My dinner guests loved this recipe. How do I know? Because they said so and they asked for the recipe. Anytime someone asks for the recipe that tells me they enjoyed. It is a favorite from Cook Illustrated, but check out my notes because I made a few notes that might be helpful.
For one, you can use onions if you don't have shallots. Shallots are in the onion family but are formed more like garlic. They are slightly milder than onions and you'll probably notice that shallots cost more.
Serves 8
Ingredients:
6-8 pounds beef short ribs, trimmed
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 (750 ml) bottle Chianti Classico
1 cup water
4 shallots, peeled and halved lengthwise
2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise
1 garlic head, cloves separated, unpeeled and crushed
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon cracked black peppercorns, plus extra for serving
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions:
Toss beef and salt to taste together in a bowl and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees.
Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium high heat until just smoking. Add half of beef in single layer and cook until well browned on all sides, about 8 minutes total, reducing heat if fond begins to burn. Stir in 2 cups wine, water shallots, carrots, garlic, rosemary, bay leaves, cracked peppercorns, tomato paste, anchovy paste and remaining beef. Bring to simmer and cover tightly with sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil, then lid. Transfer to oven and cook until beef is tender, 2-2 ½ hours, stirring halfway through cooking time.
Using slotted spoon, transfer beef to bowl; cover tightly with foil and set aside. Strain sauce through fine mesh strainer into fat separator. Wipe out pot with paper towel. Let liquid settle for 5 minutes, then return defatted liquid to pot.
Add 1 cup wine and ground black pepper and bring mixture to boil over medium high heat. Simmer briskly, stirring occasionally until sauce is thickened to consistency of heavy cream, 15 minutes.
Combine remaining wine and cornstarch in small bowl. Reduce heat to medium-low and return beef to pot and stir in cornstarch wine mixture. Cover and simmer until just heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Serve with crusty bread and extra cracked peppercorns on the side.
What about the wine? I served the stew with a good Chianti Riserva. Many people will tell you that using the same wine to drink with the meal as you cooked with isn't always the best. In this case there is enough difference between a Riserva and a Classico that it works really well.
Cooking Wiser:
I don't salt the meat prior to cooking. I add the salt after the meat starts to brown. I think it keeps the juices inside the meat better.
Fond is a French term used for stock. In this case they are talking about the liquid and brown bits in the pan created during the browning stage.
I brown all of the meat in two batches then add the next set of ingredients.
If you don't have a fat separator just set the liquid in the refrigerator until the fat comes to the top and hardens (or prepare up to this step then refrigerate over night).
The original recipe calls for boneless short ribs. I use short ribs with the bone in and this adds so much more flavor. You don't really need the gelatin if you have bone in ribs. I realize they are going for a thicker sauce but reducing and adding cornstarch worked fantastically with the bone in ribs.
If you don't have shallots, chop a small white onion and sauté it until golden, that will add the sweetness the recipe is aiming for.