Braised Chipotle/Anaheim Chili Beef Short Ribs Recipe

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Last weekend we popped into Primal Cuts — the sustainably and often locally sourced butcher shop out on Lansdowne St. We were on a mission to talk über-butcher (and all around good guy) George Madill into taking part in this year’s Downtown Culinary Tasting Tours (spoiler: he’ll be taking part and appearing regularly at Rare Grill House with chef, Brad Watt).

While we were there, Krista eyed some gorgeous looking beef short ribs and suggested that we buy some.

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Meticulous Krista suggesting that I buy ribs when we already had a menu planned for the week? I immediately started salivating as I pondered just how I was going to braise those meaty bad boys.

The question of what to do with the ribs began immediately. We still had some diced tomatoes from last fall that we had canned. There was garlic from our garden, onions from market… As we rushed home, I started building flavour profiles in my head.

Turns out I didn’t have to rush. By the time we got home, we realized that, due to previously made plans, I didn’t have time for a slow braise. And into the freezer the ribs went. It was a sad, sad moment.

Yesterday, though… Yesterday I had plenty of time. While Krista was out enjoying her final cross-country ski of the year, I grabbed a few more ribs from George, cranked up the rock and roll, and started cooking.

And this is what I came up with:

Braised Chipotle/Anaheim Chili Beef Short Ribs

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chili powder — a good chili powder
1/2 tsp chipotle powder (optional)
2 tsp ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 meaty longish short ribs — a good 4 or 5 inches.

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
8 cloves of minced garlic
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 1/2 cups chicken stock OR half chicken and half beef stock
1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes roughly chopped
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons chopped chipotle chilies
3/4 cup mild green chili — such as Anaheim or poblano — roughly chopped.

1. Blend dry spices and rub into ribs — massage it in a bit so that the spices start to get absorbed. Cover and let rest in the ‘fridge from anywhere between a couple of hours and overnight.

2. Heat oil in a dutch oven (or other oven-proof pot) over a medium/high burner and then brown ribs on all sides. Do them in a couple of batches to prevent overcrowding and to allow them to brown evenly.

3. Place ribs aside and add garlic and onion to the pot. Reduce heat and cook until onions are soft, roughly 5 minutes.

4. Add stock, stir well, scraping the bottom of the pot.

5. Add remaining ingredients and ribs (meat side down on a single layer) and bring to a boil.

6. Place pot in a preheated 350 degree oven and cook until the ribs are tender — roughly an hour and a half.

7. Move pot to the stovetop and simmer uncovered until sauce is reduced by at half — more if you want a goopier rib — roughly 25 minutes.

8. Serve with tortilla chips — with the sauce drizzled overtop.

Sourcing:

Ribs ~ Primal Cuts. George sourced them from a farm in Middlesex County.

Onion ~ Beyers Farm (Peterborough Farmers Market)

Garlic ~ The Farm to Table gardens

Tomatoes ~The Farm to Table gardens

Stock ~ usually from our freezer, but this time puchased.

Chilis ~ We’ve run out of ours for the year, so bought some from my friends at the Firehouse Gourmet. Chipotles in adobo sauce work wonderfully for this recipe.