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By Wolfgang Puck, Tribune Media Services
Take the beef short ribs that star in the recipe I share here. Not too long ago, nobody was cooking them in fine restaurants. But I like to think that I've done my part to change that situation, frequently including short ribs on my menus. After they've spent several hours cooking, their rich-tasting meat literally melts in your mouth.
My recipe features a Dutch oven, the versatile large pot of enameled cast-iron that no kitchen should be without, since it moves so easily from the stovetop to the oven to the serving table (provided you have a sturdy heatproof trivet under it, of course). But the recipe will also work perfectly if you want to use an electric slow cooker, that wonderful appliance that enables you to assemble a dish in the morning and leave it to cook all day on your kitchen counter, with dinner ready to serve when you come home.
To adapt my recipe for a slow cooker, you'll still need to brown the short ribs and vegetables in a Dutch oven or a large skillet, as directed, and then deglaze the pan deposits and heat up the cooking liquid. Then, simply assemble all the solid ingredients in the crockery insert of your slow cooker, add the hot liquid, put on the lid, and cook until the short ribs are tender, about 5 hours on the high-heat setting or 8 to 10 hours on the low-heat setting. Take care to skim off the fat and adjust the seasonings as directed before serving.
However you cook the recipe, you should also consider making it a day ahead, if that's convenient, since short ribs taste even better reheated. Just let the ribs and sauce cool for 30 minutes or so before transferring them to a covered container in the refrigerator. The next day, remove and discard the solidified fat from the surface. Then, transfer the ribs and sauce to a baking dish, cover with foil, and warm them up in a 350 degrees F oven for 30 to 45 minutes.
I promise you, the results will be well worth waiting for.
Serves 6
Ingredients - Braised Beef Short Ribs with Tomatoes & Red Wine
4 to 5 pounds bone-in beef short ribs, cut into pieces about 3 inches (7.5 cm) long
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced organic celery
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 cup diced organic carrot
4 garlic cloves
3 cups dry red wine
4 Roma (plum) tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 large sprig fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
3 cups organic beef broth
3 cups organic chicken broth
Preparation - Braised Beef Short Ribs with Tomatoes & Red Wine
Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Season the short ribs all over with salt and pepper to taste.
In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the short ribs, in batches if necessary to avoid crowding, and sear them until well browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side, turning them with tongs or a slotted spoon and removing them to a plate or bowl when done.
Add the celery, onion, carrot, and garlic to the Dutch oven and saute, stirring frequently, until the onions turn translucent, 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the wine to the Dutch oven and bring it to a boil, stirring and scraping with a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan deposits. Return the short ribs to the Dutch oven, arranging them in an even layer.
Add the tomatoes and bay leaves. Arrange the thyme, parsley, and peppercorns in the center of a square of cheesecloth; gather up the corners and tie them securely with kitchen string to make a bouquet garni, and add it to the Dutch oven. Pour in the beef and chicken broth, raise the heat to high, and bring the liquid to a boil.
Remove the Dutch oven from the heat, put on its lid, and carefully transfer to the oven. Cook until the short ribs are very tender, about 3 hours.
Carefully transfer the Dutch oven to the stovetop. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the short ribs to a platter or shallow bowl and cover with aluminum foil. With a large, shallow spoon, skim off excess fat from the surface of the cooking liquid. Discard the bay leaves and bouquet garni. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.
To serve, transfer the ribs to individual serving plates. Spoon the sauce over and around each serving.
(c) 2008 WOLFGANG PUCK WORLDWIDE, INC. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
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Wolfgang Puck's Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck
The world-renowned chef with an extraordinary passion for food now shares that passion in Wolfgang
Puck's Kitchen. Puck makes great cooking easier than you ever imagined. He reveals how to turn common ingredients into uncommon masterpieces. Each feature includes both an expert tip and an easy recipe-exactly what you need to transform your home cooking from acceptable to delectable. Moves with color photos.
About Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck, in the eyes of food lovers and experts alike, is one of the most famous chefs in America and arguably the world. He has spawned a culinary empire that includes a fine dining group of 12 internationally acclaimed restaurants in Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Las Vegas, Chicago, San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Maui; an extensive catering & events business with bases in Hollywood and Chicago, famed as official caterer to the Governors Ball following the Oscars; as well as Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc., a corporation that controls, licenses, and franchises the Wolfgang Puck brand in a wide variety of business activities, including casual Wolfgang Puck Cafes, fast-casual Wolfgang Puck Expresses, consumer packaged foods, cookware, book publishing, television, and the Internet.
For the first time, Puck shares his expert, easy-to-master approach to cooking in the newspaper arena through WOLFGANG PUCK?S KITCHEN, a newspaper column syndicated by Tribune Media Services.
The Austrian-born Puck began his formal training at age 14, inspired by his mother, Maria, a hotel chef. He left Europe for America in 1973 at the age of 24, having already worked in the master kitchens of three-star French restaurants. In 1975, Puck moved to Los Angeles, and soon was both chef and part-owner of Ma Maison. It quickly became a magnet for the rich and famous, with Puck as star attraction. Since then, he has changed the way Americans cook and eat by fusing formal French techniques and Asian and California influenced esthetics with the highest quality ingredients.
After the 1981 publication of the first of his five cookbooks, Puck, in partnership with designer Barbara Lazaroff, opened Spago. Located in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip, it was an instant success and culinary phenomenon from its opening day in 1982. Although the original location closed in 2000, three years after the successful opening of Spago Beverly Hills, Spago Hollywood today is remembered internationally as a legendary haven for entertainment, political and social luminaries.
In 2000, Puck developed his own "Wolfgang Puck" television show, which began airing on the Food Network in January 2001. The show features Puck sharing his cooking expertise with a studio audience who joins him in his kitchen, along with field documentary segments in which he explores the vast and diverse world of food, from farms to artisan workshops to restaurants, and visits with such luminaries as Julia Child, Robert Mondavi and Paul Bocuse. "Wolfgang Puck" was awarded a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Service Show in 2002.
Puck also appears regularly on ABC's "Good Morning America," sharing his latest creations. He has been a guest on a multitude of other shows, including "The Late Show with David Letterman," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Entertainment Tonight," "ABC News with Peter Jennings," "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather," "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher," "Frasier," and "The Simpsons." In 2001, the A&E Network featured Puck's life on its popular "Biography" series.
Puck and partner Barbara Lazaroff are actively involved in many philanthropic endeavors and charitable organizations, including their own Puck-Lazaroff Charitable Foundation, established in 1982, which supports the annual American Wine & Food Festival to benefit Meals-on-Wheels.
Puck lives in Beverly Hills. He and Barbara Lazaroff have two sons, Cameron and Byron.
(c) 2008 WOLFGANG PUCK WORLDWIDE, INC. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
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