Boneless beef shortribs -- now what?

I was at Chicago Meat last month and saw some boneless beef shortribs that looked great. So I bought them and stuck them in the freezer. Inspired by stevez's recent post about braising and the All About Braising cookbook along with my new oval Le Creuset dutch oven, I'd like to do something with them this weekend. However, I'm ashamed to admit I've never eaten or cooked shortribs. So I didn't know that "bone-in" would be better than "bone-less." I turn to my LTH Forum friends for help. Can I just follow one of the recipes regardless of the lack of bones in my shortribs? Or would the cooking time be shorter? Any tips, recipes or advice are welcome.

Thanks!

-Mary

Since your short ribs are boneless, I might suggest thin slicing them, marinating them overnight in a korean style marinade, the grilling them over live charcoal. The problem with braising boneless shrt ribs is that they're boneless. The flavor imparted to meat braised on the bone results in a deeper richer braising sauce than to meat braised off the bone.

YourPalWill wrote:The problem with braising boneless shrt ribs is that they're boneless. The flavor imparted to meat braised on the bone results in a deeper richer braising sauce than to meat braised off the bone.

Agreed, but the ones I had at Lola this past weekend would indicate that awesomeness sans bones is entirely attainable:



They were oustanding.

(Of course, I suppose it's possible the bones were used in their preparation and not served.)

YourPalWill wrote:Since your short ribs are boneless, I might suggest thin slicing them, marinating them overnight in a korean style marinade, the grilling them over live charcoal. The problem with braising boneless shrt ribs is that they're boneless. The flavor imparted to meat braised on the bone results in a deeper richer braising sauce than to meat braised off the bone.

I think the bones impart more of a texture than a flavor to the dish. And while I certainly prefer bone-in short ribs, braising boneless ones can turn out very well. There are many things you can do to affect the flavor of the finished dish...sear the short ribs well first to develop additional flavor and produce a good fond on the bottom of the pan; use high-quality stock, not canned; use some good wine; make sure your veggies and herbs are as fresh as possible. You can also add any (beef) bones to the cooking vessel to approximate bone-in meat. Just ask your meat guy for a bone or two and throw them in the pot when you sear the meat.

Have fun!

=R=

We almost always braise boneless, mostly out of convenience. They're plenty wonderful, so give it a go. I think you'll be very happy.

We like to shred the braised shortribs with a fork and toss them with spaetzle or gnocchi.

I always braise them with bone in, but I don't see any problem with braising boneless shortribs. I certainly braise a lot of other meats without the bone.

In addition to more flavor, one thing you do get with the bones is a more thickening to the sauce due to connective tissues dissolving in during the cooking process. One way to compensate is to put some neckbones or a cut up ox tail in with the short rib meat during the braise. Brown it in the pan ahead of time just like you do with the meat and then toss everything together. You can pick he meat off the bones after cooking and throw it back in with the shortribs before serving. That would help give the sauce a nice velvety texture as well as adding an extra layer of flavor and all those tasty bits of meat. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

ronnie_suburban wrote: There are many things you can do to affect the flavor of the finished dish...sear the short ribs well first to develop additional flavor and produce a good fond on the bottom of the pan; use high-quality stock, not canned; use some good wine; make sure your veggies and herbs are as fresh as possible.

If by "good" you mean an inexpensive drinkable
(not more than lightly oaked) dry red wine (like a Cote du Rhone)
Then we are in agreement!

mhill95149 wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote: There are many things you can do to affect the flavor of the finished dish...sear the short ribs well first to develop additional flavor and produce a good fond on the bottom of the pan; use high-quality stock, not canned; use some good wine; make sure your veggies and herbs are as fresh as possible.

If by "good" you mean an inexpensive drinkable
(not more than lightly oaked) dry red wine (like a Cote du Rhone)
Then we are in agreement!

Yes. Mainly, don't use something you wouldn't enjoy drinking.

=R=

Thanks to all for your replies. I'm going to forge ahead using the All About Braising recipe with wine and mushrooms. I'll be sure to get a decent wine. I'll dust off the camera and try to document the process. (The one time I attempted food prep documentation with a long-simmered pork ragu, the results looked like dog food, not the most photogenic thing I've ever made.)

There's this great recipe for Chimay ale braised short ribs in the Zuni cafe cookbook. It's worth a try the next time you get more short ribs.

Anyone have a good recipe for beef short ribs??
May short ribs instead of baby backs for the Super bowl.
What do you think???

I love the Coffee and Ancho Chili Short Ribs recipe from Epicurious. I serve it over Celery Root and Potato mash, but regular mash or polenta would also work. It's best made one to two days in advance, and if you do choose to try it, don't worry when making the marinade....the steam when making the marinade gives off so much chili anyone in the kitchen will have running eyes. However the final product has little heat and deeply satisfying, rich beef flavor.

kanin wrote:There's this great recipe for Chimay ale braised short ribs in the Zuni cafe cookbook.

Not sure if it's related, but a long time ago kl5 kindly pm-ed a very good recipe.


I can't seem to find the recipe itself, but with the picture I note:
Browned shortribs, briased in ale (and mushroom broth) with thick cut onions, bay leaves, pepper and wild mushrooms. Finally shortribs are smeared with dijon mustard and glazed under broiler. Simple and so tasty.

See also stevez's HIP* Braising the Winter Blues Away


*Hunger Inducing Post

sazerac wrote:

kanin wrote:There's this great recipe for Chimay ale braised short ribs in the Zuni cafe cookbook.

Not sure if it's related, but a long time ago kl5 kindly pm-ed a very good recipe.

Yup, sounds like the Zuni recipe. I made this for Christmas Eve and it was delicious. The only thing I would have liked is to taste the Chimay a bit more. I'm not sure how to arrange this, though. Sides I would recommend: red chard with a tiny bit of garlic, butternut squash and wild rice. Fundamentally, the success of the dish lies with the quality of the beef, though. Fortunately, I have an excellent source.

Josephine wrote:The only thing I would have liked is to taste the Chimay a bit more. I'm not sure how to arrange this, though.

I've always wanted to reserve some ale to be added towards the end of braising, but it's lot harder than it sounds when it comes to Chimay :) . I've tried replacing stock with more ale and was pleased with the results.

braised with tomatoes, onions, and poblanos and then shredded, they make a great taco filling.

I'm using the Mark Bittman recipe from last Feb. and it smells good so far

I didn't have a dried chipotle, so I used one chipotle in adobo.

( Bittman article and recipe
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/dining/13mini.html )

So how was Mark Bittman's short ribs.

Full agreement about saving dogs.

I tried it last year and Mr Views said he wanted me to make it that way from now on. I liked it, too, but he really loved it.

I liked it, but I like the sauces I've done without the coffee better. It didn't taste like coffee, specifically, it just didn't taste like I wanted to sop it up with bread.

I use boneless beef shortribs for stirfry. I slice it very thin while it's partially frozen and then quickly stir fry it in a very hot wok. It's the best meat for stir fry I've ever used.