Recipe - Braised Short Ribs With Riad

3 tablespoon Vegetable oil*
6 pound Short ribs
Coarse salt and freshly
ground pepper
2 Carrots; chopped
2 Stalks celery; chopped
2 md Onions; chopped
6 Shallots; peeled and
quartered
1 tablespoon Tomato paste
3 tablespoon Flour
One half cup Ruby port wine
4 cup Cabernet Sauvignon; or other
fullbodied, red wine
1 Head garlic; halved
crosswise
1 Boquet garni**
4 cup Veal stock

* Riad used a combination of oil and clarified butter on the show...

** 2 sprigs rosemary, 10 sprigs parsley, 8 sprigs thyme, and 2 bay leaves

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Tie each short rib with kitchen string, and
season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over
mediumhigh heat, and brown short ribs on each side. Remove short ribs, and
cook carrots, celery, onions, and shallots until onions and shallots turn
golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and flour, and cook 2 to 3
minutes.

2. Return short ribs to the pot, and deglaze with port and red wine. Cook
until wine is reduced by twothirds. To make the bouquet garni, bunch
rosemary, parsley thyme, and bay leaves together and tie the bundle with
kitchen string. Add garlic, bouquet garni, and stock. Bring to a boil,
cover, and transfer to oven for 3 hours, until meat is forktender.

3. Transfer short ribs to large platter. Strain sauce through a fine sieve
or cheesecloth into a mediumsize saucepan. Reduce sauce over medium heat
until it thickens to a gravylike consistency. Adjust seasoning, spoon sauce
over short ribs, and serve.

NOTES: Balthazar, one of New York City's most popular new restaurants,
basks in a studied dramatic light and seems finely scented with Parisian
perfume. Chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson channel the restaurant's distinct
essence through its bistro menu, which includes classics like choucroute
garnie, cassoulet, rillettes, steak au poivre, and c=F4te de boeuf for two.
And on Saturday night, the featured plat du jour is short ribs served with
mashed potatoes and glazed carrots.

Once considered a mere peasant dish, beef short ribs are gaining popularity
in restaurants because of their rich, succulent flavor. Short ribsthe
meaty ends of the beef rib from the rib, chuck, and brisket portionare
sold in slabs of varying lengths and widths, depending on the butcher.
Unlike back ribs, which have more bone than meat, short ribs offer a good
amount of meat and a lot of fat the fat actually intensifies the meat's
flavor during cooking. First brown them to render the excess fat before
braising. Browning also builds the strong foundation for the overall dish:
Juices and pan scrapings are used to enrich cooking liquid. Then braise the
short ribs by slowcooking them to yield tender and flavorful meat.

Recipe by: Martha Stewart (Balthazar's chef Riad Nasr)

Posted to recipeludigest by "Valerie Whittle" catspaw@inetnow.net on Feb
24, 1998