Beefing it up

One of the things I love about winter is having the chance to use my oven and not worry about how hot it will make the kitchen. Cold, brisk Sundays are perfect for slow roasting something in my dutch oven while doing chores or watching a favorite movie. This past weekend was perfect for just that, so I thought I'd do another test run of a couple of recipes I'll be using in a couple of weeks at a winter retreat. I've been given the opportunity to plan and prepare a hearty meal for about 100 of my closest friends for our Kingdom's yearly Winter Weekend retreat.

Although I haven't attended in years, this is one of my favorite events.  Participation is limited to about 100 people, including children, and it's a relaxing, reviving weekend filled with hikes in the snow, crafts, games, and, of course, eating. There are 4 meals a day. Yes, FOUR. We get very hungry at that altitude, you know!

Anyway, I am cooking the Saturday night meal, which is usually a grand affair. The cooks are not required to prepare historically period dishes, but I wanted to give it a try. All of my dishes are based on period recipes with the exception of dessert. Here's my menu:

Winter Squash Soup          Beef Short Ribs

Armored Turnips          Braised Greens

Dessert:     Sticky Toffee Pudding

The short ribs are based on a recipe from Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books called Beef Y-Stywyd. The original recipe calls for beef rib meat which is then braised, or y-stywyd, in broth, vegetables, and spices. I have made the original recipe in the past and, while quite tasty, I wanted to kick this up a notch for a richer, more elegant flavor. After searching for a recipe that contained only ingredients found in period I ended up combining a couple of modern recipes to make it my own. The only out-of-period ingredient I'll be using is 2 Tablespoons of tomato paste.

Original recipe from Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books - T. Austin, ed.

vj - Beef y-Stywyd. Take fayre beef of the rybbys of the fore quarterys, an smyte in fayre pecys, an wasche the beef in-to a fayre potte; than take the water that the beef was sothin yn, an strayne it thorw a straynowr, an sethe the same water and beef in a potte, an let hem boyle to-gederys; than take canel, clowes, maces, graynys of parise, quibibes, and oynons y-mynced, perceli, an sawge, an caste ther-to, an let hem boyle to-gederys; an than take a lof of brede, an stepe it with brothe an venegre, an than draw it thorw a straynoure, and let it be stylle; an whan it is nere y-now, caste the lycour ther-to, but nowt to moche, an than let boyle onys, an cast safroun ther-to a quantyte; than take salt an venegre, and cast ther-to, an loke that it be poynaunt y-now, and seme forth.

Braised Short Ribs

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Season 5-6 ribs with salt and pepper.  In a cast iron or similar, heavy skillet, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil. Place ribs in hot pan and brown for about 5 minutes on each side. 

Meanwhile, while the ribs are browning... 

Start with some basic veggies for your mirepoix. I used onion, carrots, celery, leek, and fennel

Make sure to wash your leek well to remove all the sand and grit

 

Chop your veggies up well. Isn't that pretty?

When ribs are browned on both sides, remove from pan and set aside. Add a little more olive oil to your pan and saute the veggies on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. Add 3 cloves of minced garlic and saute for another 2 minutes. Now add an entire, 750ml bottle of dry red wine. I used this cab that I found on sale at the market. Mmmm.... wine....

Add your 2 Tablespoons of tomato paste and cook veggies and wine over medium-high heat until liquid is reduced by about 50%. Approx 15-20 minutes. When reduced, add a tablespoon of both salt and pepper.  Tie 3 sprigs of rosemary and a few sprigs of fresh thyme into a bundle and place in liquid. (I didn't have fresh thyme so I just threw the rosemary in by itself.)

 Lay the ribs on top of  the vegetables and add 5-6 cups of beef broth. 

I prefer Better Than Bouillon to make my stock, unless I plan to use homemade stock, which is rare. It has a richer, more complex flavor than canned or dry broth.

These babies are ready for their beef broth bath! Bring to a simmer over high heat. 

Place lid on dutch oven and place in 300 degree oven for 2.5 hours. No peeking! After 2.5 hours you can remove from oven and taste test your ribs. When done, the ribs should cut easily with a fork and almost melt in your mouth. If the meat is still the least bit tough, place them back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

These were perfect at 2.5 hours.

To serve, strain vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon and place on serving platter. Nestle your cooked ribs on top of the veggies and serve. Be prepared to receive compliments!

Recipe

Ingredients

·         6 beef short ribs - you can use boneless or bone-in, whichever you prefer

·         Kosher or sea salt

·         Freshly ground black pepper

·         1/4 cup olive oil

·         1 small fennel, white only, core removed, large-diced

·         1 leek, cleaned and sliced, white part only

·         1 1/2 cups chopped onion(1 large)

·         3 cups diced celery (6 large stalks)

·         2 carrots, peeled and diced

·         3 garlic cloves, minced

·         2 tablespoons tomato paste

·         1 (750-ml) bottle dry red wine

·         Fresh rosemary sprigs

·         Fresh thyme sprigs

·        5-6 cups beef stock

Directions 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven and brown your ribs on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Remove ribs and set aside. In dutch oven add a little more olive oil then add the fennel, leek, onion, celery and carrots and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and wine, bring to a boil and cook over high heat until the liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Tie the rosemary and thyme together with kitchen twine and add to the pot.

Place the roasted ribs on top of the vegetables in the Dutch oven and add the beef stock. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Cover the Dutch oven and bake for 2.5 hours or until the meat is very tender.

Carefully remove the short ribs from the pot and set aside. Discard the herbs and skim the excess fat. Cook the vegetables and sauce over medium heat for 20 minutes, until reduced. Put the ribs back into the pot and heat through. Serve with the vegetables and sauce.