Fall off the Bone Braised Beef Ribs with Fried Mushrooms and Bacon

This recipe is definitely a show stopper. Braised beef, red wine sauce, crispy mushrooms and salty bacon. Similar in style to the bistro classic beef bourguignon, this dish is braised in its sauce over a long time to develop deep flavors out of ingredients that many consider too tough to work with: beef short ribs. The mushrooms and bacon are cooked separately to ensure a differing contrast: melt in your mouth meat with crispy mushrooms. Not that braised mushroom is bad eating, far from it. I just prefer it cooked separately.

I served this braise with a bright, acidic coleslaw and some lemon butter boiled potatoes. But feel free to riff a little with whatever you want. Maybe toss the potatoes into the sauce for the last 20-25 minutes of cook time or add carrots, onions or sautéed spinach to the pancetta and mushrooms.

I must admit though that I made an error with this recipe. When I removed the meat from the braise and reduced the sauce a little bit, I should have removed as much of the residual fat off the top as possible. It didn’t affect the end taste but it added a shine and oiliness to the plate that I was not happy with. To fix this problem when you give this recipe a try, you should spoon off any of the fat floating on the surface when the pan comes out of the oven and do so again when you remove the meat to reduce the sauce a bit. Hmmmm maybe I’ll have to make it again to perfect it......yum.

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds, Beef Short Ribs about 6 large pieces, try to find the meaty ones with small bones

1 whole bulb Garlic, smashed up and cloves removed but not cut up

1 Tbsp tomato puree, I used a leftover tomato sauce I had around

¾ of a bottle of red wine, nothing too expensive, ask at the store for something to braise with

3 cups or so of chicken stock

¾ pound of mushrooms, white, brown, portabella, etc. Halved but kept quite chunky

2 or 3 thick strips of bacon or pancetta, diced into lardons

Small handful of parsley leaves

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350⁰ as you prepare all of your ingredients.
• Place a heavy roasting pan onto the stove and preheat to high with a tbsp or 3 of oil.
• When the pan is hot enough to sear, brown all of the short ribs. Turn the pan down if necessary to make sure the ribs are browning not burning.
• When you are browning the last side, toss in the tomato sauce and the garlic. Cook them for a minute.
• Deglaze with a cup of the red wine. Scrap up any bits and let it reduce a little bit.
• Add the rest of the wine after a minute or two and bring to the boil. Top the liquid up with the stock until it’s an inch or so from the top of the ribs.
• Cover with tin foil and place in the preheated oven. Two and a half hours of slow cooking will turn this tough meat into something unbelievably delicious.
• When you have half an hour left, open the oven and pierce the foil with a knife, two or three times. This allows steam to leave and the sauce to reduce a bit.
• Fry the bacon in a dry pan until the fat has rendered a bit and the lardons begin crisping. Add the mushrooms and sauté until golden and crisp all around.
• Remove the pan from the oven and skim the fat that has accumulated. Remove the meat to a plate to rest, and set the pan over medium to get a simmer going. Reduce it down a little bit.
• Plate up the short ribs. Spoon some sauce over. Top with the fried mushroom mix and a sprinkling of parsley. Yum.