Plate Short Ribs

Plate short ribs, lean

Short ribs, boneless

Back ribs 

Back Short Ribs are the most expensive form of short ribs and are cut from the rib primal after the rib has been removed.

Overview of cow beef cuts

How to cook beef short ribs

Braise

My favourite method, simply because of the minimal effort for maximum depth of flavour.

You simply, brown short ribs on the stovetop and then add aromatics e.g. onion, carrot, celery, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, dry red wine (or dark beer)

Then add beef stock, then transfer to a low oven to finish cooking slowly.

You can also braise short ribs in a slow cooker.

If you want another fab braising recipe, check out these succulent Asian short ribs.

Grill

Flanken-style short ribs are especially good for grilling.

It’s nice to marinade short ribs with something like soy sauce and brown sugar, for at least two hours.

Then grill for approx.. 2-5 minutes per side.

Oven-roasted

Another simple method where you cover short ribs with a dry rub.

And slowly bake in a low-temperature oven.

Buy beef short ribs in advance

The only thing with short ribs is as with oxtail.

They don’t often come in large quantities to the butcher.

And, although it’s not a cut that a lot of people use.

It’s still best to order in advance to avoid disappointment for a planned meal.

Enjoy!

oven braised beef short ribs recipe
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Oven braised short ribs

Course Main Course
Keyword beef short ribs, braising short ribs, low and slow, low and slow cooking, one pot meal, short ribs, sunday lunch
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 4 people
Cost £-££

Ingredients

  • Olive oil, for frying
  • 6 thick-cut meaty beef short ribs
  • 1 large head of garlic, cut in half horizontally
  • 1 heaped tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 750ml bottle red wine
  • 1 ltr beef stock
  • 150 g pancetta lardons
  • 250 g small chestnut mushrooms, trimmed and halved (or quarter if they are large)
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Chopped flat leaf parsley, to garnish

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 140°C/fan
  • In a large casserole dish (with a lid), add a glug of olive oil and heat on the hob. Season the short ribs thoroughly, then fry them for 10–15 mins until they are nicely brown all sides. Be patient.
    (you nay need to do in batches if it's too much of a squeeze)
  • Next, add the halved garlic head, cut side down, pushing it to the bottom of the pan, then add the tomato purée and heat for a minute or two to cook it out.
    Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the bits at the bottom and bring to the boil and cook for 10–15 mins until the liquid is reduced by half.
    Add the stock to nearly cover the ribs and bring to the boil again, basting the ribs with the juices.
  • Put the lid on and cook for 3–4 hrs, basting now and then until the meat is tender and falling away from the bone.
  • About 10 mins before the short ribs are ready to come out, fry the pancetta until crisp and golden, then add the mushrooms and cook for 4–5 mins until tender.
    When the short ribs are ready, remove from the oven and transfer to a serving dish. Let them rest.
    While the meat rests, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and pass through a sieve. Spoon off any excess fat from the beef cooking liquid, then strain it through the sieve and mix with the garlic. (If the sauce is too thin, reduce the cooking liquid by heating for 10–15 mins more after straining.)
    Top the short ribs with the pancetta and mushrooms and pour the beef cooking sauce over top.
    Then garnish with chopped parsley.
    Serve alongside greens and mash.

Notes

Recipe Gordon Ramsey

References:

Recipe Gordon Ramsey

Sources: Three little piggies bbq