Root Beer Braised Short Ribs Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Season ribs generously with salt and pepper. In an 8-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil on high. In batches, brown ribs on all sides, about 20 minutes total. If oil gets too dark during browning, pour off and add more oil (do not wipe pot clean). Transfer ribs to a plate and pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from pot.
• Add onions, celery, carrots, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, cumin, and star anise. Cook, scraping up any browned bits, until onions soften, 5 minutes. Return ribs to pot and add broth and root beer. Bring to a rapid simmer, cover, and place pot in oven.
• Cook until meat can be easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife, about 3 hours. (To store, refrigerate, up to 4 days.) With a slotted spoon, transfer ribs to a large straight-sided skillet. Skim off and discard any fat from cooking liquid. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into skillet; discard solids. Boil over medium-high until liquid is reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Continue to cook, spooning liquid over meat occasionally, until ribs are glazed and sauce is thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Steps:

• Coat short ribs with flour.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in 5 quart Dutch oven and brown beef pieces over medium-high heat.
• Remove from Dutch oven and set aside.
• Heat remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in Dutch oven on medium heat. Add garlic, celery, onions, and parsnips and stir 3 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Add root beer, water, bouillon cubes, tomato paste, vinegar, bay leaves, 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds, sea salt, and black pepper and bring to boil.
• Return beef to pot and stir and cover.
• Braise in 300F oven for 2 hours.
• Add sweet potatoes and cook for and additional hour.
• Top with remaining 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds and serve.

Steps:

• Mix salt, pepper, cinnamon, and allspice together to form a rub for ribs and rub all over. Let stand for 30 minutes or more. You can dice veggies while meat is sitting. Heal oil to medium hot in dutch oven or some other large nonstick pan (if you plan on using slow cooker for braising). Using tongs, place meat in pan to sear on all sides. Transfer to plate. When all meat is browned, put onions and carrots in same pan and cook until softened (add small amount of oil if necessary). Add stock, root beer, bay leaves, tomato paste, Worcestershire, vinegar, and tabasco and bring to boil (if using slow cooker, the liquids can be started while the meat is browning and vegetables are softening and does not need to be brought to boiling). Add meat back in along with any accumulated juices (if using slow cooker, add vegetables first, stir, then add meat). Reduce heat to simmer and cover tightly. Let braise for minimum of 3 hours. If using slow cooker, set on high for at least 3 hours (or low for 5 hours). Remove meat when fork tender. Serve with horseradish mashed potatoes, spooning sauce over meat. We made this with slightly more than 2 lbs of meat and it was enough for 3, but most of the ribs were really skimpy on meat. If you get really meaty ribs and more like 3+ lbs it should feed 6 easily. Note: for best results, cool sauce down in freezer or 'fridge and scoop off top layer of fat. If that isn't possible, at least spoon off as much fat from sauce as possible. If desired, you can thicken sauce on stove after removing meat to form more of a gravy than a liquid sauce (although we liked it thin just fine).

Steps:

• Trim the short ribs of any fat, sinew, and connective tissue. While cleaning the meat, reserve all the trimmings in one pile (for the sauce) and the cleaned ribs in another. Lay the short ribs together, arranging them in two stacks, each in a double layer. Use butcher's twine to tie the pieces together, starting at one end and placing each tie about 1 1/2 inches (3.75 centimeters) from the previous one.
• Set up an ice bath.
• In a small pot set over high heat, bring 2 cups (450 grams) of the water to a simmer. Add the birch bark, turn off the heat, and cover the pot for 15 minutes. Strain the birch bark from the water and pour into a medium-sized metal bowl. Combine with the remaining 4 1/2 cups (1,012.5 grams) water, the sugar, salt, and vanilla. Chill the brine in the ice bath.
• Place the short ribs in 2 separate zip-top bags and cover them with the cooled brine. Seal the ribs in the bags with the brine and refrigerate them for 24 hours.
• Measure out approximately 1 1/2 pounds (670 grams) of the reserved short rib trim. Put the trimmings, 3 1/3 cups (787.5 grams) water, the root beer, onion, wine, ketchup, and garlic in a pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 1 hour. Let the pressure dissipate naturally. Strain the sauce, discarding the solids, let it cool to room temperature, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Preheat a circulating water bath or a large pot of water on the stove to 149°F (65°C).
• Skim off the layer of fat that has solidified on top of the sauce and discard.
• Remove the short ribs from the brine. Pat them dry and place them in 2 vacuum-seal bags. Add equal amounts of the root beer sauce to each bag and seal shut. Alternatively, you can seal them in zip-top bags, removing as much air as possible. (You may want to use a double layer of bags to avoid any leaks.) Place the bags in the water bath and cook for 24 hours (using a large pot over low heat to maintain the temperature). Set up an ice water bath and transfer the bags to it so they can cool off quickly.
• When the ribs are cool, remove them from the bag and strain the cooking liquid.
• Divide the cooking liquid in half. Pour half into a pressure cooker and add the carrots. Reserve the other half for sauce. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Let the pressure dissipate naturally. Let the carrots cool in the liquid. Alternatively, simmer the carrots in the liquid until tender and let them cool down naturally. When the carrots are cool, cut them into oblique shapes and reserve them in the cooking liquid.
• To serve, preheat a circulating water bath or a large pot of water on the stove to 140°F (60°C). Put the short ribs and reserved liquid in either vacuum bags or zip-top bags, making sure to remove any excess air, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until heated through.
• While the short ribs warm up, heat the carrots and their reserved liquid in a separate pot set over medium heat.
• Place a large cast-iron or other heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. When the ribs are warm, remove them from the bag, straining the liquid into a small pot, and brown them briefly on each side in the skillet. Keep the sauce warm on low heat. Transfer the ribs to a cutting board. Slice the ribs and divide among 4 plates. Add the carrots and pour the root beer sauce over all.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Place flour in a gallon-size food-storage bag.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 6- to 8-quart Dutch oven or 12- to 14-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the ribs to the bag, shake to coat with flour, shake off the excess and brown well on the meaty side, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.
• Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the pot. Sauté the celery, onions, parsnips and garlic over medium heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add root beer, bouillon, tomato paste, vinegar and bay leaves. Bring to boil, stirring to loosen browned bits on bottom of pan.
• Return short ribs to Dutch oven, partially submerging them in the liquid. Cover tightly. (If your skillet has no lid, use heavy-duty foil.) Braise in oven 3 hours @ 300 degrees F.
• If not making ahead, skim as much fat as possible from the liquid. If making a day ahead, refrigerate & remove the hardened layer of fat before reheating. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.