Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon small carrot, cut into small dice
- 1 stalk celery, cut into small dice
- 1 stalk medium onion, chopped
- 4 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup balsamic or red wine vinegar
- 3/4 cup red wine
- 6 cup ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and cut into quarters
- 2 cup homemade chicken reduction or purchased chicken reduction diluted with water until a little thicker than chicken stock
- 3 sprig fresh thyme
- 3 sprig fresh rosemary
Preparation
Baking Directions:
Heat the oven to 300ºF.
Season the short ribs all over with salt and pepper.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a deep, heavy-based Dutch oven or similar pot over medium-high heat.
Sear the ribs — in two batches if they don’t fit in the pot in a single layer — until they are well browned all over.
Remove the ribs and add the carrot, celery, onion, and garlic to the pot with more olive oil, if necessary.
Sauté the vegetables until they are browned.
Add the vinegar and red wine to the pan and, using a wooden spoon, scrape up the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Continue to cook the wine and vinegar until reduced by one-third.
Add the tomatoes, chicken reduction, and herbs.
Return the short ribs to the pot, bring the liquid to a boil, cover the pot, and put it in the oven.
Cook, turning the ribs once or twice during the cooking, until they are fork tender and the meat is just barely clinging to the bone, 3-1/2 to 4 hours.
Remove the ribs from the pot, strain and reserve the cooking liquid.
If you are serving the ribs right away, keep them warm.
Use a large spoon or ladle to remove as much of the clear fat floating on top of the cooking liquid as possible, and then cook the defatted sauce over medium-high heat until it has reduced somewhat, becoming thicker and more flavorful.
The ribs can be made up to two days before serving them and only taste better for being made in advance.
If you are making them ahead, you can also wait to remove the fat from the cooking liquid.
Refrigerate the ribs in their cooking liquid and then remove the hardened fat on top.
Reheat the ribs in a 300ºF oven in the cooking liquid.
This reheating may reduce the sauce enough; if not, remove the ribs and cook it down further until thicker and more flavorful.
Serving Directions:
Slice the meat from the ribs across the grain into pieces 1/3 inch thick and serve with some of the reduced sauce.
(Alternatively, serve the ribs whole.)
If you are serving the ribs with polenta or risotto, go ahead and arrange them — sliced or whole — right on top and drizzle the sauce over all.
Tips:
If you are using the short ribs as a stuffing for the agnolotti, let the meat cool so you can work with it.
Remove the meat from the bone and chop enough of it into small pieces to give you 3 cups.
(Serve the rest for dinner with some polenta or risotto, save it for an amazing sandwich, or add it to a tomato sauce.)
Strain the sauce, defat it, and reduce it as directed above.
Store the meat in the reduced sauce, tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to two days.
