One Last Braise: Beef Short Ribs over Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta

Photo by Emily Clack

This weekend wasn't quite warm yet, so I opted for one final braise before embracing spring.  We made a similar dish when we filmed our Bistro Cooking episode last month.

From the Capital Cooking Cookbook

The ribs will melt off the bone and into your mouth.

2- 3 pounds of Beef short ribs

3-4 cups Mirepoix (Onions, Carrots, Celery)

Garlic

Tomato paste

Shenandoah Growers Herbs (thyme, rosemary, bay, black pepper)

Beef stock

Red wine

Salt and pepper

Season the short ribs with salt and pepper. Sear the short ribs in clarified butter or olive oil until well browned. Remove from the pan. Add a little olive oil and sauté the vegetables until they start to soften and take on some color. Add the tomato paste and cook down briefly. Add some wine to deglaze the pan and scrape up the all of the tasty bits. Add the ribs back to the pan and add enough beef stock to bring up the volume of liquid to about halfway up the short ribs. Bring to a boil, cover, and put in a 300°F oven. 

You could also transfer everything to a slow cooker at this point and let it slow cook for 3-5 hours on high hear first and lower it to low heat after 2 hours.

Braise the short ribs for 3-4 hours, until they are tender and the meat falls off the bone. Remove the short ribs and set aside. Pass the remaining sauce through a strainer into another saucepan. Continue to reduce the sauce for 5-10 minutes. Serve the ribs over the
Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta and drizzle the sauce on top.

Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta

3 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade, plus more as needed
3 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups polenta
4 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled

2 tablespoons butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring the stock and cream to a simmer in a large, heavy saucepan over high heat. Whisk in the polenta in a steady stream, then decrease the heat to medium. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, more constantly than you would think possible, until the polenta begins to thicken, approximately 5-10 minutes.

Add the cheese and butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.