Go Big and Stay Home - Braised Sunday Dinner

After a long weekend of big meals at other peoples house, leftovers and eating from our packed freezer I decided this Sunday's dinner needed to be rich, slow cooked, home cooked and slightly indulgent.  Its back to salads and chicken breast after today, so go big and stay home (my Sunday dinner motto)
Red wine braised beef boneless short ribs with risotto and roasted carrots...a favorite in our house

Apologies in advance for barely measuring on this one but I've made it so many times its hard to know measurements:

Short Ribs - I use the leftovers for meat sauce...Ill post that one later this week

• 4 large pieces of *boneless short ribs, cut in half
• 4 Carrots, 1 inch chunks
• 3 Celery Stalks, 1 inch chunks
• 1 Onion, 1 inch chunks
• 4 Garlic Cloves, sliced thin
• 1 Shallot, sliced thin
• 1 Cup Beef Broth, low sodium
• 1 Cup Red wine, use the good stuff that you are drinking...nice and heavy, never sweet
• 1/2 cup cola
• Thyme, Rosemary, Bay Leaf
• S&P
• 5 quart cast iron dutch oven - A MUST

Steps are pretty basic and straight forward but there are some that are so important and can't be skipped or rushed:

1.  Salt and pepper the room temperature meat generously, it may feel like a lot but its not, when you consider the amount of elements in the pot and how important the meat is to the dish, you must form a good crust on the meat before browning. 
2.  Next, browning, make sure the meat is not crowding the pan, the heat is medium high (not smoking),  and the meat is not cold,  you will have an awesome flavor starter for your ribs.

I wont bore you or try to attempt to sight science but watch any Alton Brown episode about cooking meat and he'll tell you the same things (that's where I learned it)

3.  Once you have a good crust on all sides, remove from the pan and allow to rest on a plate.  Add veg to hot pan and  saute for 8 mins, then add 2 tablespoons of flour to make a flavorful roux.  Once its thick and feels like its about to burn, add red wine and scrap the bottom of the pan, bring to a boil and then add broth, herbs and meat back to the pan.

4. Bake for 2.5 hours in a 325 oven.  I open keep it closed for 2 hours, scraping the side of the pan a few times to make sure the good stuff makes it in to the sauce.  Then, add the cola and remove the top for the last 30 mins to thicken and enrich the sauce. 

Once its tender remove the meat to a platter covered with foil, then strain the sauce to make it smooth and taste.  Keep the good bits from the sauce, you can make great sauce with it later if you freeze it.  (I recycle everything in this kitchen!!)