Short Ribs Braised in Beer

Short ribs are a great winter food and we’ve worked and eaten our way through a lot of short rib recipes.

This one from Gordon Hammersley’s Bistro Cooking at Home has become my go-to recipe.

You can make them in the oven, or a slow cooker, your choice–this is for the oven. Serves 6 but you can easily cut it back to 2 or 4.

Use 1-2 short ribs per person depending on size. When I cut down the recipe, I usually just cut down on the vegetable oil, beer, and broth, everything else just adds flavor.

Short Ribs Braised in Beer

• 6-8 pounds beef short ribs
• Salt & pepper
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound bacon cut into 1″ pieces
• 2 medium sized red onions sliced into 1/2″ rounds (cut across the onion to make rings)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (if you buy it in a tube it costs more, but you always have it for weird amounts like this)
• 2 bottles stout beer (like Guinness)
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 cups beef stock (1 cup, and some water is fine)

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Generously salt and pepper the short ribs.

In a large heavy ovenproof pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil until very hot.

Sear the ribs (in batches if you’ve got a lot of them) until brown on all sides.

Remove the ribs from the pan, and pour off the excess oil, but don’t clean the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the bacon, and cook until the  fat is rendered, about 5 minutes.

Add the onions and cook until lightly browned, about 6 minutes (don’t worry if the onions start to fall apart–they will).

Stir the tomato paste in and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes.

Add the beer, vinegar, beef stock, and the ribs. Bring the liquid to a boil.

Cover the pot and cook in the oven until the short ribs are fork tender, about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

When you’re ready to serve, remove the ribs, and onions from the pot and set aside.

Bring the liquid to a boil and cook until it’s reduced by at least a third (or as thick you want the sauce). Skim fat off.

Taste and check for seasoning. Add the ribs and onions back to the sauce, serve and enjoy!

My verdict:

This has become our favorite short rib recipe. I serve them with mashed potatoes, usually with horseradish added. It really brings out the flavor and helps to cut some of the richness.

Figure on 1-2 ribs per person, depending on the size (and whether you want leftovers).

If you want to use your slow cooker for these, instead of covering the pot and putting it in the oven, just dump everything into the pot of a slow cooker, cover and cook on low.

Like most braised meats, these are even better the next day (and you can get a lot more of the fat off).