Welcome, new range!

In honor of receiving our new stove/oven range today (a full week after our old one broke), I went to Whole Foods in search of something special and delicious with which to welcome our new oven.

The short ribs looked exceptionally good and not horrifically marked up. Plus, they were local, grass-fed cows - I'm a fan of all natural, grass-fed beef. I bought just over 2 pounds. In retrospect, this was enough to feed 4 people, but I was hungry, and though it sufficient for two.

I served the short ribs over a bed of mashed potatoes (made by Dan) and rainbow chard.

Braised Beef Short Ribs (one of my many versions...)

These take 2 hours minimum to cook, but you can leave them in there for up to 3 hours. It is nice to have that flexibility.

You will need:

2-2.5 lbs short ribs
5-6 carrots, cut into 1 inch diagonals
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 cup (ish) red wine... merlot, malbec, or burgundy would work especially nice. Use whatever you have left over, though. Or, 2 buck Chuck.
1.5 cups chicken, beef, or veal stock
1.5 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp juniper berries
bouquet garni
salt
pepper
EVOO

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a 3-5 quart dutch oven or stove/oven crock, heat about 1 TBS EVOO over medium high heat until glistening.
Pat short ribs dry and salt and pepper meaty sides.
When oil is heated, brown short ribs, in small batches on wide sides, about 2 minutes per side. Do not crowd the pan; you want them to brown and develop a crust, not steam.
Once all short ribs are browned, remove short ribs and drain oil from pan. Lower heat to low - medium, and toss in the carrots, and onions. Carmalize onions, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add in juniper berries and peppercorns, and cook another minute.
Pour in wine. Bring to a boil (raise heat) and reduce slightly while scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
Pour in stock, replace short ribs, cover, and cook for 2-3 hours in oven, until meat is pulling away from the bone.


Rainbow chard:

Melt some butter over low heat in a large sauce pan. Add some diced or crushed garlic and let gently saute until fragrant and golden. (Don't crank the heat up... garlic will burn and become bitter above medium heat!) Add chard in handfuls, allowing each batch to wilt slightly (covering helps) before stirring in a new handful.

I love chard. For those who haven't tried it, it is much like spinach, and being a dark, leafy green, is a very healthy food.