Braised Short Ribs

Autumn calls for warm, hearty dishes and Michigan-made red wine. You’ll get both with this short-ribs recipe from Leah Moerdyk, events sous chef at Black Star Farms in Suttons Bay. She braises the short ribs in Black Star Farms’ Arcturos Cabernet Franc.

Ingredients

• Salt
• Pepper
• 5 short ribs (Moerdyk uses boneless short ribs)
• 1 onion, diced large
• 1 carrot, diced large
• 2 celery stalks, diced large
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 sprigs rosemary, whole
• 1 cup demi-glace (can be substituted with beef stock, but that won’t have as much flavor)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 bottle Cabernet Franc (Moerdyk uses Black Star Farms’ Arcturos Cabernet Franc)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 275 F.
2. Heavily salt and pepper both sides of the short ribs. Let them sit at room temperature for a half-hour.
3. Dice the onion, carrot, and celery and place in a deep baking dish. Smash the garlic cloves and set aside.
4. Heat a cast-iron pan on medium-high heat with a little bit of oil. Sear the short ribs on both sides until there is a deep brown crust. Add smashed garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs to the pan. Saute for a minute or two until fragrant. Add demi-glace (or beef stock) to deglaze the pan. Scrape up all the delicious flavor that is on the bottom of the pan.
5. Remove short ribs from the pan and place in the baking dish on top of the vegetables. Pour the demi-glace pan sauce — including the garlic and rosemary — over the top. Add the bay leaves to the baking dish. Add the Cabernet Franc to the baking dish until everything is submerged.
6. Wrap baking dish tightly in foil. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 3 hours, or until short ribs are fork tender.

Tip: Use the leftover baking liquid to make gravy! Remove the rosemary and bay leaves. Blend the mixture and add to a saucepan on the stove. On medium heat, reduce the mixture, adjusting the seasoning as needed. Thicken with cornstarch slurry.