Anyone who knows me well knows one of my passions is craft beers and the other is short ribs. There is nothing better than sitting down on a cold winter day, with a slightly chilled flavorful craft draught. What makes it even better is this dish. This dish was developed for a beer tasting dinner I did at a brew pub outside of Washington D.C. many years ago. Short ribs hadn’t gained popularity yet, so they were still very inexpensive, and they held up well with the strong porter the brew pub offered to it’s guests. They also wanted add some bar flare, so we used their wing sauce in the recipe. This will feed four people.
- 4 pieces short ribs, about 6 oz. each
- 1 bottle Porter
- 1/4 c. Frank’s Red Hot sauce
- 1 medium onion, large dice
- 1 large carrot, bias cut about 1/2 inch
- 1 c. chicken or beef stock
- Heat up a heavy bottom skillet with some olive oil until it smokes (about 1 tbsp. or so). You’re also going to want to turn your oven on to about 350.
- Sear the short ribs until they’re a deep brown, turn and repeat. You want to let these sit on each side until they’re completely brown.
- When the short ribs are seared, remove them from the pan and add your vegetables. Let them site for just a minute, then toss. You want these to get just a little bit of color, not too dark.
Barely browned veggies - Add your beer, and let this simmer for about 2 minutes. Then add your stock and hot sauce.
- Transfer this to a roasting pan with the short ribs, cover with foil and throw the in the oven for about 3-4 hours, or until they’re tender.
- If you’re serving these right away, let them sit for about 5 minutes so until the ribs don’t fall apart on you. If you’re like me, you’re doing these the night before and letting them sit in the awesome sauce you just made. If you’re doing the latter, heat everything up in a saute pan or shallow pot, and let that sauce reduce a bit as they heat up. You don’t want it to go down too far because the hot sauce will get bitter.
If you weren’t drooling before, you are now…guaranteed
So now what do you serve this with? HAH!! BEER!!! I like hearty sides. Roasted potatoes or some bad-ass garlic fries work best for me. Another favorite is mashed potatoes with rosemary and blue cheese, it hits the heat just perfectly. Give this a try on your next cold night in. Let me know how you like it
Happy Eating,
-The Doctor