Monday, January 15, 2007

Citrus-Spice Braised Short Ribs


This is a variation on a standard braised short ribs recipe. The spices and the orange juice give the finished sauce a nice complexity. Just right for a cold winter evening, I served this to my parents with a mixed greens salad, fragrant cous cous salad, green beans almondine and chunks of dark chocolate for dessert, all paired with lovely cabernet.

Citrus Spice Braised Short Ribs:
(serves 4)

2.5 lbs beef short ribs (look for meaty ones)
2 cups beef broth
2 cups fresh orange juice (pulp-free, not from concentrate)
1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
2 bay leaves
4 whole star anise
6-8 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole sprigs thyme
Olive oil for searing beef
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large stock pot. Add short ribs that have been generously salted and peppered. Brown ribs well on all sides. Remove ribs from pot onto a plate.

Add remaining ingredients to the pot and bring up to a simmer. Add short ribs back to pot.

Cover and place into 250 degree oven and braise 4-6 hours or until the meat is meltingly tender.

Allow entire dish to come to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight or until chilled throughout and fat has formed a solid layer on the top. Skim off all fat, return pot (covered) to a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until warmed throughout. Remove short ribs from pot, let stand covered to keep warm. Strain sauce into a saucepan and reduce over high heat until sauce has reached desired consistency. Serve over short ribs.

12 comments:

janelle said...

I have a hankering for short ribs, I have just been reading all about them in the book HEAT. And now here is a great recipe to try! Thanks!

Kirsten said...

Hi Janelle! You are so welcome. Ever since I first made short ribs, they are now on the regular list.

Heat is also on my to-read list once I finish my 2 Steingarten's and MFK Fisher Art of Eating.

Thanks for reading my blog and commenting!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Kirsten,

Short ribs are my father's favorite beef cut (is this correct? Sorry, English is not my native language).
He would love your dish!

They sometimes take forever to be cooked but it's worth it!

We use pressure cookers a lot here in Brazil.

Anonymous said...

Those look nice and tender.

Anonymous said...

Kirsten -
The presentation is gorgeous! I've never seen short ribs look so elegant. Very nice job!

Kirsten said...

Thanks Kristen & Peabpdy!

They were extra tender because of this...

I actually set my alarm to get up and check on them in the oven after 4 hours (it would have been 2:30 a.m.) but accidently turned off my alarm and woke up in a panic at 6 a.m. smelling food. They cooked for 7.5 hours.

I was worried they would be ruined, but actually were some of the most succulent I have ever made.

Kirsten said...

Patricia,

I think a pressure cooker might have been a safer bet than my accidental all-night cooking! :)

Lis said...

I'm catching up on all my reading.. and holy cow have you been busy this week. I made my very first short ribs recently from a recipe by Paula Deen - they were horrible. I've got 3 packages in my freezer that I figured would just sit there until they were so freezer burnt that I'd have to toss 'em. Well not anymore! I'm seriously drooling over here. :D I will DEFINITELY be trying this recipe.. thank you for sharing!

Kirsten said...

Lis -

YAY! Now your short ribs won't have to die a slow death in the freezer. Let me know how it goes. :)

Brilynn said...

That sounds delicious, and after cooking for 7.5 hours they would have been amazingly tender! I'll have to give this recipe a try.

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so yummy It looks so great I want to do it for share with my family