Quarantine Beef Short Rib and Porchini Ragu (picture heavy)

[bacon_crazy510]

Happy weekend to you ALL!!! I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe.

I saw this recipe on TV, and it looked good ... but I knew I could put a little twist on it to make it even better.

https://web.nmsu.edu/~pamorand/recipes/Beef%20Short%20Rib%20Ragu.pdf

I went by my local meat market that normally has boneless beef short ribs, but they were out. So I found another meat market in the Claremont district in Oakland that said they had them. I went, and to my surprise they were USDA prime .... choice would have been fine; what the hell. I pulled the trigger, and paid up. 2 pounds please!

I had everything else in my pantry .... so here goes:

I started by sweating the onions, and then after a few minutes, I added the garlic....

Then I added the tomato paste, Chinese five spice, and anchovy paste (I have anchovy paste, so I used that instead of anchovy fillets) I also added a tablespoon of "better than bullion roasted garlic base)

After I cooked that down for a few minutes I added the red wine, and reduced it until almost dry, per the recipe instructions. Then I added a can of fire roasted chopped tomatoes, instead of regular, whole tomatoes. I also doubled the Porchini mushrooms, and rehydrated a full ounce instead of the half ounce called for in the recipe. More mushrooms never hurt, right? I chopped them, and added them, and the strained broth I used to rehydrate them.

Then I put salt and pepper on the ribs, and floated them in the pool.

Then I covered them, and put them into my oven at 350F for an hour. At the 30 minute mark I went outside and started up the Yoder .... I decided that for the "uncovered" portion of the cook I'd use the pellet grill to try and impart some smoke flavor.

At the one hour mark I transferred them to the Yoder, and cooked them for another hour and twenty minutes - thats when they got really tender, and easy to shred.

I pulled the meat out, let it rest for a bit, and let the sauce sit so I could de-fat it a little. I then shredded the meat, and reincorporated it back into the sauce.

I let it cool for a bit, and then tucked it into the icebox. This will be dinner tonight .... you know these dishes are always better the next day, once they've had a chance for the flavors to blend!

My friends are making some cheesy grits and veggies, and I'm trading a portion of this ragu for the grits so I don't have to make them. It's a fair trade, no?

Thanks for looking!

Stay safe everyone.

 

[sawhorseray]

Man, that looks wonderful, you and your friends are in for a good feed, Like. In my carpenter days I worked a big remo of the Clairmont Hotel, tho I didn't much like having to cross the bridge and traffic. There's a place in San Leandro called Del Monte Meats where you can purchase just about anything, decent price, great quality, they supply high end restaurants. I know they changed hands a couple years back, in the past I worked on the owners new house and then had a job relining the walk-ins at the Sacrament plant. It's worth having an account there, will call, cash. RAY

 

[Steve H]

Sounds like a good trade to me! And this looks incredible!

 

[bacon_crazy510]

Man, that looks wonderful, you and your friends are in for a good feed, Like. In my carpenter days I worked a big remo of the Clairmont Hotel, tho I didn't much like having to cross the bridge and traffic. There's a place in San Leandro called Del Monte Meats where you can purchase just about anything, decent price, great quality, they supply high end restaurants. I know they changed hands a couple years back, in the past I worked on the owners new house and then had a job relining the walk-ins at the Sacrament plant. It's worth having an account there, will call, cash. RAY

I just tried to look up Del Monte Meats ... I don't think they are in San Leandro anymore.

I've got a couple of "go to's" for meat ... in Alameda there is Joe Scalise Meats inside Encinal Market .... an awesome neighborhood market run and owned by a craft beer crazy dude named Joe (coincidentally) ... they have one of the only two AWESOME beer selections on the island. There is also a meat market in Alameda called Baron's Meats - they have great, locally raised meats, but you definitely pay a premium ... the last time I went they wanted $13.99 a pound for eye of round. Yeah ... no thank you. I went to a meat market named Ver Brugge in Oakland yesterday .... I've look in their shop before while bar hopping in the area, but this was the first time I've shopped there. Great meat selection, as well as some fresh, local seafood. I picked up some fresh Patrole Sole that I pan seared in butter and herbs for dinner last night. Parking is a nightmare, but being on a motorcycle I can generally find a space to squeeze in to.

 

[Sowsage]

Looks fantastic! Nice cook! You guys are in for some good eats thats for sure!

 

[pushok2018]

Awesome looking meal! I would have some right now.....

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Always a fair trade when it comes to food.

 

[jcam222]

Looks fantastic!! Love the flavors with the anchovy paste too. Crazy coincidence as I did beef today and did a Keto version of cheesy grits. Super points for your cool man , off the hook good.

 

[Titch]

That looks pretty good from here,

 

[bacon_crazy510]

Well, it turned our pretty darned good. It is very rich, and a small portion is filling.