How many times have you seen beef short ribs at the grocery store and thought “Looks great, I just don’t have time to cook it.” At least that’s what I’m thinking. The sous vide method requires 72 hours (no joke). I haven’t tried that one yet.
Here’s a pretty simple version that we made the other night. Sorry, I don’t have any photos of the finished product, just roll with it.
2 short ribs per person. I used boneless, but bone-in would be perfect.
1 onion sliced thin
large handful of shiitake mushrooms diced
Any kind of stock (except seafood) or water. If you have some of the demi-glace that we talked about it in a previous post, now would be the time to use it.
Season the ribs with salt, pepper, thyme, and sprinkle a little baking soda. We’ve talked about it before, but the baking soda helps the meat brown. It really works, try it.
Sear the short ribs until well-browned. This is far away the most important part of this. Your flavor development will be dependent on how well you brown the meat. What you don’t want is pale and lifeless or black burnt death. In between…
Remove the ribs and let them rest. I like to do this on a wire rack out of habit, but it’s not all that important because the finish temperature on the ribs is pretty high. You’re not going to overcook them here.
Sautee the onions and shrooms scraping up the buildup from the bottom of the pressure cooker pot until soft.
Add the meat back in and cover with whatever liquid you have so that they’re underwater about 1-2 inches. You could do it with less, but you risk scorching the bottom of the pan. Believe me, I’ve done it, it sucks to clean it.
Bring to boil per your pressure cooker instructions and let it run for an hour. Remove the ribs and set aside, covered, keeping them warm while you finish your sauce. Strain the braising liquid, and reduce to whatever consistency you want. Add wine for color, and finish it off with a little lemon juice or other acid, and butter. You can serve immediately or let the ribs sit in the braising liquid until the next day. I guess you could also make them in the morning and serve for dinner. The longer the ribs sit in the liquid and absorb it, the better they’ll be.
**Notes
1. 1 hour might be more than you need. I haven’t worked out the minimum time, but I know 1 hour works great.
2. The sauce here is going to be cloudy. If you want a clear sauce, you’re going to have to make it separately because the high temp emulsifies the fat into the liquid.
3. If you want to go over the top, make chili with short ribs.
