AMAZING Braised Short Ribs

OMG.. This is officially on list of  favourites.  To be honest, I have never cooked with short ribs before, I can't believe I lived this long without ever experiencing braised short ribs.  When my roommate and I tasted it that night, we just looked at each other with happiness.  I immediately knew that I will be making braised short ribs more often.  Maybe once a week! I’m just so happy! 

When it comes to cooking savoury food, I tend to not follow recipes to the “T”.  I would go through hundred of sites and watch several Youtube videos and gather the general idea on how to cook a basic dish.  On the other hand, baking is a different story, I always follow baking recipes, if not, they usually tend not to turn out very tasty,.. and that happened a lot to me in the past.  In this particular case, I looked for recipes from the Food Network site and did a general search on Google.  I would also read comments from other bloggers and by readers who have made the dish.  I like reading them because they also usually state the pros and cons of the dish. The result? The usual ingredients are carrots, celery, onions, red wine, short ribs (of course) and seasonings.   General techniques involves browning the meat, and simmering for hours in the oven.  Simple enough =D  However, I decided to just simmer it on the stove cause I don't have any pots that are oven safe.  the result is still great.  I may invest in a oven-safe pot just to see if the flavour is any different, but I found that simmering it on the stove was just fine. 

This is my version of braised short ribs ( did I mention it was AMAZING?!):

Are you drooling yet?

 Yield: 4

Ingredients:

Short ribs 2 strips ( approximately 2 lb each)

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 stalk celery chopped

2 carrots chopped

2 onions chopped

5 clove of garlic, chopped

3 bay leaf

20 sprig of time

2 ½ cup red wine

5 cups Beef stock ( enough to cover the beef)

2 tbsp Worcestershire

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp rosemary

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1.       Chop carrots, celery, onions

2.       Season the ribs with salt and pepper

3.       Coat the ribs with flour

The marbling of fat throughout this piece means that it is flavourful!

                  

4.      Between medium to high heat, sear ALL sides of the meat, this technique is call “browning”. Don’t crowd the pot, you want a good sear on all side. I only had 5 in my pot at a time. When all sides are browned, set aside in a bowl. IF there is a lot of oil in your pan, pour some of it out.

5.       Add carrots, celery, onions, garlic.  Stir while scraping  the brown bits on the bottom of the pot

6.       Add Thyme, balsamic vinegar, red wine and brown sugar.  Stir

7.       Return all the beef back into the pot

8.       Add beef stock and bay leaf( you only need enough beef stork to cover all the beef

9.       Put the lid on and wait till it boils

10.       Reduce heat to low when boil

11.       Cook for 3 hours or until meat is tender!

12.       Remove all the meat into a bowl

13.      Time to reduce the sauce, there is probably a lot of liquid still in the pot.  Turn stove on high and let it bubble till the sauce reduce to half.  Stir occasionally so the vegetables don’t burn.

14.       Serve with your choice of side, I made a plain mash potato!

The best part is that it taste just as amazing (if not better) the next day!

Beef Brisket Noodle Soup

It certainly is chilly out!  It snows here and there -- the weather is constantly averaging -6 degrees. Brrr... In order to be kept warm, time to stew something! One of my favourites is the Chinese Beef Brisket Rice Noodle Soup!  Many of you know of the infamous Wonton Noodle Soup, but personally, I love Beef Brisket with fresh Ho Fun Noodles. If your Chinese, or ever had Beef Brisket Rice Noodle Soup, you will love this version!  This recipe was verbally given to me by someone who I see every few years and had not demonstrated the cooking techniques behind this lovely creation.  

Hmmm, the taste...... it a cross between a western beef stew, and Chinese Beef Brisket Noodle Soup.  There is tomato paste, onions carrots and beef just like western stew, but it also has star anise, cinnamon, cubed beef briskets and a touch of curry powder that adds an Asian flare?!!?... I don’t know if this is making any sense! hahahaha   Oh, and the soup is a much thinner broth and not as thick as the western style. 

None the less, it’s extremely good.  If I choose to make it as a main course (lunch or dinner), steaming some vermicelli noodles, bok choy, and ladle the broth and brisket as a hardy meal.  Not to mention, garnishing with cilantro and green onion for extra added flavour.  I usually have it in the afternoon as a soup for an afternoon snack :).

This pot of beef brisket stew ideally can serve up to 6 people. I only live with one other person so I would freeze it in Tupperware and pull it out whenever I’m feeling lazy to cook!  This way I can easily reheat the soup on the stove and able to enjoy it throughout the week! Also, this stew takes at least 2 hours to stew, so it’s a quite a long wait!

Good chunky pieces

Equipments:

Large pot

Ingredients:

1 lb Beef Brisket – cut into chunks (trim off the fat, but make sure to leave a good amount because it’ll help make the beef more tender and juicy)

2 large onions- chopped

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

1 rock sugar (size of 2 marbles) – can purchase at any Asian supermarket. 

2 carrots- chopped not too small, size of brisket

3-4 ginger- thinly sliced

1 tablespoon curry powder

3 tablespoon tomato paste

900 ml beef stock
2 cups water

This gives good flavour!

2 tablespoon oil

Garnish:
Coriander
Green onions

Directions:

1.       Add oil to the hot pot, high heat

2.       Add brisket to pot cook, brown the meat, (crispy edges) for approximately 5 mins.  (This adds flavour)

3.       Change to medium heat and add onions

4.       Cook onions for another 5 mins while stirring and scraping off the brown bits in the bottom of the pot

5.       Add tomato paste and curry powder, stir so everything is coated in tomato paste

Add that stock and water!

6.       Turn heat back on high, and add beef stock, water, ginger, cinnamon,  Star anise, bay leaf and rock sugar

7.        Put lid on pot, and cook on LOW heat

8.        Boil for 1 hour on LOW heat, then add carrots (the brisket takes a 

       longer time to cook before it get tenders, that's why I add the carrot in

       an hour later so it doesn’t melt into the stew. 

10.     Cook soup for a total of 2-3 hours

11.     Salt and pepper 

12.  Garnish with coriander and green onions 

Optional:

Vermicelli Rice Noodles.  You can buy these at any Chinese supermarket.  I bought mine at Loblaws Superstore

Tip: Freeze the leftovers if you want to have this soup on a later date.

Note: I added vegetables at the end. I used what I had in the fridge at the time, which were green bell peppers, and mushrooms.

Yum!