Yesterday was sweatshirt weather, sunny but crisp, and the night was cool enough to have a fire in the fireplace. Today was bright and warm. In other words, a gorgeous fall weekend.
To add to a glorious weekend, my blog crossed 100,000 visits today with over 140,000 page visits. Thank you to everyone who has stopped by over the last 8 months.
I felt inspired to try out a wonderful, hearty dish of braised short ribs with roasted autumn vegetables from my friend Andy's cookbook, the Barcelona Cookbook. I love eating at Barcelona Wine Bar, but I'm glad Andy and his restaurant partner Sasa shared their secrets so we could enjoy their food at home.
If you'd like to find out about or buy this wonderful cookbook, more information can be found at the book's website or Amazon. What a great gift to give for the holidays or a birthday!
Before you read on, here's the bottom line on this dish: it rocks. This is a must try recipe.
The flavor of cream sherry and apple cider makes this dish unique. The mouth feel is luscious and even decadent. The meat shreds at the touch of a fork. The roasted vegetables are caramelized and sweet. There is some serious umami going on here.
I admit that it's time-consuming, but it's completely worth it.
And if you want to impress, this is a great dinner to make for company. You can make it in advance, which makes it excellent for dinner parties.
Some cook's notes:
This recipe is best done over two days. Or if you're going to make it the same day, you have to start at 8 am to have dinner on the table around 7 pm. Don't worry -- you're not actively cooking all that time, but you must plan on being leisurely.
This recipe has four parts. The first is to marinate the short ribs in a sherry-apple cider brine for at least 8 hours. The second part is to roast the vegetables. The third part is to flour and brown the ribs. The fourth part is to braise the meat and vegetables.
Because this recipe is based on a restaurant recipe, it's a little complicated. I wrote my modifications in the recipe below, but the major changes are as follows:
1) I cut the vegetables, but I didn't measure the oil. I just put the veggies in a bowl, poured a little olive oil over them, added kosher salt and pepper, and mixed with my hands until the veggies were coated. I also didn't put oil on the cookie sheet, but I put a non-stick Silpat on the cookie sheet and cooked them that way. It saves some oil.
2) Instead of making the flour mixture, which uses a lot of flour and spices, I made a mixture using 1/3 of the spices recommended in the recipe. I dried off the marinated ribs with paper towels and sprinkled the meat liberally on all sides with the spice mixture. Then I dredged them in less than a cup of flour which I had in a shallow bowl before I browned the meat in batches.
3) I used my 5.5 quart Le Creuset dutch oven instead of a roasting pan. I would highly recommend this change to the recipe, as you don't have to worry about spilling hot liquid out of the more shallow roasting pan. Any brand dutch oven will do.
4) I didn't have veal stock, so I used half and half of chicken and beef stock, although if you buy a 32 oz. cardboard container of beef stock in the grocery store, it's more convenient to use that whole container and then add 1 cup of water.
5) The recipe calls for two rounds in the oven. The first is a 1 1/2 hour braise. Then the meat and liquid is allowed to cool down. The second round in the oven is to heat the mixture up again. Since I never let the braise cool down, I didn't have to put it in the oven again. I just warmed it up on the stove top when I added the roasted vegetables and onions.
If I were to simplify this recipe further, I would skip the pearl onions and either use frozen pearl onions or slice regular onions and add them with the other vegetables. Instead of roasting the vegetables, I would not coat them in oil but brown them in the oil used to brown the meat, not until cooked but just browned, and would add them to the braise 1 hour into cooking in the oven. Finally, I would use either the pressure cooker if I were in a hurry or the slow cooker if I had more time.
Any of these simplifications stay true to the essence of the recipe: a flavorful marinade, caramelized meat and vegetables, and a slow cook until the meat is tender.
Barcelona Wine Bar's Sherry-Braised Short ribs with Autumn Vegetables
(For printable recipe, click here.)
Brine
1 small rib celery, coarsely chopped
1/2 small carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/2 small Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 small head garlic, halved
3 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
1 small sprig fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
1 cup apple cider
3/4 cup cream sherry or another sweet sherry
2 tbs. sherry vinegar
4 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. kosher salt
six 4 inch long beef short ribs
Vegetables
1 pint (2 cups) pearl onions
2 Yukon Gold potatoes
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch dice
1 celery root, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch dice
1 turnip, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch dice
3 tbs. olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Braising
2 cups instant flour or all-purpose flour
1/2 cup high quality Spanish paprika
1/4 cup chili powder
3 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. cayenne
3/4 cup olive oil
5 cups veal stock (or half and half of beef and chicken stock)
Marinating the meat:
Mix all the brine ingredients together. Put the ribs, meat side down, in one or more shallow non-reactive dish(es) or pan(s). Pour the brine over the ribs, cover, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to two days. (Ninette's modification: I used a Ziploc bag.)
Roasting the veggies:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut the vegetables except for the onions, put in a bowl and mix with 2 tbs. of olive oil. Season to taste with kosher salt and pepper and mix well. Spread the remaining tbs. of olive oil in a shallow baking pan and spread the veggies over the pan in a single layer. You may need to use 2 pans, depending on their size, and a little more olive oil. Roast the veggies for 10 minutes, stir and rotate the pans if you used more than one, and roast for another 10-15 minutes, or until they're tender and golden brown. (Ninette's modification: I mixed the veggies with a little oil, salt and pepper until coated and then spread the veggies out on a Silpat-lined cookie sheet.) (Note: if you're making this ahead of time, you can cool the veggies, put them in a container, and refrigerate up to two days.)
Prepare the pearl onions:
Put a pot of water to boil on the stove. Make an x in the root of each pearl onion. Add a generous amount of salt to the water and add the onions. Blanch for 3-4 minutes and drain. Cut off the root ends from the onions. The skin should follow. If the skin doesn't come off by itself, remove. Set the onions aside.
Brown and braise the short ribs:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a Ziploc bag, combine the flour and spices. Seal the bag and shake to mix to flour and spices together. Remove the meat from the brine and pat dry. Reserve the brine. Drop 2 ribs into the bag at a time. Shake to coat well and then remove. (Ninette's modification: Instead of making the flour mixture, I made a mixture using 1/3 of the spices recommended in the recipe. I dried off the marinated ribs with paper towels and sprinkled the meat liberally on all sides with the spice mixture. Then I dredged them in less than a cup of flour which I had in a shallow bowl before I browned the meat in batches in a dutch oven.)
Heat a roasting pan on 2 burners over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, and when hot, brown the ribs until golden brown on all sides. You might have to do this in batches, depending on the size of the pan. (Ninette's modification: I used a 5.5 qt. dutch oven instead of a roasting pan.)
Pour the oil from the pan, wipe any cooked flour from the pan, and scrape the edges and bottom of the pan.
Return the short ribs to the pan and pour 1 cup of the reserved brine and the veal stock over them. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bring to a boil. Very carefully, transfer the roasting pan to the oven and braise for 1 1/2 hours, or until the ribs are tender. Lift the ribs from the pan and set them aside. Set the pan aside to let the braising liquid cool. (Ninette's modifications: When I added the liquid and brought it to a boil, I skimmed the top of any impurities and fat with a fine mesh strainer (one of my most useful kitchen tools!). After the ribs braised, I didn't let the liquid cool, and I didn't remove the ribs from the dutch oven.)
Holding a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl, strain the braising liquid. Skim as much of the fat from the braising liquid with a spoon or ladle or put the liquid in the freezer for an hour and then lift off the fat that congeals on the surface. (Ninette's modification: I ladled the liquid in batches into a fat separator and defatted the liquid. Then I added the liquid back into the dutch oven.)
Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Put the short ribs, onions, reserved roasted vegetables, and strained liquid into the roasting pan and bring to a boil on top of the stove. Return the pan to the oven and roast for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the ribs comes out hot. (Ninette's modification: Since I didn't let the liquid cool down, I didn't do the second round in the oven. I just added the veggies and onions to the meat and liquid in the dutch oven, gently mixed them in, and heated the mixture on the stove top over medium-low heat until the liquid is simmering and the veggies are warmed through.)
On 6 serving plates or a large platter, arrange the short ribs. Serve each plate with about 3/4 cup of the roasted vegetables and then with a ladleful of braising liquid.
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