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From Seasons & Suppers comes this luscious red-wine braised boneless short ribs dish. I can buy boneless beef short ribs at Costco, but that’s the only place I’ve ever seen them. They are cut thin and well marbelized. At Costco they come in packs of six and I break the pack into three. Two strips of meat is enough for my husband and me. I’ll give you the recipe the way that I make it for two people. You can adjust upward as needed.

• Ingredients
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 2 strips boneless beef short ribs
• 1/2 carrot, finely chopped
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 Tbsp. flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. tomato paste*
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
• 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped thyme
• 1/2 tsp. dry rosemary (because I don’t have fresh – sigh)
• 1 small bay leaf
• 3/4 cup beef broth, plus more if needed
• 2 potatoes, cut (optional)
• 1-1/2 carrot in 4″ sections (optional)
• Handful mushrooms, cut into large pieces (optional)
• Handful of small peeled boiling onions (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In an oven-proof skillet (or use a skillet for this part and move to a baking dish later) heat a swazz of olive oil over medium high heat. Dry the meat on paper towels. Sprinkle the meat on both sides with salt and pepper. Sear in olive oil to make it nice and brown. Turn the meat over and sear the other side. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Add onion and carrot to the skillet and saute until the onion is translucent. Stir in the flour and tomato paste*. Let that heat for about a minute. Stir in the red wine and let it simmer, stirring frequently, until it’s reduced by half. Don’t rush this. Just let it do its thing. Stir in the herbs and the beef broth. If you are using an oven proof skillet, lay the beef on top of the sauce. If not, then pour the sauce into a small baking dish and lay the beef on top of the sauce. Cover the skillet or dish and bake at 325 degrees F for one hour fifteen minutes.

Remove from oven. If you are adding vegetables, do it now. Just set them around in the skillet or dish. The sauce will probably be too dry, so stir in more beef broth. Return to oven for one hour fifteen minutes. Serve warm.

NOTES: I have made this many, many times with and without the potatoes, mushrooms, and boiling onions. Usually I make it without, so then I serve the sauce over polenta or mashed cauliflower.

*Here’s a trick I learned awhile back to save tomato paste. When a recipe calls for just a dab, but you have to open a whole can, take out what you need and then empty the can into a plastic Ziploc sandwich bag. Smooth out the bag to make it flat. Using the dull edge of a knife, gently score the bag into six sections. Each section should be roughly a tablespoon. Gently place the bag flat into the freezer. Next time you’re ready to use a little bit of tomato paste, pull out the bag, break off a section, and put the bag back in the freezer. Now you have a tablespoon of frozen tomato paste, ready to thaw, and use. I usually add my square of frozen tomato paste into the liquid, if using. I don’t spend any time thawing the little square.