For Dinner: Beef Short Ribs over Mashed Potatoes

I love tender beef short ribs this time of year.  We're eating some tonight.  Make some this weekend!

Beef Short Ribs

2- 3 pounds of Beef short ribs

3-4 cups Mirepoix (carrots, onion, celery)

Garlic

Tomato paste

Herbs (thyme, rosemary, bay, black pepper)

Beef stock

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 saute the vegetables until they start to soften and take on some color. Add the tomato paste and cook down briefly. 

Add the ribs and vegetables to crock pot and add enough beef stock to bring up the volume of liquid to about halfway up the short ribs. Let it slow cook for 3-5 hours on high heat first and lower it to low heat about 2 hours in. 

Remove the short ribs and set aside (check to make sure they are falling off the bone). Pass the remaining sauce through a strainer into another saucepan. Continue to reduce the sauce for 5-10 minutes. Serve the ribs over the mashed potatoes and drizzle the sauce on top.

Mashed Potatoes

· 4 pounds Potatoes (You can use Yukon Gold or russet, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes)

· Butter (a bit)

· Heavy Cream (about a cup and a half, heated)

· Salt and pepper

Start with the potatoes in a pot of cold water so that they cook evenly. Add salt to the water. Make sure that there is just enough cold water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil, and simmer until soft. (About 15-20 minutes or so.) Make sure not to overcook. Check periodically. Drain the potatoes and then put them back in the pot and into a hot oven for a bit to dry. Make sure to keep an eye on them. Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Once the potatoes are dry, pass them through a ricer or mash them with and electric mixer. 

*If you use and electric mixer, be careful not to over whip the potatoes or they will become elastic and gooey. 

Add some butter, salt, pepper and cream and whip until combined.