Week end Beef Short Ribs from the Pioneer Woman

Let's start with a picture of my favorite sous chef.

I've been trying to make something each weekend that I simply can not make on a week night.  I really enjoy visiting blogs that are clearly a huge labor daily.  And I don't want to offend anyone.  My reality in the moment is that I come home on a week night after a full days labor to another workplace.  No other way to say it. 

Giving myself a creative corner to work in for a few hours on the weekend keeps me from being all frumpy and slumpy in the long run and helps me to stay in touch with myself.  My mother's daughter.  An American home cook.  A lover of food.  A lover of home and hearth, even though I must venture out each day for work.  

Now, I want you to stay here, so I'm giving the link to the recipe late in the blog.  Beef Short Ribs.  I have most everything in my freezer.  I'm just that kind of girl.  But I don't have this.  It took a trip to the grocery store and a consult with the butcher, but she hooked me up.

It starts with browning the ribs in a large heavy bottom pan.  Hot oil, meat, significant heat.  Not a skill to be under estimated by a beginning cook.  But an important one lots of cooking styles. 

It really struck me a year ago when my mom stayed with us.  Age and illness had left her struggling with many things, from talking to walking.   Together one afternoon, we made Julia Child's Beef Bourguigon.  She couldn't go to the lady's room by herself, but she could brown meat in hot oil.  Some part of the brain of a good cook remembers the important stuff.  Brilliant baby was just really a baby then.  I was so impressed with how well she held him, even though she had trouble with so many other physical stuff.  http://dinnerattheosbornes.blogspot.com/2009/12/visit-with-my-mom.html    

Set the browned meat aside. My mom used a pie plate to hold things and pushed them to the back of the stove.

Now the sauce. I followed Pioneer Woman's recipe almost exactly, which is rare for me, but just saying.  Go to the link below for the recipe. 

Cover the ribs with the sauce and put in a 275 degree Fahrenheit oven.  I covered it with foil for a while, but uncovered it for the last about half of the cooking time.  3 1/2 to 4 hours total time in the oven. 

Pioneer Woman recommends cooling the ribs and refrigerating them for several hours or overnight.  Then removing the meat from the bones, draining off the excess fat and heating the remaining meat and sauce.  I was unaware that Pioneer Woman was so delicate.  I set them aside while I made other side dishes and tended to my household.  But then, I removed the bones and strained off the fat.  I have my mom's heat-proof fingers.  I can take anything.

I took husband a taste while he continued with his work.  Got his attention.

And the sous chef's.  I mean really.  What self-respecting Golden Retriever isn't interested in this.  

Served it with buttered fettuccine and Italian flat leaf parsly.  And I assure you that there was a brocolli side dish.  I never seem to photograph the stuff that's good for you. 

Remember to cook.  

Oh, and the recipe. 

 http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/03/short-ribs-in-tomato-sauce/

Go forth and be happy.