No Midwestern meal is complete without meat. This braise has a unique flavor thanks to the addition of salty kalamata olives and sweet fennel.
Serves 6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 3 hours
Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5-6 lbs. short ribs
1 medium Spanish onion, chopped
2 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 fennel bulb, cut into 1-inch pieces
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced
5 sprigs thyme
1 32-ounce can of tomato puree
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cups beef stock or broth
Kosher salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
Procedure
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Start by heating olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place short ribs in a single layer and brown them on all sides. Once browned, remove them from the pan. Next, add onion, carrot, fennel, and garlic to the same pan and cook until they are soft, which should take approximately 8 minutes. Then, add tomato, wine, and stock and bring it to a boil. Return the short ribs to the pan, along with thyme and olives, and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and place it in the oven for 2 ½ to 3 hours or until the short ribs are tender. If the pan becomes too dry, add water or stock as needed.
Once the short ribs are tender, remove the meat from the pan and strain the liquid into a separate saucepan. Reserve the vegetables, removing the thyme sprigs, for serving later. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and allow it to simmer until it thickens, which should take about 5 minutes. To serve, place the short ribs on a large platter surrounded by the vegetables and drizzle the reduced sauce over the top.
