Beef Stew

Beef short ribs were a bargain meal during my graduate school days. How things have changed. My local butcher shop stopped carrying beef short ribs because they had gotten so expensive. "Most of the short ribs are being shipped to the Orient and this drives the price up," he explained. "Now that the price has dropped a bit I'm carrying them again."

When the weather turns cold I crave "stick-to-the-ribs" meals like beef short ribs. The ribs, a combination of lean meat and fat, are cut from the end of a standing rib roast, and this is what makes them so tasty. Many cultures have recipes for beef short ribs.

Beef Stew

The Polish fix beef short ribs in a sauce made with bacon, onions, and caraway seeds. Texas short ribs are a different thing all together. "The Complete Round the World Meat Cook Book" by Myra Waldo contains a recipe for Texas short ribs made with bottled chili sauce. The book also has a recipe for deviled short ribs.

But I didn't want caraway seeds, or chili sauce, or lots of spices in my short ribs, so I braised them in red wine. For a more complete meal I added onions, tomatoes, and carrots to the sauce. You may bake the covered short ribs in a 325 degree oven for two hours if you don't have a slow cooker.

INGREDIENTS

3 1/2 pounds beef short ribs

2 tablespoons extra light olive oil (more if you need it)

3/4 cup regular flour

14 1/2-ounce can of no salt diced tomatoes and juice

2 cups red wine (cabernet or hearty burgundy)

3 inch-wide pieces of orange zest

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon prepared chopped garlic

1 cup frozen pearl onions

3 carrots, peeled and cut into one-inch chunks

3 tablespoons gravy flour

METHOD

Ask the butcher to cut the short ribs in half. Remove extra fat from ribs with a boning knife. Dredge the short ribs in flour. Pour olive oil into a cast iron skillet. Brown the short ribs, front and back, and them set aside. Add the red wine to the skillet. Cook over high heat for two minutes to evaporate the alcohol.

Pour canned tomatoes and juice into the slow cooker. Add orange zest, thyme, pepper, and garlic.
Transfer short ribs to the slow cooker. Pour the red wine over the ribs and stir with a rubber scraper. Sprinkle pearl onions and carrots over the short ribs. Cover and cook on low for four hours. Using a slotted spoon, remove ribs from cooker and set on a large plate. Remove and discard orange zest.

Pour the sauce into a large pan and carefully skim fat with a spoon. Put gravy flour into a cup and, stirring constantly, add a little cold water. Pour this mixture into the sauce, stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat until sauce thickens. Return the short ribs to the sauce, cover, and cook over low heat for five minutes. Serve immediately with ciabatta bread and a green salad. Makes 6 generous servings.

Copyright 2007 by Harriet Hodgson

Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs and Vegetables in Red Wine

http://www.harriethodgson.com

Harriet Hodgson has been a freelance nonfiction writer for 29 years. She is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Before she became a health writer she was a food writer for a city magazine. Her 24th book, "Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief," written with Lois Krahn, MD is available from http://www.amazon.com A five-star review of the book is posted on Amazon. You will find other reviews on the American Hospice Foundation Web site ("School Corner" heading) and the Health Ministries Association Web site.

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This is an easy and delicious recipe for cooking a roast in your crockpot or slow cooker. The roast is tender and nearly falls to pieces. There's plenty of tasty gravy too.

The vegetables are added when there is approximately 2 1/2 to 3 hours cooking time left. If you won't be available to add the vegetables at that time, don't worry. You can use the gravy to serve with mashed potatoes or over cooked noodles. I like to cook my egg noodles just before I plan to remove the roast and vegetables. Once the roast and vegetables have been placed on a platter, I add the noodles to the gravy just to let them absorb extra flavor.

Chuck Roast with Vegetables Slow Cooker Recipe

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs. chuck roast
6 potatoes, quartered
4 carrots, cut into 1" pieces
3 stalks celery, cut into 1 1/2" pieces
2 large onions, quartered
1 can cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup
1/2 soup can water
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
Flour or cornstarch for thickening

Preparation:

Mix soup, water, pepper and salt together in the slow cooker.

In a large skillet, sear the roast on each side using a small amount of oil before adding to slow cooker, or place directly in soup mixture in slow cooker. Make sure both sides of roast have been coated with soup mixture. Set slow cooker to low and let cook for 4 hours.

After 4 hours, add potatoes, carrots, celery and onions to the cooker. Lift roast so vegetables are submerged in soup mixture. Continue cooking on low for another 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until roast is tender and vegetables are done.

Remove roast and vegetables to a platter. Add small amounts of flour or cornstarch to soup mixture to thicken slightly. Serve gravy over roast and vegetables, or over mashed potatoes or cooked egg noodles.

Overall cooking time is 6 1/2 to 7 hours on low setting.

Kathy enjoys cooking and gardening. Visit her KitchenAid Mixer Attachments website and check out the KitchenAid Pasta Roller.

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