Comfort Food Mondays - Braised Short Ribs

We've been hit with a lot of snow and bitter cold in the last couple of days.  To my mind, a good braised dinner is the best way to deal with it.

Alan brought home some beef short ribs from the market on Saturday, and a bottle of Bright's house wine (red).  Before his nap, he went into the kitchen and got busy.

He softened a medium-sized onion, sliced up a couple of carrots and added them to the pan.  When the onions were good and soft, he transferred them to a casserole dish.  Turned up the heat on the frying pan and put in the short ribs to sear on all sides.  They were then transferred to the casserole dish.  He poured the fat out of the pan and deglazed it with the red wine.

This was added to the dish, along with some tomato sauce and more red wine (you want to cover the ribs).  He covered the dish with foil, put it into a 300 degree oven and went to bed.

I spent the rest of the afternoon pacing and drooling.  It just smelled so good!

Four hours later, they were done.  I lit some candles and poured some wine (the good stuff, not the cooking wine). 

Alan made mashed potatoes and some sauteed spinach to go with it and, oh, MY IT WAS GOOD!!!!!  The meat was so soft and sweet -just falling off the bone.  The sauteed greens added a nice bit of crunch.  The wine disappeared and we almost didn't mind about the snow.

Till it made us cancel the next night's potluck, but that's a story for another day...

A word about the sauce: chef says you have three choices.  You can spoon it out as is with the ribs (yummy and chunky).  You can buzz it up in the blender (yummy and thick).  Or you can strain it into a pan and boil it until it thickens and the flavours concentrate a little more (yummy and clear).  Your choice.

Following Laurie's suggestion at Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska, I'm entering this recipe in the Swirling Notions Braisy Chain - a roundup of favourite Braising Recipes.

Check out the link and join the chain!