How to Cook Beef Short Ribs with Beetroot & Red Wine

Name: How to Cook Beef Short Ribs with Beetroot & Red Wine
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 h
Total time: 5 h 15 min
Yield: 2

15 mins
5 hours
medium
2

Recipe by

Jeff Baker

Ingredients

For the Short Ribs
1 kg beef short ribs
A little beef dripping, schmaltz or oil
1 onion
2 carrots
6 cloves garlic
Sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
6 cracked black peppercorns
6 cracked juniper berries
2 star anise
375ml red wine
400ml Beef stock / broth
1 tbls. Tomato puree
1 tbls. Polish style Plum ‘cheese’ or red currant jelly
1 tbls. Corn flour mixed with a little cold water
for the Beetroot
Half a dozen fresh beetroots, mixed variety if possible peeled and cut into wedges (keep a couple back for the raw salad)
2 tbls. Schmaltz, beef dripping or oil
8 cloves garlic unpeeled
Sea salt to taste
Few sprigs thyme

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Introduction

Winter crop beetroots are very much in vogue at present with both home cooks and professional chefs. Both versatile, highly nutritious, and affordable, they are great paired with both dark meats, oily fish, or simply featuring as the centerpiece to many winter salads. Here we roast them with schmaltz, making a super easy pickle salad to complement the sweet earthy flavours. There are many varieties to choose from, bulls blood, candy and golden are three of my favourites to use. Another favorite of my family is clear beetroot soup - chicken bone broth enriched with deep purple beetroot poured over steamed old crop potatoes.

Method

beef short ribs with beetroot and red wine recipe ingredients

Preheat your oven to 150°C /130°C fan assisted (gas 2).
Make a mirepoix by neatly chopping equal amounts of the onion and carrot plus garlic, spices and herbs.
Season the meat with sea salt before searing in a little beef dripping or schmaltz in a casserole dish over high heat until brown, then keep the meat to one side.
In the same dish, fry the mirepoix until lightly coloured. Add the puree, red wine and plum cheese or redcurrant, reduce by half, then add the beef stock and reduce a little. Thicken with a tablespoon of cornflour mixed with a little cold water and stir into the boiling sauce, then add the meat to the casserole dish, cover and place in the centre of the oven and cook for 5 hours or until the meat is tender when pierced with a skewer.
Remove from the oven and pass off the juices through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan and reduce to a rich, glossy gravy, then pour back over the ribs.

Preheat the oven 180°C fan assisted or 200°C without a fan (gas 6).
Toss the beetroots and garlic in the schmaltz and sprinkle with a little sea salt and thyme.
Place in a deep roasting tin just large enough to hold the beetroots then cover tightly with foil.
Roast for 1 hour or until the beets are tender when pierced with a skewer and reserve.
With the peeled raw beetroot finely shred then toss with a little lemon juice and seasoning.

Place a rib into a warm serving bowl on luxury all butter mash, cover with the rich gravy then scatter around the beetroot, serve a little salad on the side of crème fraîche spiked with horseradish, shredded beetroot salad and baby beet leaves.

Note: The short ribs can also be cooked in a pressure cooker. Follow the same method and they will be super tender in just 45 minutes. Alternatively cook in a slow cooker on high for 8+ hours. For all cooking methods, it is good to pass the sauce and reduce a little by removing any oil that rises to the surface.

With leftovers, shred the meat into a little sauce and use as a ragu paired with fresh pappardelle.

The 'plum cheese', also known as butter jam, is readily available in Eastern European stores or online.