Beer-Braised Short Ribs

Name: Beer-Braised Short Ribs
Yield: serves 8
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 8 pounds beef short ribs; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; 6 slices applewood-smoked bacon; 3 cups coarsely chopped yellow onion; 10 cloves crushed garlic; 3 (12-ounce) bottles Shiner Bock or other dark beer; 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce; 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar; 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce; 12 medium carrots, coarsely chopped; 1 cup tawny port; 6 cups whole milk, or more; 2 cups fine-grained cornmeal or polenta; 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter; 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt; 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces)

December 14, 2011

I’ve yet to meet a man—Texan or otherwise—who can resist these meltingly tender short ribs. (Most women can’t either, but they tend not to eat as many.) Serve them over a pile of creamy cornmeal mush and you’ll have a party full of satisfied customers. At one gathering, I asked a group of guys how many ribs they thought they’d eat. The majority estimated that three would be plenty. They changed their tunes after taking a few bites and revised the number upward to four or five—and they kept their word. Short ribs come in varying sizes, so I figure about a pound per person, especially if my guest list includes a bunch of guys with big appetites.

Recipe information

Yield
serves 8

Ingredients

Short Ribs

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 pounds beef short ribs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 slices applewood-smoked bacon

3 cups coarsely chopped yellow onion

10 cloves crushed garlic

3 (12-ounce) bottles Shiner Bock or other dark beer

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

12 medium carrots, coarsely chopped

1 cup tawny port

Cornmeal Mush

6 cups whole milk, or more

2 cups fine-grained cornmeal or polenta

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces)

Preparation

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Set a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add the olive oil. While the pot is heating, season the short ribs on all sides with salt and pepper. Brown the short ribs over medium-high heat in batches with ample room between them so they brown, not steam (if they start to burn, decrease the heat a little), 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from the pot and reserve on a plate.
Step 2
In the same pot used to brown the ribs, sauté the bacon and onion over medium heat until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes; add the garlic and sauté 1 minute more. Stir in the beer, soy sauce, vinegar, and Worcestershire. Return the browned ribs to the pot, cover, and cook in the oven for 3 hours. Remove the pot from the oven and stir in the carrots and port. Cook until the meat is tender and just about falling off the bone, another 1 1/2 to 2 hours, for a total cooking time of 4 1/2 to 5 hours. After 4 hours of braising, stick a knife in the thickest rib; if the meat is still firm, continue cooking. Remove the pot from the oven; pour the liquid into a large glass measuring cup and let it sit until the fat rises to the top, about 15 minutes. Pour off the fat and return the liquid to the cooking pot.
Step 3
TO MAKE THE CORNMEAL MUSH: Heat the milk until steaming in a large, heavy saucepan set over medium heat. Slowly pour in the polenta, whisking constantly. Turn the heat to low and continue whisking for 10 to 15 minutes until the mixture thickens. If it seems hard to whisk, thin with an additional 1/4 cup of milk. The cornmeal should be on the loose side. Whisk in the butter, salt, and Parmesan. Serve immediately topped with short ribs.
do it early
Step 4
The short ribs can be made a day ahead, refrigerated, and reheated just before serving. The cornmeal can be made an hour or so before serving. Reheat over medium heat; add milk in 1/4-cup increments until the mixture is creamy and smooth.

Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved. A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café. Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances. Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.

TagsRibs Beer Alcohol Beverages American Short Rib Beef Rib Beef Meat Bacon Cured Meat Cornmeal Flour Main Dinner Nut Free Make Ahead Braise Dutch Oven Super Bowl Cookbooks

Recipe information

Ingredients

Short Ribs

Cornmeal Mush

Preparation

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

do it early

Step 4

Recipe notes