Dynamic Short Ribs
When short rib arrives by courier, it's time to go as fancy as the method it arrived. Pre sear on Sous Vide for 24 hours at 75°C in a vegetable and red wine reduction, this was fall off the bone, melt in your mouth tenderness, on and tangy and spicy bed of lemon sauteed red cabbage and padron chilli, and a puree of kumara, potato and smoked olive oil. Finally, on top, the sauce is a spicy tomato sauce reduced with the beef juices. For me, this was lunchtime heaven. Ingredients (for 2) 2 Beef Short Ribs 1 Red Onion, diced 2 Cloves of Garlic, minced 1 Stick of Celery, minced 300ml Malbec or other dry
red 2 Teaspoons Dried Marjoram 2 Bay Leaves 250ml Vegetable Stock Salt and Pepper Rice Bran Oil For the Caramelized Chili Cabbage 1/4 Red Cabbage, finely sliced 4 Padron Chillies, finely sliced 1 Clove of Garlic, minced Juice of Half a Lemon Olive Oil Salt Pepper For the Puree 2 Large Sweet Potatoes 4 Medium Potatoes 1 Tablespoon of Butter or Ghee 1 Cup of Whole Milk Smoked Olive Oil For the Tomato Sauce 400g tin of Tomatoes 1 Clove of Garlic, minced Spicy Paprika Beef Juices (from the sous vide) Method Pat dry the short ribs with a paper towel, then sprinkle generously with salt and leave for 20 mins. Pat dry with paper towels again. Fire up a frying pan to a medium high heat. Add a dollop of olive oil, then brown the ribs on all sides and set aside. In the same frying pan add the onions, celery and garlic and saute until soft. Add the wine, marjoram, bay leaves and vegetable stock then reduce until it just starts to thicken. Take off the heat. Fire up your sous vide machine in a generous sized pot and preheat to 75°C. Put the ribs in a sous vide or sturdy ziplock style bag, and pour in the red wine/vegetable mixture. Immerse in the water, cover the entire pot with clingfilm and leave for 24 hours. A day passes... The smell of beef in the kitchen is wonderful. Now to make its accompaniments. Peel and dice the sweet and standard potatoes. Cover with water, and a teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil, until crazy tender/falling apart. Add a cup of cold water quickly followed by the milk and ghee, and then blend it all until smooth and very runny. Keep on a low heat. I covered my pot with a colander to avoid the not insignificant splatter-factor. Stir regularly and reduce until super thick, and holds it's peaks. Salt and pepper to taste. When the puree nears it's end, saute the garlic clove, cabbage and chillies on a low heat in a dollop of oil for five minutes until it starts to go tender. Add the lemon juice, and continue to saute until quite tender, but the thicker bits retain a bit of crunch. For the spicy tomato sauce, blend 400g of tomatoes with 1 generous teaspoon of spicy paprika. Add to a pot and turn to a medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer. Pour some of the juices from the meat into the tomatoes and turn up the heat and reduce until thick. Everything will hold until your puree is nice and reduced, and well season with salt and pepper. Stir through smoked olive oil if you've got it (to taste). Plate up with a generous dollop of puree, and haystack of the spiced cabbage, the beef rib, and finally, the spicy beef tomato sauce. Enjoy!
