Braised Beef Short Ribs

Every once in a while Jim has to travel for a few weeks at a time with the NH Army Guard.  He was recently on a four-week trip and I wanted to make him a nice cozy dinner when he got home. Let’s face it there is nothing better than a home cooked meal. I wanted to make something I don’t usually make so I decided on a Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman) recipe for Braised Beef Short Ribs. This was absolutely the perfect recipe, lots of flavor!  The meat was so tender it was falling off the bone and made the house smell terrific all afternoon! I will definitely be making this again many more times. I served this with salad and mashed potatoes…the perfect side dishes for the beef ribs.

INGREDIENTS
8 whole beef short ribs
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup all purpose flour
6 pieces of Pancetta, diced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 whole medium onion, diced
3 whole carrots, diced
2 shallots, peeled and finely minced
2 cups red wine
2 cups beef broth
2 sprigs of thyme
2 sprig of Rosemary

DIRECTIONS
Salt and pepper the ribs then dredge in flour and set aside. In a large dutch oven cook pancetta over medium heat until crispy and the fat is rendered. Remove pancetta and set aside keeping the grease in the pan. Add olive oil to the pan with the pancetta grease. Raise the heat to medium/high heat. Add the ribs to the hot pan and brown the ribs on all sides. Remove ribs from the pan setting aside. Turn the heat down to medium.  Add onions, carrots and shallots to the pan and cook for a couple minutes. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan releasing any bits that are on the bottom of the pan, bring to a boil and cook two minutes.  Add broth, 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper, taste for seasoning adding more salt or pepper if needed. Add the ribs back in with the liquid.  They should be almost all the way submerged. Add pancetta back in along with the whole sprigs of thyme and rosemary to the liquid.  Put the lid on and place in the oven and cook at 350 degrees for two hours, reduce heat to 325 degrees and cook for 30-45 more minutes. Ribs should be fork tender and falling off the bone. Remove pan from oven and allow to sit for 20 minutes with the lid on before serving. Just before serving skim off any fat from the top.  Serve warm.

Enjoy!