A new winter treat – French Cut beef ribs

December 30th, 2009 | By: Lynn Rehn

We live in a place and time where we are accustomed to words, photos and concepts being transferred in seconds around the world. Last week I discovered that this level of technology transfer had not made it to the world of high quality butchers.

Recently our family spent some time in the sun in La Quinta, CA where I discovered a wonderful meat market in Jensen’s grocery store. There, Frank Jr. prepared a cut of short ribs that I had never seen before and that was so good that I wanted to bring the Frenched Short Rib home to Chris Chiechi the long-time owner of Fischer Meats where I buy all the meat and seafood I use in catering events.

The challenge quickly became apparent. How can I have Frank, Jr instruct Chris on how to prepare the ribs when neither has a computer? The problem was finally solved by an advanced tool known as a cell phone. I arranged a call to Frank Jr. in La Quinta while standing next to Chris in Issaquah. I held the phone up to Chris’ ear as Frank Jr. coached him through the technique he had learned from his father. Chris would listen and then focus on the piece of meat on top of his white table, he’d turn it say “okay got it” and attack the beef with his knife. Quicker than I imagined Chris had it done and we were thanking Frank Jr. and saying goodbye promising to send a copy of the magazine to him.

As soon as I saw the frenched rib emerging under Chris’s knife skills I began to grin and be just that much more excited for everyone involved in Issaquah to taste the ribs I had frozen and hand carried onto the plane back home to cook in a wild mushroom, red wine and beef jus! I had made it and frozen it for a reheat at Vino Bella and currently they were bubbling away in Claude’s kitchen two doors down, while Chris made me four more ribs that I planned to prepare in Italian gravy with a three hour polenta as a side. My photographer snapped away as Chris completed the tying off of these beauties! They look like giant beef popsicles, a large piece of aged meat wrapped around its own cleaned bone, tied in three places to hold its shape through the braising process.

Chris was unconvinced until I returned with a prepared frenched rib for he and the staff at Fischer’s to sample. They were all immediately convinced that this frenched rib would be a taste favorite.

The first batch of ribs I prepared while in La Quinta were rolled in flour and salt, seared them for half and hour in a huge pan on all sides with whole garlic cloves and olive oil, then I removed the beef and threw in two finely chopped onions and cooked those till they were translucent, then I placed the ribs back in and deglazed the pan with 4 cups of nummy red wine, added two cups of beef stock , some tomato paste and three sprigs of rosemary, shut the lid on it for an hour on low. Then the addition of fresh mushrooms and some reconstituted dried mushrooms, I strained the juice from them and added it to the pan and chopped the mushrooms before sending them into the party on the stove. At this point you can put the pan into the oven or leave it on a low simmer on your stove. I let it cook for another hour and added carrots, tasted for seasoning and adjusted the salt. In one more hour I had prepped the noodles for serving the ribs over, added freshly chopped parsley for garnish and a fresh crisp flavor spike and happily issued the dish to my family!

Call ahead to ask Chris for this special cut of rib! Or email me, mycheflynn@gmail.com, and I’ll come cook them for you!

Recipes

Frenched Short Ribs with Wild Mushroom Red Wine and Beef Jus

4-6 Frenched Short Ribs
4 cloves whole garlic (whacked with flat side of knife)
3 Tbls Olive Oil
2 Cups Flour
2 tsp salt

Pre heat large pan on med high heat and put olive oil and garlic in. While pan is heating combine salt and floor in baggy or on a large plate, shake or roll each rib in it until completely coated. Add each rib to pan to sear on all sides until crusted and golden brown remove from heat.

Add

2 finely diced onions cook until translucent stirring to prevent burning. Deglaze pan with
4 Cups good Red Wine
2 cups beef stock
2 Tbls Tomato paste
3 six inch sprigs of Rosemary (you can add some thyme if you want to.)

Replace short ribs in pan and bring to boil, reduce heat and cover with lid. Simmer 1 hour.

Add one small package of wild mushrooms reconstituted according to package directions. Strain and chop and reserve fluid to add to pan.

2 cups sliced white mushrooms or crimini mushrooms

Add both kinds of mushrooms to pan along with mushroom juice.

Simmer 1 hour

Add

4 cups chopped carrots

Cover simmering one further hour. Then remove lid and short ribs and bring back up to boil reducing pan jus until thickened to your preference. Check for seasoning and add pepper to taste.

Place ribs back in and sprinkle with one cup rough chopped parsley. ( Italian flat leaf or curly leaf.)

Serve over egg noodles , whole wheat noodles or polenta.

Frenched Short Ribs in Italian Gravy

4-6 Frenched Short Ribs
3 tbls olive oil
4 cloves whole garlic whacked with flat side of knife
2 cups flour
2 tsp salt

Heat pan on med high heat swirl in olive oil add garlic cloves.

Combine flour and salt either in baggy or on a plate. Coat ribs completely and place in pan to sear on all sides, this can take 20-30 minutes.

Remove ribs from pan after browning and add

1 onion finely diced stir to prevent burning, when translucent deglaze pan with
4 oz red wine
2 cups beef stock
2 Tbls tomato paste.

Replace ribs and add

32 oz can of pureed tomatoes
1 jar of roasted red peppers pureed in blender or food processor
4 six inch long sprigs of rosemary

Adjust salt , bring to boil, reduce heat to low, and cook covered stirring and turning ribs occasionally for three hours.

Serve over whole grain spaghetti noodles or polenta

Three hour Polenta

2 cups milk
2 cloves garlic whacked with flat side of knife
2 cups water
1 cup polenta
2 tsp salt
2 cups finely shredded good quality parmesan cheese

Bring milk, water, and garlic to simmer. Turn off heat and let garlic steep for 20 minutes then remove garlic cloves.

Bring milk and water to low simmer and slowly, slowly add polenta stirring constantly, until polenta begins to thicken.

Have two more cups of water standing by next to pot. Bring heat down to lowest setting and cook stirring occasionally for three hours adding a bit of water at a time as needed. You can just cook the polenta for 30-40 minutes and be done, but that slow long cooking changes the flavor as the grains swell with each small addition of water and low heat. When finished add small amounts of parmesan at a time until its incorporated into the polenta. Oh…..well beyond nummy!