made by Emily
You'll need for the short ribs:
2 lbs short ribs w/o bone, or 4 pieces bone-in beef short ribs
1 Tbs vegetable oil
Sea salt
Black pepper
3 big carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or pressed
1 14oz can whole tomatoes in juice, pureed in a blender with juice (you'll only end up using 1/2 the amount)
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
4 cups beef stock
2 sprigs fresh thyme (don't remove leaves, just use the whole sprig)
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs red-wine vinegar
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
For the vegetables:
20 pearl onions (approx 5 oz) - you can use fresh or frozen. Frozen is easier b/c the skin is off. Fresh tastes better but you have to get the skin off which is a P.I.T.A.
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs red-wine vinegar
2 cups chicken stock
2 big carrots, cut diagonal into extra large bite-sized pieces
4-6 bacon slices (smoked bacon or applewood-smoked is great), cut into 1inch chunks
8oz pkg fresh white mushrooms (about 10 mushrooms), stems trimmed and diced
Braise the short ribs:
Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 250°F.
Pat beef dry. Heat oil in a wide heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown beef on all sides, turning with tongs, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.
Add beef stock, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, vinegars, and sea salt and pepper to sauce (don't be shy with the S & P!), and bring to a simmer. Skim fat from surface if needed (I didn't), then add beef along with any juices accumulated on plate and cover pot with a tight-fitting lid. Transfer to oven and braise until beef is very tender, about 5 hours (the longer the more tender).
De-skin the pearl onions but try to keep them "whole" or intact as best as you can (luckily you skip this step if you are using frozen ones).
Heat butter in dried saucepan over moderate heat and then cook onions, stirring occasionally, until brown spots appear, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar, then add chicken stock and carrots and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. You want the liquid to reduce by about half. You can cover, if necessary. It should look like the liquid glazes the veggies.
While vegetables are simmering, cook bacon in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until almost well done looking. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until mushrooms are tender and bacon is browned and crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to vegetables in saucepan so you don't get the remaining grease.
Transfer a short rib to each of 4 soup plates and keep warm in oven. Pour sauce through a colander into a large bowl, discarding solids (or you can save for another use later b/c I feel like it's a little wasteful). Skim fat from top if you see a lot accumulated. Boil sauce until thickened and reduced to about 3 cups. Add about 2 cups sauce to vegetables (reserve remaining sauce for another use), then spoon mixture around each bowl of your short ribs. Taste to check if you need to add a little more salt & pepper.