Braised Short Ribs

Pairs with: J. Rickards Petite Sirah

Ingredients

4-5 lb. beef short ribs on the bone
2 cups all-purpose flour
Salt & ground pepper
4 Tbs. olive oil, plus more if needed
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large sweet yellow onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 750 ml bottle J. Rickards Brown Barn Petite Sirah
6 oz. tomato paste
4 fresh thyme sprigs
3 fresh rosemary sprigs
2 bay leaves
1-2 cups beef stock

Directions

Preheat oven to 300°. Season the ribs with salt and pepper. Spread flour on a baking sheet and dredge the ribs in the flour, coating well. In a 5 to 6 quart Dutch oven, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Brown the ribs on all sides, in batches if necessary, about 10 minutes. Transfer to large plate. Add more oil if needed in the pot, and add the onions, carrots and garlic. Cook over medium heat until just soft, about 10 minutes, and remove to another plate and cover with foil.

Add the Petite Sirah to the Dutch oven and stir to scrape up any browned bits. Add tomato paste, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves and combine well. Increase heat to medium-high and allow to reduce by half and thicken, 10 to 12 minutes. Add just the ribs back into the Dutch oven and add enough stock to come up halfway up the sides of the ribs. Stir well, cover and place in oven for 2 and 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add the vegetables to the Dutch oven and stir gently. Continue cooking another 1 and 1/2 hour or so. It’s done when the meat is very tender; remove excess fat and the sprigs and leaves. Serve with noodles or mashed potatoes.

This will serve 6 generously.