Braises with bones are better. Make no mistake. But there’s enough goodness in the short ribs that it doesn’t matter. Enough connective tissue. Enough marbling. Umami. Wow. I grab them whenever I see them. They make fantastic stew. And who doesn’t love stew? The generic beef stew meat at grocery stores is usually cut from the hip. It’s not good. Just look at it. No marbling. No promise. No hope really. Your butcher can fix you up with chuck. That’s good. But if you can get short ribs… that’s great.
These braised short ribs strike a nice balance between a deeply flavourful sauce and tender, beefy meat. Serve them with a bit of crusty bread to sop up the leftover sauce. Or with a tangle of pasta. Tagliatelle works. You don’t want to serve them with a big pile of mashed potatoes though. That mutes the sauce. Let it shine. You made something awesome. You’re a star. Make sure everyone knows it.
There aren’t a lot of ingredients this stew. No potatoes. No mushrooms. No carrots in the final product. It’s really important to use great ingredients to get a great result. There’s nowhere to hide. Good meat. Decent wine. Good stock. A few vegetables. And, in this case, a bit of pork. Pancetta in fact. Adds a bit of saltiness, a bit of richness. You won’t even know it’s there – but it adds a little something extra. The key to this recipe is the browning of the meat. This is critical. The Maillard reaction makes it what it is. There’s no short cut. No secret. Just wait. Tough it out. Brown the meat. Brown it deeply. Do this one thing and your guests will rave.
