Mmmm... braised short rib with tagliatelle

Folks, I have not been this excited about a recipe in a long time. Beef on the bone, tomatoes, wine, bacon.... as Ina would say, how bad can that be?! I sincerely hope that you will either make this for yourself, or talk me into making it for you. Creative bribery encouraged.

Braised Short Rib with Tagliatelle

(based on Giada's recipe)

2 lbs of beef short rib

4 slices thick-cut bacon

1 very large onion, chopped

5 carrots, peeled and chopped

14oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 can beef broth

½ bottle of a nice red wine with some personality
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
2 packets of fresh tagliatelle (or other wide noodle)

The short rib is a one-pot deal. Advance warning that it will be stewing for about 4 hours - you will want a nice heavy pot. I, of course, used my trusty yellow Le Creuset (as pictured in the crappy bb photo above).

Chop up the bacon and throw it into the pot over medium heat to render (i.e. cook out the fat). When the bacon is crispy and browned, remove the bacon (and reserve) but leave the fat.

Sear the short ribs in the bacon fat. If you've never seen one, they tend to be almost square. You want to be patient with this step, and develop a good brown crust on at least four of the six sides. It will pay dividends later. Browning = flavor. You will probably need to do this in two batches. Remove all the browned short ribs to a plate.

Without cleaning the pot, throw in the chopped carrots and onion. (Some fat will render from the short ribs too, which should provide ample cooking oil.) Cook them until they start to brown, too.

Deglaze with red wine. Give the bottom of the pot a good scraping to liberate all the tasty brown bits. Add the tomatoes, beef broth, bay leaves. Season cautiously with salt and pepper (watch the salt in particular - the beef broth may have a little or a lot, you will be reducing the liquid, and you will be adding the bacon back later). Return the short ribs to the pot; the meat should mostly be submerged in the braising liquid. Bring to a simmer and cover.

Cook covered for 1.5 hours. Check on it once in a while to make sure nothing's sticking to the bottom. At the end of that time, uncover and check seasoning (it should still be somewhat under-salted at this point).

Cook for *another* 1.5 hours, uncovered. The braising liquid will gradually reduce and thicken into a sauce - it's okay if the beef is no longer fully submerged. As before, stir once in a while. [During the long simmer, you might pass the time by watching a movie or two, and enjoying the half bottle of wine you conveniently have on hand. You can always open another one for dinner.]

Noodles: About 20 min before the beef is due to be done, put a big pot of water on to boil. I strongly recommend using a fresh pasta - the grocery store kind, usually found in a refrigerated case near the dairy and eggs, is fine. Get the widest noodle you can find - tagliatelle ideally but fettucine will do. Cook the pasta al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, remove the short ribs and shred the meat using two forks. The meat should fall off the bone and be very tender and easy to shred. Return the shredded meat to the pot with the sauce, and fold in. Sprinkle in the bacon. Check seasoning one last time.

With this dish, I like to mix the pasta and the sauce in the pot and serve it pre-mixed, as opposed to ladling the sauce over the plain noodles. Garnish with a little grated parmesan or chopped parsley if you have it. Alternatively, Giada grates on a little dark chocolate.

The full recipe - 2 lbs of short ribs and two packets of pasta - will make about six generous servings. You could theoretically halve it. But a full recipe is about the same amount of work, so why not make extra? The shredded short rib sauce refrigerates beautifully and will keep a little over a week - it can be two meals for three people, three meals for two people or even six meals for one person, provided you're not the kind of person who gets tired of eating one dish over and over.

(Important Note: If you're refrigerating the sauce, DON'T put in the bacon until you're reheating it to eat. If you leave the bacon soaking in the sauce, the salt will leach out and make your sauce too salty. I learned this one the hard way. Can be ameliorated with a touch of sugar, but better not to mess it up in the first place.)

Alternate serving suggestion: Instead of shredding the short rib, you can serve a whole one (or two) nestled in a bed of polenta or mashed potatoes, and spoon some sauce over it.

Enjoy!