Braised Short Ribs With Dark Beer

My favourite day to cook and host a dinner is on a Sunday. Slow cookin’, lots of time to prepare and cook and eat and drink.

With family and friends (or both), catching up over a comforting dinner – priceless!

I love braised dishes, that is to say slow-cooked meat dishes usually served with a sauce made of the braising liquid. Usually wine is a component but dark beer works wonderfully and the beer’s bitterness over cooking period melts away to leave you with a dark, savory and slightly sweet sauce.

The other components are onions, celery, carrots, a bit of tomato paste, bay leaves and thyme. You could add some mushrooms into the mix or shave some truffles if you’re feeling generous.

Make this dish a day ahead so you can remove the fat from the sauce (see pro tip at the end).

Braised Short Ribs With Dark Beer

(serves 4-6)

1 kg. plate beef short ribs (not Korean style) or chuck

approx 2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1 stalk of celery, diced

1 carrot, diced

3 cloves of garlic, smashed

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

3 bay leaves

2-3 tsp. thyme leaves

1 can (440ml) of dark beer (Guinness or other dark beer)

2-3 cups hot beef stock

2 Tbsp. corn starch dissolved in 2 Tbsp. cold water

pre-heated 350F oven

1. Take your short ribs out of the fridge, allow to come to room temperature. Season all sides with salt and and pepper.
2. Place an oven-safe heavy pot on your stove-top over medium-high heat. Brown all sides of the beef. Do not crowd meat, brown-off in batches if needed. Remove beef from pot and reserve.
3. Turn heat down to medium, add onions, garlic, celery and carrots and cook for about 7-8 minutes or until soft and translucent.
4. Add the tomato paste and stir in, cook for a minute. Add the bay leaves, thyme, dark beer and enough beef stock to almost cover the beef. Sprinkle some more salt and pepper, bring up to a boil.
5. Cover, place in your pre-heated oven for two hours. Take out of oven and test meat with a knife. If meat still tough, cover and place in the oven for another 30-40 minutes.
6. Take out of the oven, adjust seasoning. If you wish to thicken the sauce, add the corn starch slurry while stirring.
7. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes, sauce and vegetables.

Pro Tip: Make a day ahead so you can remove the fat from the sauce: Pour sauce into a container and allow to come to room temperature and then place in the fridge. The next day, spoon off and discard fat solids on top, Add sauce back to meat and re-heat.