I have been vaguely looking out for beef short ribs for a fair while now and have never seen them until the other day. I bought two beautiful pieces with a cap of fat on each and used a Josh Emmet recipe to put them to the test.
The spices in this dish are star anise, cloves, black peppercorns, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cumin and salt. The whole spices are dry roasted, beef browned off, then a caramel is made with a small amount of sugar and sherry vinegar added, all thrown in an ovenproof dish (I used a good heavy bottom saucepan and double lined the lid with foil to create a tight seal), water or stock, then cooked (I cooked these for two hours but a larger piece would need 4 to 5).
The smell I have to say which they were cooking was divine, always a good sign. When they were just falling off the base bone I took them out, strained the liquor and refrigerated this delicious juice in order to take off the fat layer that settle. When I reduced this it made the most beautifully balanced sauce. Removing the fat gives a clearer flavour and there's still plenty on the beef itself. In my opinion sauce should be glossy not fatty.
I served these with some cauliflower and fennel puree, braised baby leeks and a small shaved fennel salad dressed simply with salt, lemon juice and a touch of Pastis (or Pernod). The salad not only gave a crunch but a freshness to the whole dish.
This was one of the most beautiful meals we have ever eaten and we both agreed on that. Simple to do but the balance of spice with acid from the vinegar (I have gorgeous Jerez vinegar I get in Spain (I get bottles of the stuff, it's my go to vinegar, very soft and oaky. Once you've had great Spanish sherry vinegar I defy you to go back to balsamic) balanced with a touch of caramel from the caramelised sugar.....
I'm glad I only had one piece each as if there were more we would have scoffed the lot and that just means more kms around the Marina. It's getting a bit hot for running more than 10kms now!
The spices in this dish are star anise, cloves, black peppercorns, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cumin and salt. The whole spices are dry roasted, beef browned off, then a caramel is made with a small amount of sugar and sherry vinegar added, all thrown in an ovenproof dish (I used a good heavy bottom saucepan and double lined the lid with foil to create a tight seal), water or stock, then cooked (I cooked these for two hours but a larger piece would need 4 to 5).
The smell I have to say which they were cooking was divine, always a good sign. When they were just falling off the base bone I took them out, strained the liquor and refrigerated this delicious juice in order to take off the fat layer that settle. When I reduced this it made the most beautifully balanced sauce. Removing the fat gives a clearer flavour and there's still plenty on the beef itself. In my opinion sauce should be glossy not fatty.
I served these with some cauliflower and fennel puree, braised baby leeks and a small shaved fennel salad dressed simply with salt, lemon juice and a touch of Pastis (or Pernod). The salad not only gave a crunch but a freshness to the whole dish.
This was one of the most beautiful meals we have ever eaten and we both agreed on that. Simple to do but the balance of spice with acid from the vinegar (I have gorgeous Jerez vinegar I get in Spain (I get bottles of the stuff, it's my go to vinegar, very soft and oaky. Once you've had great Spanish sherry vinegar I defy you to go back to balsamic) balanced with a touch of caramel from the caramelised sugar.....
I'm glad I only had one piece each as if there were more we would have scoffed the lot and that just means more kms around the Marina. It's getting a bit hot for running more than 10kms now!
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