Beef short ribs can be unpopular, which is understandable – many people don’t buy them due to their long and slow cooking time. However, they’re filled with flavour, and despite the slow cooking time, they’re actually very easy to prepare. Our Executive chef Fran hopes to inspire you to make this one at home.
How to Make: Beef Short Ribs
Category
Meat / Main
Servings
4
Prep Time
15-20 minutes
Cook Time
10 hours
Fran created this recipe using beef short ribs influenced by the fantastic Argentinian tradition of Asados. An asado is always accompanied by a celebration in Argentina, with meat truly being the centrepiece of the occasion.
We know that most kitchens don’t have the facilitates to cook these in the traditional asado style, so Fran put together a guide for us to recreate this classic way of cooking, but in the convenience of our own home. This recipe can be done simply in the oven, with an overnight roast that will never fail to impress.
Francisco Martinez
Ingredients
-
1.6-2kg Beef short ribs
50ml Sunflower oil
1 tbsp Salt
½ tbsp Sugar
½ tbsp Smoked paprika
½ tbsp Cumin
½ tbsp Mixed dry herbs
Cling film and tin foil
Directions
In our case, the ribs were already trimmed, and we did not have to remove any excess fat. If this isn’t the case for you, remove the fat covering the top of the cut, ensuring you leave a maximum of 5mm of it left on the meat. Pour the sunflower oil over the cut and massage it into the meat with your hands.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl, and then coat the top and sides of the ribs – this is called a dry rub marinade. This method allows the flavours and seasoning to penetrate the meat, but it also creates a crust that helps to lock in the meat juices. The spices will caramelise and produce a maillard reaction, meaning there will be extra flavour.
For this next step, it’s really important that we use a high-quality cling film, so it doesn’t melt during the cooking process. In a restaurant, this step would be done with a vacuum packer, but it works very well this way too. Wrap the meat tightly with cling film, ensuring it’s covered with several layers. It’s important that we seal the meat properly so it retains the juices, replicating the ‘sous-vide‘ method, when meat is cooked in its own juices and remains extra moist.
Now the meat is wrapped up, we can add a second layer, using tin foil. Once again, make sure you’re generous with the amount you use, wrapping the meat 3 or 4 times. The meat can then be put in the fridge for a couple of hours until you’re ready to cook it, but this isn’t necessary if you’re ready to do this right away.
Since this is an overnight roast, this ideally needs to be cooked before you go to bed in a fan oven at 100 degrees Celsius. Place the meat on a baking tray and put it in on the middle shelf of the oven, setting a timer for 10 hours. We suggest cooking it overnight, as otherwise it can be very tempting to open the parcel early and have a taste!
Once the timer is up, take it out of the oven and leave to cool at room temperature for a couple of hours – make sure you don’t open the parcel just yet. Once cooled, we can place it into the fridge to enjoy at a later time – all it takes is 30 minutes in the oven at 140 degrees.
Cut the parcel open very carefully, and portion it as you’d like.
It’s as simple as that, and your guests will absolutely love it! The meat is so tender that it literally falls off the bone and melts in your mouth.
Recipe Note
Fran decided to present this delicious cut with a very simple creamy mashed potato, Anna Pommes Potatoes (thinly sliced grilled potatoes) on top, a beef reduction demi-glace, and a rich cheese sauce.