A couple of Saturdays ago, I dragged my cooking club ladies down the paleo rabbit hole—with quite astonishing results. We gorged ourselves on shepherd’s pie, shrimp cakes, lettuce wraps, bacon-wrapped dates, meatballs, key lime pie, chocolate banana pie and last but not least, insanely rich, beef short ribs—bursting with flavor and piled high atop rosemary and bacon-studded sweet potatoes.
Dave eyed the feast from afar, then dove in for the kill as the girls distractedly lingered over paleo-approved palomas.
As for the short ribs, I hesitate to even call them paleo. Nothing is sacrificed, nothing left to be desired. The only thing that could possibly make this dish better is a loaf of crusty french bread to mop up the juices.
mmmm …. bread …
Sorry. Anyway, as I was saying, the recipe is slow, but you can feel the love in the finished dish—and the flavor is worth every minute.
Wine-braised beef short rib with rosemary and bacon sweet potatoes (shhh … it’s paleo!)
(adapted from Saveur)
You’ll need:
4 lbs beef short ribs, bone in
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 bottle (750 ml) tawny port
3 cups beef stock
3 cups water
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper
For sweet potatoes:
three large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
4 sprigs rosemary
3/4 cup ghee (or butter)
8 slices bacon
1/4 tsp white pepper
salt to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Generously season ribs with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in large stove and oven-proof pot/baking dish over high heat (I used my big cast iron enamel Le Creuset—it will have to be large enough to hold all of the ingredients). Add ribs and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Add veggies to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Deglaze with port and cook for about 15 minutes, or until port is reduced by about three-quarters.
Return ribs to pot and add stocks and water. Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid or foil and put in the oven.
Bake for about 2 1/2 hours or until the ribs begin to break apart easily with a fork. Remove from oven and allow pot to cool. You can refrigerate overnight, or, like I did, let it cool for a couple of hours or so, then complete the next steps as your dinner guests arrive.
The next day or about an hour before you aim to serve dinner, transfer pot to stove and simmer over medium heat for about an hour, until the sauce begins to thicken into a syrupy consistency and concentrate in flavor. Spoon liquid over ribs every now and then as the dish heats and move the ribs around as necessary to make sure they don’t burn.
At the same time you put the ribs back on the stove, cook your sweet potatoes in a covered baking dish with butter or ghee and rosemary in a 375-degree oven for about an hour or until tender. When cooked through, add bacon and puree sweet potatoes (along with the rosemary and butter).
Serve short ribs over sweet potatoes and topped with a healthy ladle of sauce from the pot.
18 Comments
Sarah
Oh, wow. This looks perfect for huddling up on the couch, with a glass of red wine. Heaven!
Rachel @ Bakerita
Ask anyone in my family what my favorite food is. They’ll tell you short ribs. If it’s on the menu, I order them, but I rarely make them at home! This though…with those bacon sweet potatoes, well, it needs to happen. I’m drooling already!
Arianna
Mmm… it looks tasty! I really like it!
Can
Why Paleo?
admin
Because we’re going Paleo for the month of Jan 🙂
Jennifer
This looks delicious!
Two questions
— Why the switch from 6 cups veal stock to 3 cups beef/ 3 cups chicken/ 1 cup water? Is it just the logistics of making veal stock?
— Did you try to make the sauce part of the original Savuer recipe? It seems yummy, but also like you’d end up with a double sauce with that and the reduced cooking liquid. Do you think it’s worth the extra trouble to try it?
Beautiful pics!
admin
Thanks Jennifer! I didn’t make the sauce because the juices from the short rib, once reduced, made a beautiful, flavorful and thick gravy. I also read another comment on the Saveur recipe that said they didn’t make the sauce either, so I tried that! As for the chicken stock, since the sauce called for it, and I wasn’t making the sauce, I figured I’d put it into the cooking liquid. As for the water, that was just to supplement the liquid without making it overly salty. Honestly, it would prob be just as great with 6 cups veal stock and as much water as you need to add to that to nearly cover the ribs so they can braise well. Hope that helps! Enjoy!
Jennifer
Thanks so much – I’m excited to make it!
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Brooke
These were absolutely incredible! I cooked the bacon first and used the grease, along with olive oil, to sear the ribs.Thank you!
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Julie
I made this with short ribs and it was awesome, but kids didn’t like all the grisle that comes with short ribs. Can I just use boneless chunks of beef instead?
Kelly
So I’m planning on making this recipe this week…does it matter what kind of port you use? Thanks!
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admin
Nope, any kind should work
admin
Yes, I’m sure you could use boneless beef as well! The flavor might not be quite as rich without the bones, but I’m sure it would still be delicious 🙂
Melody
I made this for my husband tonight. He thinks it is the best dinner I have ever made. No kidding. I did serve it with a russet potato as he is not a fan of sweet ones. I garnished it with bacon. Very delicious. Thanks it will be in the rotation of special dinners.
Brittany
will it matter if I use red wine instead of tawny port?