For the final dish of the evening, I made a sandwich of braised short ribs, sharp New York cheddar and sliced red onions on grilled sourdough bread (Taken/adapted from a recipe on Epicurious.com by LA chef Govind Armstrong). It was the hit of the night and given the time it took to make, it should’ve been.
I wasn’t exactly sure how many I’d be cooking for and what type of demand there’d be, so I bought 10 pounds of boneless short ribs ($3.99 per pound), three loaves of sourdough, and 3 pounds of a NY sharp cheddar ($9.99 per pound). While I always prefer to cook with meats on-the-bone, I simply didn’t have enough room to cook 20 pounds of bone-in short ribs just to end up with the same amount of meat as the 10-pounds of boneless. The cheddar, on the other hand, was picked for it’s easy melting ability and reasonable price.
10 pounds of boneless short ribs pre-cooking
For the preparation, there were two operations. The first, braising the short ribs, was done the day before and the day of. The second, assembling and cooking the sandwiches, was done on the spot at the party.
There are tons of different ways to braise short ribs, but most recipes are some variation of this:
1. Season the meat with healthy doses of kosher salt and pepper, and add canola oil to the pan.
2. Sear the meat for 5 minutes per side in a pan - A good sear means a happy short rib.
3. Remove the meat and add onions/celery/carrots/garlic for a few minutes - Be careful of how quickly it will burn in a pan this hot with oil
4. Deglaze with a cup of cabernet sauvignon - Make sure it cooks down a bit
5. Add fresh herbs of your choosing - I am liberal with my use of fresh thyme (Italian parsley can be added too)
6. Add a few cups of beef broth - Ratio is roughly 1 cup of wine to 3 cups of broth.
Once boiling, add the meat back in (and the juices that accumulated under it) and put it in the oven (covered) at 325 degrees. There are tons of variations for how long they should be cooked, usually it’s about 4 hours in total, with some recipes calling for braising every 15 minutes after the first 2 hours, some others calling for removing the top of the pan for the last hour or two and so on. I like to remove the cover after 2 hours, and if the sauce isn’t covering much of the meat, then I’ll spoon some liquid on top. If not, I leave it be.
Like with any meat with high fat content, low and slow is the way to go.
On Friday, I cooked about 5 pounds of them in a slow cooker for about 8 hours, but didn't think they were quite as delicious as previous short ribs I've made, particularly the sauce. So Saturday, I made two separate pots of ribs with the remaining 5 pounds and thought the final product was more much flavorful and richer.
Here are some pictures of the meat during the searing and then braising process.
Here are some pictures of the meat during the searing and then braising process.
The short ribs searing
Short ribs being added back to the pan with vegetables, herbs and broth
The finished short ribs, simmering in broth
Once finished, I prefer to let the meat rest in its juices for a while and then transfer to a plate to further cool. Once the meat is out of the pan, discard of all of the vegetables and herbs, fire the stove top up high, and make sure the sauce reduces by about half. This will ensure a truly rich and delicious finishing sauce.
At this point, you either have a delicious dinner of short ribs or you can shred them and go further. To shred, simply pull along the grain with a fork. It will come apart immediately.
Depending on your time, either refrigerate or move to the grill area. I cooked mine in two different batches so they needed to be re-heated at Todd’s. I simply threw them in a large pan at 325 for about 20 minutes.
Once ready to go, part two of the cooking begins. To begin, I buttered one side of each slice of the sourdough. I added a few pieces of raw red onions to the sourdough and then added a handful of the shredded short ribs - spread across so it filled but didn’t spill out over the sandwich. Then, I added one and a half slices of the sharp cheddar, put the other slice of bread on top and threw it on the grill for about 3 or 4 minutes per side. Timing really varied depending on how hot the grill was and how much room there was. You do want a certain amount of fire to hit the sandwich so the bread will be crispy, but you have to be careful because there’s a fine line between perfectly crispy and burnt.
The recipe calls for finishing them off in the oven, however, since that wasn’t an option here I just had to be extra judicious and careful.
This seems like one hell of a process, and it was, but once you tried them they were well worth it. The shredded short ribs were incredibly tender and juicy on their own - I mean after 4 hours of braising you’d hope so. In fact, at one point, one of the guests took a handful of meat on a tortilla chip and scarfed it down (I’d say one of the better compliments the meat could receive). Anyway, the ribs put together with a delicious melted cheese, the crunch of a crisp red onion and a hearty bread created an utterly gluttonous and thus fantastic end product.
The sandwich being assembled
The sandwich just off the grill
The final product, sliced. This one wasn't grilled quite as long so the cheese had only just started to melt
People started requesting the sandwiches at 7pm on the dot and at 1am I still had the grill fired up churning them out, so they were a success and I highly recommend making them at your next gathering - large or small.
They take plenty long to make, but all in all, well worth the effort.
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