55-Hour Short Rib with Mushroom Risotto and Ramp Butter

Fifty-five hours at 131°F does something a braise can't. The connective tissue gives up and turns to gelatin, but the meat never climbs past medium-rare, so it slices like a steak and eats like a braise. Start it Wednesday night and eat it Saturday.

The risotto is where the spring is. Ramp butter isn't a finishing touch here — it's the fat the whole thing is built on, from the shallot forward. Every ladle of stock goes into rice that's already carrying ramps.

The mushrooms and the asparagus each get their own pan and go back in at the end. Cooking them in the risotto would steam them and wash their color into the rice. Sear them apart, fold them in whole.

Ingredients

The Short Ribs

• 4 bone-in English-cut beef short ribs, about 4 pounds
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• Neutral oil, for searing

The Ramp Butter

• 1 bunch ramps, about 8 to 10
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• Salt

The Risotto

• 1 pound mixed mushrooms (cremini and shiitake), sliced thick
• 1 bunch asparagus, woody ends snapped off, cut into 2-inch lengths
• Olive oil
• 1 small shallot, finely diced
• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 6 cups chicken stock, kept at a bare simmer
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Salt

The Cook

Two Days Ahead — The Bath

Set the circulator to 131°F. Season the ribs hard on all sides with salt and pepper. Bag them with the thyme and garlic, one or two per bag so they lie flat, and seal.

Drop them in and leave them 55 hours. Top up the water if the level drops. That's the whole job.

Chill the bags in an ice bath if you're not eating right away — they hold a few days in the fridge and come back in a 131°F bath for an hour.

The Ramp Butter — Make This First

Separate the ramp leaves from the bulbs. Blanch the leaves 10 seconds, shock in ice water, squeeze bone dry, chop fine. Mince the bulbs raw.

Beat all of it into the softened butter with a pinch of salt. You want it soft and workable, not chilled — it's about to go in a pan. Set aside what you'll cook with and roll the rest in parchment for the fridge.

Sear the Mushrooms and Asparagus, Separately

Wide pan, olive oil, high heat. Mushrooms in a single layer and left alone until they brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir and keep going until they've thrown their water and taken real color. Salt, and out to a plate.

Same pan, more oil, asparagus in. Sear until the pieces blister and take char in spots but still snap, 3 to 4 minutes. Salt, and out to the same plate.

Both are done before the rice starts. They go back in at the very end.

The Risotto

Wipe the pan and set it over medium. Melt 4 tablespoons of ramp butter in it. Cook the shallot until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes — the ramps will start smelling like garlic.

Add the rice and stir 2 minutes, until the grains look glassy at the edges and are coated in the green butter.

Pour in the wine and stir until it's gone. Then hot stock, a ladle at a time, stirring, each one absorbed before the next goes in. Eighteen to twenty minutes. The rice should be tender with a little resistance at the center.

Off the heat, beat in another 4 tablespoons of ramp butter and the Parmigiano. Fold the mushrooms and asparagus back in. It should be loose enough to spread when it hits the plate — a splash more stock if it isn't. Taste for salt.

The Sear

Take the ribs out of the bags and dry them completely — wet meat won't crust. Cast iron ripping hot, film of neutral oil. Sear each side 45 seconds to a minute, no longer. The inside is already cooked; you're only after the crust.

Rest 5 minutes, then slice thick against the grain.

Serve

Spoon the risotto into wide bowls and spread it. Short rib on top. Another small piece of ramp butter on the meat to melt down into everything.