Zesty Herb and White Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs

I generally like to prepare marinades and rubs and all that jazz from scratch, but Zak and I bought a few McCormick Grill Mates to have around for a rainy day a few weeks ago.  The three little packets were starting to look so lonely leaning sadly against my huge stockpile of vinegars, so I thought I would try one out with short ribs.  I was really happy with the results.  Served over jasmine rice, these ribs were filling, tender, and packed with flavor.  Plus, short ribs are easy.  They’re hands off.  If you are feeling lazy, go ahead and skip roasting these in the oven for the extra fifteen minutes.  Short ribs suck up flavor, they melt off the bone (as you can see from the picture), and it takes almost nothing to make them taste amazingly decadent without any effort.  And that is why beef short ribs are the only beef item you’ve seen on this blog.  Well, that and the fact that we try to keep our red meat to a minimum.  But when we eat it … it’s almost always beef short ribs.

Zesty Herb and White Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs

1 cup jasmine rice, cooked according to package instructions

2 lbs. beef short ribs

1 package McCormick Grill Mates Zesty Herb Marinade, which requires:

• 1/3 cup water
• 3 tbs. canola oil
• 3 tbs. white wine vinegar

Freshly cracked black pepper

1 tbs. canola oil

1 cup homemade chicken stock

1/2 cup white wine plus 1/4 cup white wine, divided

1/2 tsp. dried sweet basil

Whisk together 1/3 cup water, 3 tbs. canola oil, 3 tbs. white wine vinegar, and package McCormick Grill Mates Zesty Herb Marinade.  Add meat to marinade in a casserole dish and season with freshly cracked black pepper.  Spoon marinade over ribs.  Let ribs marinate roughly 1 hour, turning once.  Remove ribs from casserole dish, reserving marinade.

Heat 1 tbs. canola oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Add ribs and brown on all sides, roughly 3 minutes per side, working in batches if necessary.  Meanwhile, whisk homemade chicken stock and 1/2 cup white wine into marinade.  Transfer browned ribs back into casserole dish.  Deglaze pan with remaining 1/4 cup of white wine and pour into casserole dish with ribs.  Cover with ribs with tinfoil.  Place in refrigerator and marinate overnight.

Preheat oven to 200º.

Place short ribs in oven and bake until tender and falling off the bone (ours were in the oven for about 10 hours).  After about seven hours and then every hour after that, I removed the ribs from the oven and spooned off the fat that had pooled to the top (save it, it’s great a great base for a warm salad dressing or in which to sauté a leafy-green side).

Raise oven temperature to 350º.

When ribs are cooked, remove from braising liquid and keep warm under tinfoil.  Simmer braising liquid over medium high heat in a medium sauce pan until reduced by 3/4.  Coat short ribs with sauce and then place, uncovered, in oven for 15 minutes until edges are browned and crispy.

Serve over jasmine rice with a few extra spoonfuls of reduced sauce and dried sweet basil.