Guinness and 5-Spice Braised Short Ribs
At first glance this might seem like a long laundry list of ingredients but for the most part they are all fairly common items with a few exceptions. You should be able to find tamarind puree in South American, South East Asian or Indian markets. Use what you need for this recipe and freeze the rest in ice cube trays so that you can thaw just as much as you need for future use. If cans of Guinness aren’t common in your household it might be time for a change- they can be bought in packs of 4, so that’s one for the ribs and the other three for you which makes for some pretty good math.
Beef short ribs are usually cut across the bones so that there are 3 or 4 small bones going through each piece of meat. I much prefer asking the butcher to cut in between (parallel to) the ribs, so that you have a long bone which will make for an extravagant and memorable presentation. I always tie some butchers twine (string) around the short ribs to keep the meat from falling off of the bone which can ruin the presentation slightly. If you’re not as fussy as me, feel free to skip this step and braise away.
This is a great recipe for entertaining guests as it is best made a day in advance and just reheated in the cooking liquid until hot enough to serve, leaving you with more time with your guests and less time hovering over a hot stove. Add some roasted root vegetables and crunchy cold weather veggies like Brussels sprouts and you have the heart warming winter extravaganza.
-preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C)
- Wrap each piece of meat at 2 or 3 places along the rib with butchers twine. This will keep the meat from accidentally falling off of the bone as it cooks, and allow you to transfer it onto a serving platter with ease.
- drizzle a little olive oil over the ribs and season with Maldon salt
- heat a large braising pan over medium heat and brown the ribs on all sides.
Note: A braising pan is something that works equally well on the cook top and in the oven- I find that enamel cookware with a lid like le Creuset works best, but if you don’t have something for braising you can always cook the items in a sauté pan and then place it all in a pyrex oven safe dish and cover with foil.
-temporarily remove the short ribs from the pan and place on a plate.
- pour off all but a couple tablespoons of the rendered fat from the ribs and add the vegetables, turning occasionally until they are golden brown
- Add all of the other ingredients and bring to a boil.
- Place the browned short rib back in the pan and cover and place into your preheated oven, cooking at 325°F (160°C) until tender (about 3 hours).
- remove the cover or foil and cook uncovered for 20-30 more minutes to help reduce the sauce and finish browning the meat.
-take the pan out of the oven and allow to sit until cool.
-remove the meat and refrigerate. Strain the sauce into a bowl and place it in the refrigerator until it is cold. This will allow the fat to rise to the top of the bowl, and when the sauce becomes cold the fat will solidify making it easy to remove from the sauce.
-30 minutes before you are ready to serve place the short ribs into an ovenproof serving dish. Heat the sauce to a boil and pour it over the meat.
-cover the dish with a lid or foil, and reheat at 325F for 25 minutes.
-take out of the oven, remove the butchers twine (if using), and serve up some serious portions of cold weather comfort. Enjoy!
Brad Farmerie
Brad Farmerie grew up in Pittsburgh in a food-loving family, where his mother exposed him to a variety of cuisines from a young age, always insisting on home baked bread and vegetables straight from the family garden. After a brief college hiatus spent exploring the cuisines and wines of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Antipodes, Farmerie followed his love for food to the UK and earned his "Grande Diplome" at Le Cordon Bleu in 1996. He further rounded out his education and technique at acclaimed restaurants Coast, Chez Nico and Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons. Most influential to his own style was his experience working with Peter Gordon at the Sugar Club, and he went on to assist Gordon and Anna Hansen in opening the critically-acclaimed The Providores and Tapa Room in 1996. In 2003 Farmerie moved back to the States to help conceive PUBLIC, AvroKO’s first self-propelled restaurant. In the fall of 2008, Farmerie extended his culinary reach as executive chef of AvroKO Restaurant Group’s Double Crown and Madam Geneva, which takes as its inspiration the unique cuisine that emerged when the British colonized the countries of South Asia and the Far East.