Over the weekend my brother bought me a few of the Le Creuset cast iron pots. I have wanted one since I was 8, and after all this time, I finally got one-and I love it. Thank God for brothers, right? Although extremely expensive, I think it's worth it. I chose my first endeavor with this pot to be to make some braised short ribs, knowing that I'd need a pan that could serve as both stovetop, and oven capable. I kind of 'winged it' and threw together some red wines and balsamic vinegars with a variety of herbs to add depth to the flavor making sure that the wine wouldnt be overpowering. Don't be concerned about it flaming up on you while adding it to the pot- you only need to worry about that with alcohol that is 50 proof or above. I chose to make a trinity before hand to add extra flavors to the meat while it cooked, also ensuring that it wouldn't taste strictly like a textured wine. I also decided to sear the meat before it was braised, and bake it for a few minutes after so that it would have some texture changes in there while consumed, making it even more palatable. I've included some pictures and some outlined instructions so that if you want to try my take on it, you can.
First, season the short ribs with pepper and chives. Refrigerate overnight.
Take the ribs out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking and let them sit. This is so that they reach an equilibrium temperature with the room, which will help them sear better later on. Add salt half an hour before searing.
Heat 2 pads of butter until melted in your cast iron pot. Watch this closely because if it turns brown, and is not translucent anymore, you've burnt the butter. Clean the pan with cold water and start over. Do not try to use it anyways-butter becomes extremely bitter when overcooked.
Sear the short ribs in batches. if you crowd all of the meat together, you'll accomplish nothing but uneven cooking. Give the meat room to breathe-this is crucial to make sure that it cooks properly, as well as maintaining and creating as much flavor as possible. You can see some brown spots on the bottom of the pan, that is not burnt butter, its just remains of some of the meat. leave it there- we'll scrape it off later for more flavor in our reduction.
Once you're done searing the meat, it should look somthing like this. Let it rest while you make your reduction-and please, for my sanity, do not poke and prod it, nor cut it to see if it is cooked through. It shouldn't be cooked through, and serving a piece of meat that looks like a pocket dictionary because of all your slits in it isn't too appealing.
Dice up carrots, celery, and onions to make a basic Italian trinity- also called a soffrritto. About a cup of each component.
After searing all of the meat, add the trinity into the butter mixture that is remaining after the meat has been seared. I added fresh bay leaves, some thyme, chives, and parsely as well at this point. Use a wooden spoon and scrape the brown remains from the meat off the bottom of the pot. This adds more flavor to the dish than you can imagine. Saute until the onions just begin to carmelize.
Now it's time to add the alcohol. Add about 2 cups of a hearty red wine, I chose a cabernet sauvignon, and about 1 1/2 cups of a port wine. A Port wine is a type of dessert wine made in portugal. It differs from other red wines because Brandy is added to it during fermentation. Add about 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar at this time- it will deepen the flavor later on when we make the reduction. Also add about 6 cups of beef broth at this time. This will help break up the continuity of the wine flavor and dilute it a little bit, as well as bring out the natural flavors of the beef.
Boil all of the ingredients down, making a reduction until it reduces by half...It should look something like the above. Don't expect it to thicken up, yet.
Once your liquid has reduced, add your meat back into the pot.
Cover the pot tightly with tin foil, then place the lid on top of the foil. This will enure that your ribs remain as moist as possible.
Place in the oven, and bake on 325 degrees for about 3 hours.
After having baked for 3 hours, the meat should have fallen off of the bone by now. Remove them from the pot and bake for about ten to fifteen minutes at 425. This will make the edges slightly crispy, and change the texture, so that there is not too much textural continuity throughout the meal, making the diner want to eat more.
While the meat is in the oven, start on the sauce. I boiled it and made another reduction, since more liquid had been added since some of the juices of the meat had escaped. Boil it down until it reduces; however, if you are having trouble getting it to thicken, mix equal amounts of cornstarch and cold water together. Thoroughly whisk into the boiling liquid for a minute to avoid lumps. Don't add too much cornstarch. Start off at maximum with a tablespoon, you can always add more, but if you add too much it wil turn into a consistency that is almost jelly-like. Remove the bones before serving.
SERVE WITH:
-Mashed potatoes or some type of starch. Another good option would be smashed potatoes, with Red Bliss potatoes, leaving the skins on. This adds a nice texture change to the potatoes.
-You could also try some sauteed swiss chard with some pearl onions mixed in. Serving the meat on a bed of this would be an awesome idea for a more gourmet take on the dish.
until next time,
K
NON-COOKS LIFELINE:
Braising- Braising is a technique used for cooking meats, in which they are cooked at relatively low temperatures for a long time, and are in some type of liquid the entire time.
Proof- A proof is a system used to measure how much alcohol is in wine, or any other alcoholic beverage. If you bought a 50 proof wine, that would mean that 25% of what was in that bottle would be alcohol. To find a proof, you just double the percentile of the alcohol, or do vice versa and cut the proof in half to find the percentage.
Trinity- A trinity is used in many dishes. They are used as the building blocks for a multitude of meals. However, each culture has a different trinity. The most widely used one is the Italian trinity, consisting of onion, carrots, and celery, in a 1:2:3 ratio. A soffrritto is just the Italian word for trinity.
Saute-To saute a food is when you cook it over a medium heat level and making sure that it doesn't stick to the pan by keeping it in almost constant motion by either tossing it up and back into the pan, more commonly known as making it "jump", or by stirring it. There should also be a small amount of some type of hot fat, ie. butter, oil, or lard, depending on the dish.
Sear- To sear meat means that you place it on a very hot pan without moving it around too much. The point of this is to get some type of caramelized crust on the meat by bringing out its natural sugars with the high heat, while still maintaining the juiciness of the meat on the inside. That’s why we let the meat reach room temperature; it ensures that all of the juices have gone to the internal part of the meat.
Reduction- A reduction is when you heat up some type of liquid and let it boil until it actually lessens in size.]It causes the liquid to thicken and it intensifies its flavor, because all of the unneeded and unflavored liquid is gone due to evaporation.
