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Cook meat low and slow for stick-to-your-ribs short ribs

By: Alison Gillmor

Posted: 03/6/2013 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Guinness-braised short ribs get depth of flavour from the addition of the dark beer. (JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

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Barbecued beef ribs can be cooked in the oven or in a slow cooker. (JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

Last week, Nichole wrote in with a request for short ribs made in the slow cooker. Thanks so much to Renée Lavitt, who sent in a recipe for barbecued ribs, and to Sandra Hickey, who offers a version flavoured with Guinness.

With Easter and Passover coming up, please keep those requests or recipes for family favourites coming in. If you can help with a recipe request, have your own request, or a favourite recipe you'd like to share, send an email to recipeswap@freepress.mb.ca, fax it to 697-7412, or write to Recipe Swap, c/o Alison Gillmor, Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave. Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6. Please include your first and last name, address and telephone number.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca

Barbecued ribs of beef

1.4 kg (3 lbs) beef short ribs, cut into 5-cm (2-inch) pieces
10 ml (2 tsp) salt
1 ml (1/4 tsp) pepper
5 ml (1 tsp) paprika
5 ml (1 tsp) dry mustard
15 ml (1 tbsp) sugar
15 ml (1 tbsp) Worcestershire sauce
125 ml (1/2 cup) ketchup
125 ml (1/2 cup) water
60 ml (1/4 cup) cider vinegar
125 ml (1/2 cup) minced onions
1 clove garlic, minced

Brown the ribs in a heated casserole or Dutch oven; pour off the fat. Combine all the remaining ingredients and add to the ribs. Cover and bake in a 175 C (350 F) oven for 2 hours. Remove the cover for the last half hour. Serves 6-8.

Tester's notes: This is a great cut of meat, and the barbecue sauce is a tasty balance of spicy, sweet and sour flavours. You can bake this in a conventional oven, but it would adapt well to the slow cooker, as in the recipe below -- cooking for about 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 on high. Beef ribs aren't quite as fatty as pork ribs, but you'll probably want to skim off some fat when the ribs are warm, or let them cool and then spoon it out.

Guinness-braised short ribs

2 onions, thinly sliced
2 carrots, diced
1 rib of celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
30 ml (2 tbsp) paprika
6 ml (1 1/4 tsp) salt
2 ml (1/2 tsp) pepper
500 ml (2 cups) beef broth
1 x 440-ml can Guinness beer
60 ml (4 tbsp) tomato paste
15 ml (1 tbsp) Dijon mustard
15 ml (1 tbsp) liquid honey
1.4 kg (3 lbs) beef short ribs

In slow cooker, combine onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, paprika, salt and pepper. In small bowl, whisk together beef broth, beer, tomato paste, mustard and honey; pour into slow cooker. Submerge the ribs in the liquid. Cover and cook on low for about 7-8 hours, or until the meat is tender enough to pull away from the bone. Discard bay leaves, and skim off the fat.

Tester's notes: Really good. The low-and-slow cooking method really suits ribs, and I love the taste of Guinness in cooking. Here it adds depth and darkness to a flavourful braising liquid.

I decided to sear the meat first. You don't have to, and I know that part of the charm of the slow cooker is the idea that you just throw everything into one pot, for convenience and quick clean-up. But I think searing adds a layer of flavour and colour, so generally I brown anything that I'd brown if I weren't using a slow cooker.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 6, 2013 D5

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