Zinfandel & Bloody Mary Braised Short Ribs w Bacon, Button Mushrooms, Shallots, Shredded Carrots, and Rosemary

(Copyright © 2010 Someday Gourmet)

Prep Time: 30 minutes (before goes into oven)
Cook Time: 3 hours total (2.5 hrs in oven, 30 minutes stove-top)
Difficulty: Level 2
Yield: 5-6 Ribs, 2-3 Cups Sauce

Ingredients

• 5-6 larger high quality beef ribs
• 2 ½ cups favorite bold red wine (we used Ravenswood Lodi Zinfandel)
• ½ cup Mr. & Mrs. T’s Bold & Spicy Bloody Mary Mix
• 1 cup Swanson low sodium chicken stock
• ½ package of bacon sliced into ½” pieces
• 1 med. package of white button mushrooms
• 1 cup loosely packed shredded carrots
• 8-12 pearl onions or 4-6 shallots
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 twigs of Rosemary or 2 tablespoons dried
• 3 tbsp coarse salt
• 3 tbsp coarse pepper
• 3 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1-2 tbsp red pepper flakes (to taste)
• 4 tbsp slurry (2 tbsp corn starch + 2 tbsp hot water) – prepare @ hr 2.5 of baking
• Dutch Oven

Directions

Remove meat from refrigerator and place on counter still wrapped to allow to warm to room temperature.

Preheat Dutch Oven to medium heat (6) and add bacon. Cook until brown and crispy. Remove and dry on paper towel lined plate. Drain bacon grease except for 3 tbsp and return to heat.

While bacon is cooking, clean and rough chop mushrooms then peel onions and cut in half (slice shallots if using). Combine Salt, Pepper, Smoked Paprika and Red Pepper Flakes in a small dish. Remove the ribs from the package and place on a cutting board bone side down. Remove any easily accessible pieces of fat and then rub in a heavy coat of the spice mix on all 5 non-bone sides of each rib. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty on this step, you really want to rub it in there.

Once the bacon is cooked and removed, add the ribs to the pan in 2 batches (3 at a time is usually right) bone-side up. Proceed to cook each of the 5 meaty sides for 4 minutes each until golden brown. Once placed, DO NOT MOVE THE RIB until time to turn; this will ensure a golden crust. After all the ribs have been completely browned, set aside. Do not drain!

Next add all veggies and garlic to the Dutch Oven and cook over medium heat until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Stir frequently.

Preheat oven to 300.

Add 2 cups of the wine, all the stock, Bloody Mary mix, and Rosemary and turn heat up to high and bring to boil stirring gently but frequently. Reduce sauce by 1/3 – 1/2. Add ribs and ensure fully covered by the liquid. Place a piece of aluminum foil over the Dutch Oven and then cover with the lid to securely seal the steam in.

Bake for 2.5 hours. Remove from oven and transfer the ribs and any bones that have fallen off to a serving dish. Cover with foil and set aside. Bring the remaining sauce over high to a boil and add the slurry and the rest of the wine. Reduce by 1/3 or so until just slightly thicker, pour over ribs, and serve immediate.

Chef’s Notes

• This sauce would taste good over anything! Consider using over oven-roasted chicken breasts (40 minutes @ 350) or even basted over a London Broil
• Embrace the Bloody Mary Mix. Nearly every recipe out there calls for tomatoes in some form or another for braising. In this case, we get our tomato base but even more layers of additional flavor that just melt nicely into the background of the wine.
• Good meat in, great meat out. Bad meat in, mediocre meat out. You get what you pay for on this meal and picking up high quality, low fat ribs from your butcher will go a long way.