After-Dinner Design: Delicious Family Weekend Dinner

As I mentioned earlier, a large majority of my family (we're not a big operation-- but we are hard to pin down! All four of us have convened in the same place for the first time in almost three years!) And of course, because we are who we are, we are focused primarily on what food we're going to be eating.

**Although, let's be honest, I'm also planning to sneak in some home improvement projects while I have so many extra bodies to keep an eye on Julian...

But first, we EAT!

My mom whipped up this short rib recipe and arrived, ribs in hand, as only a Salway will do. They were tremendous, and come highly recommended.

Ingredients

4 pounds beef short ribs, trimmed (about 10 ribs)

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

4 cups unsalted beef stock

1/4 cup olive oil

1 3/4 cups red wine

1/4 cup brandy or sherry

1 cup drained canned whole tomatoes, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

2 medium-size carrots, chopped

1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped

1 small garlic bulb, cut in half crosswise

1 bay leaf

3 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs

3 fresh thyme sprigs

2 fresh rosemary sprigs

2 tablespoons butter

Preparation

1. Sprinkle ribs on all sides with salt and pepper; cover and chill 12 to 24 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 300°. Let ribs stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bring stock to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 8 to 10 minutes or until reduced to 2 cups.

3. Cook half of ribs in 2 Tbsp. hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Repeat with remaining oil and ribs. Remove from heat, discard drippings, and wipe skillet clean.

4. Pour wine and brandy into skillet, and return to medium heat. Bring wine and brandy to a boil; boil 5 minutes or until reduced to 1 cup. Stir wine mixture into reduced stock.

5. Place ribs in a large Dutch oven. Add tomatoes and next 5 ingredients, nestling them around the ribs; add parsley, thyme, and rosemary sprigs. Pour stock mixture into Dutch oven; simmer over high heat. Place a piece of parchment paper directly on beef, and cover Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid.

6. Bake at 300° for 3 1/2 to 4 hours or until meat is tender and pulls away from bone. Let ribs stand in Dutch oven, covered with parchment and lid, at room temperature 30 minutes.

7. Remove parchment paper. Transfer ribs to a serving platter, and cover with foil. Skim fat from cooking liquid, and pour liquid through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a large saucepan; discard solids. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes or until sauce reduces slightly. Remove from heat. Add butter, and whisk until butter melts and sauce is smooth. Serve sauce with ribs.

*Notes from Mummy:

I didn't marinate the ribs because I hadn't read that part of the recipe until I was ready to cook them, and then I didn't have enough time to marinate.

My short ribs fell completely off the bone and looked more like stew. But that was probably because I cooked them a little longer than recommended in the recipe...