Red Wine Braised Short Ribs on Toast

Short ribs are the most forgiving cut of beef. They're cheap, they're full of connective tissue that melts into gelatin during a long braise, and they're almost impossible to overcook. You braise them low and slow in red wine until the meat falls off the bone, and then you pile it on grilled bread because sometimes the best plating is no plating at all.

This is Sunday cooking. The kind where you start the braise in the afternoon, the house fills up with the smell of wine and beef and roasting vegetables, and by dinner you've got something that looks like it took all day but only took 30 minutes of actual work.

Ingredients

The Short Ribs

• 4 lbs bone-in beef short ribs (English cut)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 tablespoons flour

The Braise

• 1 bottle dry red wine
• 2 cups beef stock
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 large carrots, cut into chunks
• 2 stalks celery, cut into chunks
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary

To Serve

• Thick-cut sourdough bread, grilled
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Flaky salt

The Cook

Sear

Season the short ribs aggressively with salt and pepper. Dust with flour. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Sear the ribs on all sides until you get a deep, dark, almost-burnt-looking crust. 3-4 minutes per side. Don't rush this. The crust is where half the flavor lives. Work in batches. Remove and set aside.

Build the Braise

Preheat oven to 325F. In the same pot, cook the onion, carrots, and celery until they start to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cook 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and stir it around until it darkens.

Pour in the entire bottle of wine. Scrape everything off the bottom. Let it come to a boil and reduce by about one-third, 8-10 minutes. The kitchen will smell incredible.

Add the beef stock, bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary. Return the short ribs to the pot, bone-side up. The liquid should come about three-quarters up the sides of the meat. Don't submerge them.

Braise

Cover the pot and put it in the oven. Walk away for 3 to 3.5 hours. Check once at the 2-hour mark to make sure it's at a lazy bubble, not a rolling boil. Adjust your oven temp if needed.

The ribs are done when a fork slides into the meat with zero resistance and the bones wiggle loose. The meat should be falling-apart tender but still holding its shape.

Finish the Sauce

Pull the ribs out carefully. Strain the braising liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a clean pot. Discard the spent vegetables and herbs. Skim the fat off the top. Reduce the liquid over medium-high heat until it coats the back of a spoon. This is your sauce. Taste it. Adjust salt.

Plate

Grill thick slices of sourdough until they have good char marks and enough structure to hold the meat. Place the toast on plates. Shred or place whole short ribs on top. Spoon the reduced braising liquid over everything. Hit it with fresh parsley and flaky salt.