Warm and comforting. Cooking these in the slow cooker takes out most of the work! The meat is tender and fall apart delicious!
A few weeks ago, I went to dinner with a couple of friends, and one of them ordered short ribs. They looked so good! The meat looked like it just fell apart with barely a touch of the fork. Paired with mashed potatoes, it looked like some of the very best comfort food dinners to be had. On a cold, dark, December night it just seemed like the kind of meal that could warm you from the inside out. So this week when a winter storm settled on my city, I knew what I wanted to make.
The thing is, I have never made short ribs. I don’t even know that I have ever even tasted them. But they were in my head, and I wanted to try them.
I looked at a number of recipes for short ribs. Finally, I decided to use a variation of the French beef and onion soup my mom makes. I reduced the liquid so it wouldn’t be a soup. Changed some of the other ingredients. And I used a slow cooker instead of the oven.
The results? Pretty darn amazing. Perfect for a cold January night. So hearty and filling, but also tender and delicious. Definitely on the list of foods to make again!
2.5-3 lbs. short ribs
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons oil
2 yellow onions, cut into quarters
1/2 lbs. baby carrots
3 ½ cups beef broth, divided
1 tablespoons dried thyme
2 bay leaves
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup cold water
Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil over medium high heat in large skillet. Brown ribs on all sides. This may need to be done in batches depending on the size of your frying pan. Transfer ribs to slow cooker.
Add onions to the same frying pan and cook until tender. I carefully added a little water to the pan to help them soften.
While onions are cooking, add 1 ½ cups beef broth, thyme, and bay leaves to the slow cooker. Sprinkle carrots on top.
Add garlic and tomato paste to the onions. Stir to coat onions. Add remaining 2 cups of broth and bring to a boil. Boil for about 5-7 minutes, or until liquid is reduced by about half.
Carefully pour mixture into the slow cooker.
Cook on high for 1 hour, then drop to low for another 5-6 hours, until meat is tender.
Remove bay leaves. Remove meat and veggies from slow cooker to another dish. Pour remaining juices into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Combine the cold water and cornstarch and stir until smooth. Pour cornstarch mixture into juices. Stir one to two minutes, or until mixture has thickened into a gravy. Serve over meat.
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