This is one of our favorite Short Rib recipes and does produce a nice thick gravy. If you wanted it even thicker, I would add a little extra flour to the fat and fond after browning the ribs, before you add everything back for a long braise. The original recipe called for a Vegetable Ragout, but we prefer it with roasted root veggies and noodles. Hope this helps! Alexa ******************************************************* Braised Beef Short Ribs with Root Vegetable Ragoût Gourmet January 1999 Yield: Serves 4 1 small onion 1 medium carrot 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 cup dry red wine 3 thyme sprigs 1 Turkish bay leaf or 1/4 California bay leaf 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper four 3/4-pound beef short ribs (sometimes called Flanken) all-purpose flour for dusting ribs 2 cups veal stock (16 fluid ounces) 1/2 cup water if necessary Accompaniment: root vegetable ragout Slice enough onion and chop enough carrot to measure 1/4 cup each. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan cook onions and carrots in 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat 2 to 3 minutes, or until softened but not browned. Add wine, thyme, bay leaf, and pepper and simmer 3 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl and cool. In a heavy-duty sealable plastic bag combine ribs and wine mixture. Marinate ribs, chilled, turning them occasionally, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. Preheat oven to 300°F. Remove ribs from marinade and pat dry. Pour marinade through a sieve into a small saucepan and discard solids. Bring marinade to a boil, skimming froth, and remove pan from heat. Season ribs well with salt and pepper and lightly dust with flour. In a heavy ovenproof skillet or flameproof casserole large enough to hold ribs in one layer heat remaining 1/4 cup oil over moderately high heat until it just begins to give off a faint white smoke. Brown ribs, turning them occasionally, and transfer to a plate. Pour off oil from skillet or casserole and add ribs and stock . Pour marinade through a fine sieve into skillet or casserole and bring liquid to a simmer. Cover skillet or casserole with foil or a lid and braise ribs in middle of oven (add water after 3 hours if most of braising liquid is evaporated) 4 hours, or until meat gives no resistance when pierced with a fork. Pour braising liquid through a sieve into a bowl and skim fat. Serve short ribs with braising liquid and vegetable ragout. Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Braised-Beef-Short-Ribs-with-Root-Vegetable-Ragout-100597#ixzz0gm7LpBcm

Posted by foodonastump "So couldn't this "potential difference for more energy to transfer" have an effect on not just the braising liquid, but also on the meat that's in the vessel? Or was America's Test Kitchen completely dillusional when they experimented with cooking pot roast in a dutch oven, in an oven at various temperatures and found: "We then tested higher temperatures to reduce the cooking time. Heat levels at above 350 degrees boiled the meat to a stringy, dry texture because the exterior of the roast overcooked before the interior was cooked and tender. The magic temperature turned out to be 300 degrees - enough heat to keep the meat at a low simmer while high enough to shave a few more minutes off the cooking time." Excellent questions. First, It seems to me that we can all accept that: 1. To the meat in the liquid inside the vessel, it makes no difference where the 212F heat comes from. By the very definition of thermal energy, there is no difference between heat from the oven, stove, coal, candle, -------. 2. However, to the meat, how long the meat stays in the 212F will make a difference. To tenderize the meat, it is important to cook it long, in the ATK experiment, as they stated, they cook the meat at 350 but shorter time, therefore some of the meat is tougher. "By the way, the oven cooking time for their pot roast is 3.5-4 hours after the liquid comes to a simmer, stove top. And yes, with an internal temperature of 210 degrees they themselves called the roast "overcooked", in quotes. In other words it was a desirable result in this case. Again, unless they're dilussional, it sure sounds to me like there's 212, and then there's 212. And that generations of cooks weren't wrong. " I don't think that generation of cooks were wrong. Cooking with a covered Dutch oven inside an oven will produce wonderful results. Whether that will have more delicious end results than doing it with the Dutch oven on the stove top is my question. "Last note - you asked why do it in the oven rather than stove-top. ATK found what LindaC mentioned above: "After a few rounds of stovetop cooking, we felt that it was too difficult to maintain a steady, low temperature, so we began pot-roasting in the oven, starting out at 250 degrees. This method required no supervision, just a turn of the meat every 30 to 40 minutes to ensure even cooking." I can understand that. For the purpose of the repeatability of the experiment, as in any experiment, it is important to maintain recordable and verifiable environmental conditions, and that is much easier done in an oven which has a limiting thermostat. There is no practical way to do that on the stove top. However, I am not sure for everyday cooking anyone would have a problem to get the Dutch oven to be on simmering low-fire setting on the stove top. ---------------------------------------------- BTW, ATK has provided much very useful and important information to the public, however, most of their tests are done in somewhat informal settings. To confirm a true test of 350F vs. 300F in the quality of the meat, I believe the experiment must be done in an oven with an electronic PID type of thermostat which has the ability to control the environment to 0.1 F resolution. Mechanical bi-metal or capillary hydraulic type of thermostats in normal ovens can vary as much as 30F to 50F. Humidity of the cooking environment should be monitored, and a chart recorder should be in operation to record temperature swings throughout the entire cooking time. Because testing by individuals chewing is highly unreliable, it depends on subjectivity, and where the meat from the same cut is taken for the chewing. Proper way to do it perhaps would be using a durometer tester. Finally, no test result is to be considered conclusive until the same test is performed by another independent testing facility. Bottom line: Stewing using a Dutch oven in an oven will make wonderful and delicious stew. However, beef "tenderness" cooked at 212 F is very different texturally than beef tenderness cooked at 135F. dcarch

fawnridge, "sous vide" is an unfortunate fancy name for a simple cooking method. All it means is cooking at very low temperature and for as long as you want to, depending on recipes. It has nothing to do with vacuum nor pressure. There is no way you can guarantee proper cooking temperature using normal methods, so most of the time you simply over cook to make sure of food safety. Sous vide is using advanced electronic thermostatic control to guarantee cooking temperature to less than 1 degree. Electronic controls for this used to cost over $2,000 to $5,000. So only restaurants and food manufacturers could afford the equipments. Recently, you can buy the equipment for less than $200. This makes it a very popular appliance for many home cooks. The fact that you can cook at precise temperature means you now can cook with better food safety. There are lots of information on the internet to guide you regarding temperature and cooking time to be safe. Texture, short ribs sous vide cooked to medium edge to edge, yet fork tender is a new enjoyment. How to you know the meat is fully cooked? Another feature of sous vide. It is not possible to overcook or undercook. It is truly "set it forget it" I can cook a whole turkey directly from frozen to 100% cooked without having to check with a probe, no overcooking or undercooking, the entire bird.. No need to defrost for a week in the refrigerator and still not sure if the inside is fully cooked. dcarch

That’s an interesting looking recipe. Mine are not cut as thin as the ¼” mentioned, though. Mine are like…1/2 to ¾”. I can’t imagine them getting tender enough just in a marinade. I still think they would need long cooking.