Spring is here! Oh, wait.
Even though yesterday I was espousing the wonderful things coming our way when Spring, well, “springs” tomorrow, apparently the weather gods didn’t get the memo and reversed course in parts of the country. I woke up to see that those of you up north are dealing with wintery mixes, near-freezing temps, and blustery reminders of why everyone is so desperate for warmer weather. That’s a nasty little joke, Mother Nature.
So to tide you over on what is hopefully the last of the winter style dishes, consider extending your St. Patrick’s Day festivities with this fantastic Guinness Braised Short Ribs adaptation from a recent issue of Food & Wine. I mean, if you have to bundle up again, you may as well do it with some dark and rich beer, right? Right.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 8 people | 45 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 2 1/2 hours | 1 hour |
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Smoky, meaty, tender. All things you get with this amazing beef short rib recipe. The beer gives the dish an unexpected richness, and the beef falls off the bone and helps create a beautiful jus (juice) or sauce.
Give Mother Nature the proverbial finger by showing her that you can survive a few more days of winter when you have this luscious and hearty dish to tuck yourself into at night. Take that, you mean old lady!
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- 10 8 oz. beef short ribs
- kosher salt & pepper
- 2 tbsp. grapeseed oil (olive oil is an acceptable substitute)
- 4 Braeburn apples, cored & chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
- 4 medium leeks, thinly sliced
- 1 bulb fennel, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 1/2 tbsp. caraway seeds
- 3 tbsp. all purpose flour
- 1 quart low-sodium beef broth (you can use chicken broth if you prefer)
- 2 12 oz. cans Guinness or other Porter-style beer
- 1 cup brewed coffee
- 2 tbsp. dijon mustard
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 fresh bay leaves (fresh is better, but dried will work in a pinch)
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp. packed light brown sugar
- chopped fresh Italian parsley (for garnish)
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Season ribs with salt & pepper.
- In large dutch oven (and you know I love me my red, Martha Stewart 8 qt. pot), heat 1 tbsp. of the grapeseed oil.
- Add half of the ribs and cook over medium heat until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer ribs to a bowl or baking sheet to rest. Repeat with remaining oil and ribs.
- Pour off most of the fat from the dutch oven, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the bottom of the pot.
- Add the apples, leeks, fennel, garlic, caraway seeds and a generous pinch of salt & pepper (about 1 tsp. each). Cook over medium heat until ingredients begin to soften and brown slightly, about 12 minutes.
- Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Then add stock (or broth), coffee, and mustard, stirring to incorporate. Stir in Guinness. Broth will froth a bit, but that's part of the fun.
- Add the thyme & bay leaves. Bring ingredients to a boil.
- Add the short ribs, then cover and braise in the oven for 2 1/2 hours, or until the meat is tender and beginning to fall off of the bone. Let the pot stand at room temperature for one hour (covered). This will allow the juices to seal back into the meat, and the sauce begin to thicken.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the ribs and place on a platter. Tent with foil to keep the ribs warm. Strain the braising liquid into a heatproof bowl, pressing the solid ingredients to release all of their juices and tasty drippings. Skim the fat off of the braising liquid.
- Wipe out the dutch oven and melt the butter over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the brown sugar and stir until it's melted.
- Add the braising liquid back into the dutch oven, and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium high heat until liquid reduces by one-third, about 7 minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
- Add the ribs back into the pot and simmer until heated through, about 3 minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes, polenta or other creamy starch.
- Be sure to add some of the braising liquid so that you don't lose that fantastic, rich flavor in each and every bite.
The obvious pairing for this rich and hearty dish is a pint of Guinness. But if you prefer wine, a deep and smoky Cabernet would be fantastic with this meal. If you want to splurge, I am a huge fan of a Cabernet blend called The Prisoner. Appropriate if you feel like you've been held captive by Mother Nature lately, no? This blend is so deep and rich you will want to pour an after-dinner glass, too, as you curl up by the fire one last time.
Looking for something a little more wallet-friendly? I've mentioned before how much I enjoy the Irony Cabernet Sauvignon. It's an easy drinking wine with just enough fruit on the palate to enrich the flavor of the beef. And it's one of our "house wines" here at home.
Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't give (another!) shout out to my hard-workin' Martha Stewart Dutch Oven. This thing is a workhorse in my kitchen, often being washed, dried and put right back into rotation. Can't recommend it enough if you're in need of an all-purpose, do-it-all kind of pot.
I’ll bet the aroma coming from your kitchen was amazing when this was cooking. This looks and sounds fantastic!
I think you could smell it a mile away. So, so good.
Short Ribs are the most amazing beef cut, other than a filet. I use the boneless ones and the ones with the bones in it! I recently had a chili that was made with Guinness and I am hooked. Going to be buying a case of this so I can make it every night!!
Especially during the colder months, we ALWAYS have short ribs in the freezer for delicious dishes like this one. They are so luscious you hardly have to do anything to them to get that rich flavor!
I love how tender and flavorful braised shortribs are! They’re so great at absorbing sauce flavors!
I am a big fan of short ribs. This recipe sounds delightful, perfect and tender. The complex flavor sounds amazing.
Ah, yes. Springtime in March is a fickle beast. Warming up with a comforting plate of short ribs might soothe the savage, or at the very least temper the disappointment in the weather.
Even here in Texas, the weather is confused day to day, and even hour to hour. Cold, warm, wet, dry, sunny, overcast–all in the course of 3 hours. A dish like this always has a place on my table, no matter what the weather does out there!
These are amazing. What complexity and depth of flavor. Intrigued by the apples and fennel in the mix. And the Guinness too of course. Love short ribs so can’t wait to try this fantastic recipe. Bravo! 🙂
I LOVE this recipe! I need to get my family to eat Polenta because I love it. I’ve never cooked with coffee, can’t wait to try this. I’ll probably wait until short ribs are on sale 🙂
I’ll bet your house smelled Ah-mazing! These turned out so beautiful and fall off the bone tender. So YuMmY!! 🙂
This sounds delicious and I am overdue to make my first batch of short ribs! I think my kids will love them.
You won’t be sorry, Christine. BTW, I see great minds think alike with names for blogs. :o) Love it!
Oh heavens this sounds PERFECT! Just what we need up here as Spring is taking it’s good old time to arrive!