Empty Nester Short Rib Saturday

So, my nest is empty...sort of...my daughter is in Oregon and my son is in college in Iowa. It's just my husband, my dog and me at home now. This morning I looked in the freezer and saw a small package of short ribs I had picked up for a great deal at the store. Normally, I wouldn't have looked twice at a package of four meaty short ribs...not enough food to feed my WHOLE family...but, the size of the meals I make now are so different from before.

I had a favorite short rib recipe for the crockpot, but I decided to do a search for a new one for these four lonely short ribs...and I think I found a real winner. I cut the recipe in half to feed the two of us. Feel free to double or triple to meet the needs of your family.

Short Rib Saturday

Ingredients:
1 can (14 oz) tomato sauce
1-1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 medium onion, diced or cut into rings (your choice)
1-1/2 pounds beef short ribs
1 cup beef broth
1 cup Ruby Port or a hearty red wine
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste
olive oil
carrots, celery (diced and optional)
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese (optional)

1. In a shallow pan, place ribs with bone side down and season with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Roast in a pre-heated 400* oven to render much of the fat from the short ribs.

2. While ribs are roasting, prepare the sauce. In a sauce pan, heat about 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil and saute the onions, carrots and celery until starting to brown. Add the crushed garlic and then port or wine to deglaze the pan with the vegetables. Most of the alcohol will cook off, but you may substitute more broth or water if you don't want to use the port or wine.

3. Stir in the remaining ingredients, tomato sauce, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, thyme, bay leaf, brown sugar, thyme, red pepper flakes and beef broth. Bring to a simmer.

4. When ribs have roasted for about 45 minutes, pour off the rendered fat. If the ribs are very meaty, you may return them to the over to roast for about 15 more minutes.

5. At this point, you may either add this all to a crockpot and let cook all day (or 3-4 hours), or pour the sauce over the ribs, COVER and cook at 325* for 2-1/2 hours or until the meat falls apart and off the bone. Make sure to check about half-way through the cooking time to see if you need to add more liquid.

This would be good served over mashed potatoes or pasta. Served with a green salad and garlic bread. Delicious! I'll be making this again.