Friday, February 25, 2011

French Fridays with Dorie - short ribs in red wine and port


Short ribs are one of my all-time favorite things to eat.  I love the slow-braised, tender, fall off the bone meat...marbled perfectly with fat to make the meat juicy and flavorful.  Whenever we go out to eat, if short ribs are on the menu, I have to order them...I can't help myself.  Now, a little confession.  I've only made short ribs once myself.  I'm not sure why...but I guess I thought they were to difficult to make.  That, and the fact that the boys are not huge short rib fans.  As Ethan likes to remind me...he doesn't like to eat fat!!!  (And neither does St. James.)  Oh my...it really is their loss.

I was really looking forward to making Dorie's short ribs.  Turns out, they are a bit of work...just because there are a few steps...from roasting them quickly under the broiler, to creating the amazing braising sauce, to braising them for a few hours in the oven...to chilling them overnight (optional step)...to skimming the fat...to roasting them quickly under the broiler again.

I decided that short ribs would be perfect for our Valentine's dinner, so I started them on Sunday.  Sunday night, when they were done braising...it was all I could do to keep myself from eating them right then and their.  They were so gorgeous, with such an amazing color and aroma...I was in heaven just looking at them.

Unfortunately, this was not the case Monday night when I went to finish them off for serving to the boys.  I scraped all the hardened fat off the top (and their was a 1/4 inch layer that was tinged orange from the tomato paste in the broth) and gently lifted the cold short ribs (still miraculously attached to their bones) out of the dutch oven and into a baking dish for their final roasting under the broiler.  Now, I did question how the short ribs were going to get heated all the way through with only a couple of minutes under the broiler, but I've learned to stop doubting Dorie...since I've seen so many of her recipes magically transform.

I spooned some sauce over the short ribs and place them under the broiler and turned them every few minutes so that each side got "glazed."  By the last turn, my poor short ribs were looking like charcoal briquettes.  I almost cried...ok I actually did cry for a few moments.  So much time and effort and it appeared that my Valentine's dinner was ruined.  Since I had nothing else to serve and the boys were hungry...I put the ribs on the table...apologized and said to pull off the burned part and eat whatever wasn't burned.

See how burned they looked!
Were we in for a surprise!  I took my first bite of what appeared to be burned edges...and the short ribs were not burned at all.  While they had a very dark color...after the first bite...I realized it was from the amazing broth with the red wine and port.  The short ribs were literally black...but tasted amazing.  Hallelujah!  These were so tasty, I was really glad I'd made 8, as I then had leftovers all week.  The boys actually enjoyed them too...cutting their way around any visible fat!

Served with Dorie's Green Beans w/Homemade Bacon and Mashed Potatoes

The boys and I joked that this was our black and red Valentine's dinner.  The short ribs were black, served on red plates.  And, for dessert, I made a chocolate pudding cakes with raspberry sauce.  I made the cakes with Hershey's special dark cocoa powder and when the cakes came out of the oven...they were black as tar.  When you took a spoonful, you then had the lovely red raspberry sauce and the coal black cake.  While nothing looked quite the way I thought it would...everything tasted amazing.  There are no pictures of the black cake, which is too bad because then you could all get a good laugh at our red and black Valentine's dinner too!

See how my other FFwD friends fared with their short ribs here.  Sorry I don't have more pictures...but at this point I feel lucky that I'm actually getting the FFwD recipes cooked...I don't seem to have enough time to also take nice pictures!  Hopefully, in March I'll be a little more organized and actually cook when there's some lovely light outside!

27 comments:

Anne-Marie said...

Steph, I had the same reaction when I took the ribs out of the broiler! My heart just sank when I saw how blackened they were! But they were delicious. We loved this recipe and I'll make them again.

Anonymous said...

I like how your ribs turned a dark color! It adds to the "smoky" look, which I like. I'm glad you and your family were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed them!

Unknown said...

What a wonderful Valentines story! I'm glad you figured out what made the fat look so electric. I was so shocked by it I took a picture but couldn't bring myself to actually post it. It was awfully vile. Wonderful post though!

KB from Prof Who Cooks said...

Wow! I didn't broil mine, but I too would have cried after all the work (and expense!) of making them. Thank goodness they worked out. Great post!

Ms. Hobby said...

I'm glad these turned out ok for you!

Unknown said...

Hey, I don't mind a little char, I'll have some of these delicious ribs!
*kisses* HH

Cher Rockwell said...

Whew. Glad your story had a happy ending! I did the one day version with a "rest" period on the stove - but the dark color was a little daunting.
Thanks for the feedback on the brownies. Glad it worked out!

Kris' Kitchen said...

Great Valentine's Day story. When you go to all that work it's nice to have a happy ending!

Elaine said...

Mine turned out just as dark! They look great against the red plate. Your meal just sounds wonderful.

KarenP said...

I was worried about the blackness of mine too, but they turned out wonderfully! I'm glad even your skeptics liked them.

Susan said...

Great post, Steph! I agree - I used the 2-day method & went to bed feeling hungry even though I'd had a full dinner because the aroma was incredible! By the time we ate them, I was ready!

Mardi Michels said...

That's a wonderful story and I am so glad it worked out in the end :-) I will be making these again soon, loved the way they made my house smell!

Unknown said...

Mine got pretty dark too and I was pretty uncertain for a moment or two.

Adriana said...

I'm happy you enjoyed the ribs, especially after the broiler scare! Black and red sounds like a great theme for a future Valentine's Day.

Lauren duBois said...

Mine got black too and my son-in-law's face was priceless until he tasted them. I felt as though I had just wasted all that money on burnt ribs....

But, as you said, wonderful!

Kathy said...

MIne also turned out black and I too was quite upset. Your dinner looks great! I love the idea of a black and red dinner for Valentines Day! Sounds like you had a great dinner!

Trevor Sis Boom said...

By now you have looked around and seen that this blackness is to be expected. There are ways around it involving split second maneuvering but its not worth it since the effect of the dark rib is so dramatic with the glazing who wouldn't prefer it? These look wonderful! Great job!

Betsy said...

Glad to hear your Valentine's Day dinner was a success. I was starting to get worried as I read your post. I didn't know that Hershey's made dark cocoa powder. I'm going to look for that tomorrow. Fun post!

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

It made me so sad that you were so upset! I am glad that these turned out so well and the Valentines dinner was saved! I would love the dessert you made though!

Mary said...

I love that you thought they were ruined and then they were good anyway. Great story!

Anonymous said...

I think after this recipe I'll be ordering short ribs in restaurants too. Who knew they were so delicious?

tricia s. said...

Your story has gotten quite of few of us to "fess up" and I will too. We had a bit of a scare as Nana manned the broiler. It smelled fabulous and suddenly smelled...done. I was over her shoulder hollering to "pull em out" because the thought of us burning them while the family waited for Sunday dinner was scary. Luckily, they turned out awesome - but who knew dinner or FF's would be so dramatic! Almost every week, in fact ;) Great job to you for keeping all the posts going while so busy with work. Good luck with your new store and hopefully March will be calm.

Anonymous said...

I bet your boys will be telling the story of the black and red dinner for years to come. Glad it turned out well in the end!

Anonymous said...

Oh! I could feel your angst! I feel it often in the kitchen!!! Scraping the fat off and pulling the ribs out was an interesting moment! I think your photos look good!

Angela said...

I'm new to FFwD and I really enjoy hearing about everyone's experiences with the recipes. The blackened meat was a surprise but seems to be a pretty common experience with this recipe. We loved it here. Bon Appétit

Lana said...

I did not strain the sauce, but pureed it with my immersion blender (could not throw away all those goodies:)
They turned out dark, but, as you, found out, succulent and flavorful.
Two day cooking process asked for some planning ahead, but I think it was well worth it:)
I am looking forward to longer days with more daylight hours, too:)

Flourchild said...

Im glad they ended up tasting good! I was surprised too and Im not a beef eater!