Fancy Schmancy... Braised Short Ribs and Risotto

I'm pretty sure this meal at a restaurant would be pretty pricey and really it wasn't all that costly to make yourself (especially if you get the meat on sale and freeze it!). I originally wanted to make Pioneer Woman's (I'm sure I'll be cooking from her recipes often so I will just refer to her as PW, sound good?) Osso Bucco for dinner. However, after discovering how much veal shanks are I just couldn't wrap my mind around paying that much. 

I was thinking about what could I substitute for the veal shanks because the rest of the recipe sounded so good - and thought maybe... beef short ribs. So I wondered if I could just adapt PW's recipe for Osso Bucco and apply it to short ribs with my fingers crossed that it would turn out delicious! I honestly have never made short ribs before and I've been wanting to. Sometimes, when a recipe calls for an ingredient that I don't have on hand and I find that it's incredibly pricey, I try to find a substitute and it works out 99% of the time for me. So I started googling the Osso Bucco recipe to post on the blog and what do you know... PW has a recipe online for Braised Short Ribs! So I decided to combine both of her recipes (Osso Bucco & Short Ribs) to make this meal. here it goes....

Braised Beef Short Ribs on a bed of
Mushroom, Spinach Risotto

Braised Short Ribs...

2 servings

ingredients
• 4 bone in beef short ribs
• 2 strips thick cut applewood bacon, chopped
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 8 oz guinness or other dark beer
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme, tied together
• 14.5 oz whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• Salt & Pepper

directions
1. Add chopped bacon to cold dutch oven. Turn burner to medium high heat and cook bacon until crispy. Remove bacon from skillet and drain on paper towel lined plate, set aside.
2. Season short ribs with sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper (it's worth it!) and let rest on counter for 20 mins or so. In a shallow bowl, dredge all sides of ribs in flour. Turn heat up in dutch oven to high heat. Brown the short ribs evenly on all sides until golden brown... pull out of dutch oven and let rest on plate.

Browning the short ribs

3. Turn heat down to medium high and add chopped onion, carrots and crushed garlic to dutch oven (add a little olive oil if pan seems too dry, but there should be plenty of grease leftover from the bacon and meat). Cook for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
4. Add the beer and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stir and add the short ribs meatier side down. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 3 hours or until meat is tender and nearly falling off bone.

Risotto with Mushrooms & Spinach...

2-4 servings 

Risotto

ingredients
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms (I like baby portabellas)
• Olive oil
• 5 oz baby spinach
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 4 cups low sodium beef broth
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan reggiano cheese

directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lay sliced mushrooms in a single layer on foil lined pan and drizzle with some olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes and toss mushrooms and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and pour in bowl, set aside.
2. Heat beef broth in small pot over low heat and keep warm.
3. Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat and saute spinach until wilted, about 2-3 minutes, chop up and set aside.
4. Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add rice and toast slightly. Begin adding 1 cup of hot beef broth at a time until the rice has absorbed the liquid, then add additional cup at a time repeating until all broth is gone and rice is al dente (soft but with a bite still). Be sure to stir constantly until the liquid is absorbed each time. Add spinach and mushrooms and parmesan cheese.

Risotto is sort of a labor of love, if you do it right, it comes out creamy and delicious. But, you have to be patient and stand by the stove stirring the entire time. Some may say it isn't worth the work, time or effort but I say every once in awhile it's definitely worth it!

So just serve the short ribs on top of the risotto and drizzle with sauce. Serve with fresh warmed baguette for dredging in the sauce - YUM! This is definitely a rich and decadent dinner and I would definitely make it again. Next time, I think I would try it with garlic mashed potatoes!

Enjoy!