EDU: Chipotle Beef Short Ribs

This.


This was my first meal of 2011. You were probably cleaning champagne off your carpet or praying that nobody was making an horror movie mess of your bathroom. I was just settling down for dinner. It wasn't supposed to be this way, but as you can see from the photo above, everything turned out a-ok. While I would like to take credit for this recipe, it was in fact a gem from Chez Paul, as translated through Gmail and SVS's capable hands. I was the simple photographer, and sous chef when the situation called for it. Mostly, I drank and did as I was told. Perhaps I should try this more often.


What you need for the Short Rib Rub:


1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin, 
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp coriander


Combine these spice and rub onto meat (Approximately 8 Short ribs). Refrigerate the meat for a couple hours. This would be a good time to go to another party like we did.

These are the items you will need when you actually start cooking:


2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 large Onion
6 Cloves Garlic
14 oz can of Chicken broth
1 cup of drained diced tomato
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp Chipotle (Adobo) Chilis 
2 Large Anaheim Chilis (seeded and cut into small rings)
Cilantro and Lime wedges


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While you wait for the oven to heat up, feel free to enjoy
Hors D'oeuvres that your guest brought, like delicious brown sugar Bacon-wrapped breadsticks or a variety of cheeses (below).

Also at this time, you should saute the short ribs in Olive oil and set aside. Lookin' good and smelling better! In case you were wondering, I think ribs were what the waitress puts on the Flintstone car in the opening credits of the cartoon. This realization only heightened the excitement. 

Then, using the same pan, chop up your Onion and mince your garlic, and saute until fragrant (~5 mins). Here is SVS demonstrating the Mike Liberati technique. 

Once these are done, add the Chicken Broth, canned tomatoes, lime juice, and Chipotle chilis. Chipotle chilis come in cans that look like this and are often misspelled Chilpotle, which wikipedia has just informed me is an acceptable alternate spelling. Apologies. SVS chopped up 2 whole chilis, which were quite spicy. I asked him what he intended to do with the remainder of the nearly full can. His response "I have no idea.". Maybe he will make it into a hummus because that's his "thing" lately. 

Of course, it's was impossible to fit 8 3-inch short ribs into a single pan, so SVS needed to start another smaller pan for the last 2. Here he is scooping some of the sauce.  

This is where that oven comes into play. Place your ribs* back into the pan. Cover the pan and place in oven for approximately 1.5hrs.


*from here on, when I say "your ribs" I mean the 8 Beef short ribs and not those enclosed within your chest cavity. 

Just wow. I was ready to eat them at this point, but SVS insisted that we "cook" them. I told him our ancestors didn't have ovens and often ate raw food. He mentioned their average life span of 30 years. I conceded the argument. During the 1.5hrs, we ate more cheese, listened to music and played several rounds of Blokus. 

Blokus is just about the best 4 person game I know of. It's faster than Monopoly, and more strategic than cards. Also, you can really f people over, which is a crucial part to any fun game. Here were the scores when we finished playing. Note: Lower = Better

Let it be known that KK was just learning and was unfairly ganged up on. I have no excuse for my score. After 1.5hrs, the pans are removed from the oven and uncovered, cooking another 25 minutes on the stove-top to allow the sauce to thicken. Anaheim chili slices are added following this step, and cooked for 10 minutes or until soft. Here is the finished product just before plating. While the recipe mentioned nothing about waiting for the ball to drop, we decided not to steal Dick Clark's thunder and wait an extra two minutes. It was served over mashed potatoes and paired with champagne.  

It was fantastic. The ribs were unbelievably tender and slid right off the bone just like they say in all those commercials. The sauce was spicy and oily, and was sopped up admirably by the mashed potatoes. I'm sure the leftovers were the envy of everyone at SVS's work this morning.