Well, hello there! Yes, I realize it has been months and months since my last update, and I'm so very sorry for the delay. Hopefully I will be able to update a bit more frequently now!!
Today's post is actually a dish that I made back in February... but it has taken me this long to get it online. Hope you enjoy...
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I love short ribs. In a major way. Decadent and rich, they are THE perfect winter meal, especially after walking around in freezing ass NYC all day long. Most of the short ribs I have made in the past have been total comfort food. Richly sauced and served with risotto or polenta - it doesn't get much more satisfying than that. That's why, when looking through the FL cookbook, I decided that this was a dish that I HAD to make. ASAP.
Keller's version is, not surprisingly, a much more complex and refined dish than any other short ribs I have ever eaten. It started with an easy but dangerous marinade... hey, gotta live on the edge right?
First, I chopped up some carrots, leeks, onions and garlic, and put them into a pot with thyme, parsley, a bay leaf, and a BOTTLE of wine (my kind of recipe):
Then, I brought said liquid to a boil and LIT IT ON FIRE:
After almost singeing off my eyebrows, I had a delicious red wine marinade, minus the alcohol. My short ribs went into a bowl to take a marinade bath overnight:
Also the day before... I had to deal with the marrow bones, which I had the butcher cut into pieces for me. I order to remove the marrow from the bones, they required soaking in ice water for 24 hours. The catch is, that the water had to be changed every 6-8 hours to avoid the blood from the bones spoiling the marrow itself! EW. Here's what it looked like:
THE NEXT DAY
First, I removed the meat from the marinade, strained the marinade, and reserved the vegetables, and simmered the liquid separately to clarify it.
Then, I heated canola oil in a large skillet over high heat. I seasoned the meat well and dusted it with flour, then browned it in the oil until it looked like this:
I poured off a bit of the excess oil and then sauteed the reserved vegetables until they began to caramelize. Then, I put the meat in a large pot, and covered it with the sauteed vegetables, reserved marinade, veal and chicken stock. The pot went into the oven for 4 hours with a parchment lid at 275 degrees.
While the meat was cooking a cut and blanched my vegetables:
Then, when the meat finished, I removed it from the pot and it looked like this:
MMMM nice and tender.
I strained the braising liquid several times through a chinois until the chinois remained clean, then reserved 1/3 of the liquid to the side, and put the rest in a small saucepan to reduce to sauce consistency.
I cut the meat into even pieces, and placed them in a pan over medium heat until they were golden brown on all sides. Then, I moved them to another pot, where I covered them in the reserved braising liquid, keeping them warm until they were ready to be served.
Then, I added the vegetables to the small saucepan with the reduced sauce, heating them gently to warm.
While they were warming, it was time to work with the bone marrow. First, i drained and dried the pieces and trimmed them to create a flat surface on either side. Then, I salted and floured them, and fried them in canola oil over medium heat. The trick here was.. if the oil is too hot, the flour burns before the marrow crisps... if it is too cold, the marrow melts. TRICKY! But I think I got it. Unfortunately, I had to work too quickly to take a picture of the whole process.
Last step was plating. Vegetables and sauce, followed by short rib, and a piece of bone marrow on top. Sprinkle with gray salt and chopped chives and VOILA:
This was a great recipe, and definitely worth the effort if you are looking for something besides rustic, homestyle short ribs. The bone marrow was an added decadence. YUM.
Oh, and by the way, my pictures still suck. Sheesh.
