Actually... I'm downright obsessed by it. There's just something about a properly braised short rib - fork-tender, fall-apart gorgeously-unctuous meat? I could eat that forever. Wagyu beef so tender you can cut it with a spoon? I've had it. It was good. But I DREAM of short ribs.
Ask any of the folks I lived with in university about my quest for the BBQ short ribs at B.B. Wolf's. They will roll their eyes in bemused recognition.
I usually make pulled pork with short ribs. There's so many things you can make with them in that form. I can make a sandwich, make a ragu, deep-fry it, or my personal favourite, put it all into a bucket and eat it as-is with a spoon. This time though, they didn't finish braising until 3 AM, so I left them whole, tossed them into the fridge and went to bed. The next day - it was time to play.
I sliced one up, I re-slow roasted another... but then I got an a-ha moment -- why not re-sear it? I wanted to see if I could get a nice crust, while still maintaining the tender inside.
30 minutes later, I had all 4 burners going for the first time ever, and a plate warming in the oven. Burner 1 was reducing the braising liquid into a dark syrupy demi with cumin, coriander, anise and ancho. Burner 2 was making some couscous with cubed golden beets, vegetable stock, braising liquid, white wine, and a bit of artichoke puree. Burner 3 was braising some beet greens and stem with mustard seed and veg stock. Finally, burner 4 was searing the short rib. Oh yes, of course I was warming my plate in the oven. All this for 1 dish. This was culinary insanity at its finest.
I could hear Chef Christophe hovering behind my ear saying "you'd better figure out 'ow you're going to plate all 'dat."
The result?
The most f*cking fantastic piece of meat I've ever prepared. Actually, I might be willing to rate this the greatest thing I've EVER made. My mouth is met with the amazing crunch, then right into the gorgeously smooth beef. Almost cried I tell ya.
I didn't... but I did tweet about it immediately.
The beet greens were good, not great. They went just a bit too long. The couscous was really flavourful and I was impressed since it was my first try at it. Of course anything with golden beets in it is almost impossible to screw up. The demi was over-reduced a little, so there wasn't enough to coat the whole rib, but it was d*mn tasty.
And yes, I forgot to trim the bone and bottom layer from the rib.
The holy grail would be braising a wagyu short rib... but I'd imagine that would result in a few gallons of oil and grease in the pot... would that really be so bad?
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