Beer Braised Shortribs

After buying a side of beef this summer, I found myself with a few cuts that I had never used before.  The most perplexing to me was the short ribs.  The first recipe I tried involved dredging in flour and frying, reducing wine, and then cooking in the oven for 3 more hours.  Needless to say, that wasn't a recipe I really had the time for.  On top of that, somewhere along the way I botched the recipe (I think the oven temp) and the ribs were so tough.  I set out looking for a simpler recipe, but most involved this step of searing and also a step that said to remove the silver...something...I had no idea what this meant, I saw no silver stuff on my ribs.
So after a few (12) recipes, I decided to give my Slowcooker a shot to make these ribs tender.  If it is possible, use the low setting to cook, if not the whole time, maybe the last half.  Short Ribs definitely have quite a bit of textures, the slowcooking melted some of these into the sauce and made the meat fall off the bone.  You could easily substitute a roast, it would just cook a little faster.


Beer Braised Short Ribs

3 medium onions sliced

3-4 lbs of grass-fed short ribs

1 bay leaf

1 bottle of beer (12 oz) or (12 oz more of stock)

2 TBSP of sucanat or brown sugar

2 TBSP of dijon whole grain mustard

2 TBSP tomato paste

2 tsp. of dried thyme

1 tsp. -1 TBSP of sea salt (this will vary depending on the stock you are using.  If it is homemade with no salt 1 TBSP if it is store bought 1 tsp-or less)

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

3 tsp. unbleached flour (substitute cornstarch or arrowroot if GF)
Stock (3-4 cups)

This is the only picture of the soup I took,
not sure why I didn't notice how bad the bowl looked. 

Add all of the ingredients except stock to the slowcooker.  Add enough stock to cover the meat.  Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low 7-8 hours.  Serve with polenta, potatoes, or rice and a light salad.

You can use the leftovers to make a great soup.  Just add diced tomatoes and veggies.  I made this on a Sunday afternoon and then we had easy soup after a busy Monday morning.  It's all about making eating well easy enough to do it all of the time!

Love and Butter,

Mishelle

This recipe is linked up with: Simple Meals Friday