There’s no need to be afraid of making short ribs at home, the kind that become fork-tender from being braised in the perfect red wine, Zinfandel.
Start by heating up a Dutch oven and browning the ribs in oil. Once beautifully golden brown, remove and set aside. Now in the same pot, sauté onions, garlic, carrots, and celery. After a few minutes, add a little tomato paste, and a tablespoon of flour to help thicken and continue to stir for a moment or two.
Chuck the ribs back into the pot and now dump in a bottle of dry red wine and bring to a gentle boil. Continue to cook until the liquid is reduced by half and then cover and put into a 300 degree oven for 2-3 hours or until the meat us falling of the bone tender.
As for red Zinfandel, most stores carry a vast selection of this American treasure. Originally brought over to California by Italian immigrants in the late 1800’s, this grape has happily been thriving here ever since. And actually, many of the original vines that are over 100 plus years old, are still producing grapes today… talk about heritage!
The flavor of red Zinfandel is intensely rich and fruity which makes it the perfect pairing with short ribs. Because it’s not wimpy, it holds up well against the rich flavors of the short ribs and the fruitiness of the wine helps balance out the fattiness of the ribs.
Try this pairing out, I promise you will love it!
–Alex Province
Stella Peruzzotti says
Great recipes, Great program. I wish you were on TV. I just love listening to all of you.
You make cooking so easy and so good. Thank you.
Faith Middleton says
Stella,
What a wonderful thing to say! We all hope you enjoy. Happy New Year! — Faith
Karen says
This is my New Year’s Day dinner entre! Sounds delicious.
Faith Middleton says
Hope you are enjoying it this very minute! Happy New Year– Faith
Lauren Pinzks says
I love your show as well. You always cheer me up and I love that you are such a gourmande!
Zena says
Just made this dish for the upcoming Winter Storm I added wild mushroom mix can’t wait to taste it!
Myra Serrins says
With snow falling outside as the big storm moves in, I thought this would be a great dish to make today. However, I want to point out that a recipe usually lists amounts of each of the ingredients. That would be helpful to me in this case.
Robyn Doyon-Aitken says
Faith’s producer, Robyn, here. Good point. And understood. This was one of those cases where the dish was improvised, so it really was more of an idea than a complete recipe, for sure. Certainly worth sharing, we thought, but you’re right. It does require some guesstimating on the cook’s part.