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Guinness Braised Beef Short Ribs Recipe – Last Taste of Winter

By Adrian Mott ⋅ April 14, 2010 ⋅  Print Recipe ⋅ Post a comment

This post was co-authored (really the recipe was co-cooked) by @taylorbarstow

At some point during the winter, I inevitably will get a serious craving for some delicious and wholesome braised beef short ribs. With winter waning, a few of us on a ‘dudes night’ decided to do something we rarely all do together: cook. It was really rainy out, and all of us were thinking about drinking some dark beer, so Guinness was the answer for both the glasses and the dish. After shopping around a bit with Taylor and Kippy, we found ourselves in the North End, at Sulmona Meat Market on Parmenter Street – classic, old school Italian butcher and had some beautiful short ribs that we decided to have the butcher leave whole and not chop in half like usual short rib cuts.

The cuts of beef will look rather large as you can see in the pictures, but this was cool with us all around.  We decided to use a combination of braising liquids, all brought together with the classic French mirepoix of onions, carrots and celery.  Braising liquids included Gunniess, chicken stock (you can use beef too of course) and a touch of coffee.  We decided to pair the dish with some creamy Parmesan polenta and some of the braising liquid on the plate.  I’d also consider serving some blanched and sauteed bitter dark greens – or really whatever you like.  The beauty of short ribs is that they’re so damn tender “falling off the bone” that you tend to forget whatever else is on the plate.  Here’s what to do:

Before starting, remember that these short ribs can take up to 3 hours to cook!!!  So start early with them!

• 4-6 Whole (or 8-12 halved) short ribs – the freshest you can find – Grass-fed beef preferred!
• 1 large (or 2 medium) carrots – roughly chopped
• 2-3 stalks celery – washed and cubed
• 1 large white onion – diced
• 3 cloves of garlic – smashed
• 2 bay leaves
• A few stalks of parsley
• 2 pint cans of Guinness stout
• 2 cups chicken or beef stock
• 1/2 cup coffee (optional)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

First thing you want to do is locate a good heavy bottomed pot to use for the braise.  I’ll sometimes use a large roasting pan that I cover with tinfoil if I have too many ribs to fit in my Le Creuset dutch oven.  Once you’ve got your equipment, preheat your oven to 350 F.

Season the short ribs thoroughly with salt and a small amount of pepper and set aside.  Heat your pot over medium/high heat and add a few glugs of olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot.  When the oil is just about smoking hot, add the ribs and brown on all sides, then remove the ribs and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium/low and add all of the vegetables, including the parsley and bay leaves and mix to combine and cook until softened – around 5-7 minutes.  Add the braising liquid and bring to a simmer, then add the short ribs back into the pot, cover with a heavy lid and place into the preheated oven.

The time you want to cook your short ribs is really up to you, but I would advise AT LEAST 2 hours.  My rule of thumb I learned from Taylor Barstow and it basically goes like this: cook the short ribs until they are basically completely falling apart and the bone comes out easily.

The last part really pulls the dish together: Start a saute pan over medium high heat and a just a tiny bit of olive oil.  When the pan is really hot, add the short ribs and sear them on each side to add a little bit if texture back to the short ribs (a little crust for your meat).  Once they’re done, serve along side polenta or whatever you’d like and enjoy immediately!