Guinness Braised Short Ribs

I found another great recipe in my "Cook This, Not That" cook book by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding. I had never made short ribs before but I've always liked them at restaurants. They compare this recipe to the Chianti Braised Short Ribs they serve at Olive Garden. I don't think these taste like those much, I think these are much better! I definitely recommend serving these over some garlic mash potatoes and with some dinner rolls, or better yet, my Cheesy Rolls! :)

This was a fairly easy recipe to make and my whole family, including my mom, loved them! The adults all had seconds and the kids cleaned their plates! My favorite thing about it was the tenderness of the meat and the gremolata really gave it great flavor and aroma! Below is the recipe that is in the cookbook, and I add a few changes...

Ingredients:
*1 T canola oil
*2 lbs boneless (beef) short ribs
*Salt and black pepper to taste (I also used Nature Seasonings)
*2 cans/bottles (12 oz each) Guinness Draught
*2 cups low-sodium beef broth (I used a 14.5 oz can and added about 1/2 cup of water)
*3 large carrots, cut into thirds (I used half a bag of peeled baby carrots since I had them on hand)
*2 sweet onions, cut into quarters. (I used 2 large onions and I thought it was a tad too much onion...and I LOVE onions. Next time I will use two small onions or one large one)
*2 stalks celery, cut into large chunks. (I used 3 and cut them into four pieces each.)
*8 cloves garlic, peeled
*2 bay leaves

Gremolata (optional but recommended!)
*1/2 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
*2 cloves garlic, minced
*grated zest of 2 oranges or lemons (I did one lemon and one orange)

1) Heat oil in large skillet over high heat. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Once oil is hot, place ribs in pan and cook them on all sides until a rich brown crust develops on outside. Remove ribs and place them in a slow cooker.

2) While pan is still hot, pour the beer in pan and scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom with a spatula or wooden spoon. Pour beer over short ribs in crock pot.

3) Add broth, carrots, onions, celery, garlic, and bay leaves to the pot and set crock pot to high. Cook for 4 hours, until beef is fork tender and falls apart. Discard bay leaves (and I discarded garlic cloves). Note: After 4 hours, the ribs still looked tough. I cooked on high for 6 hours and they were fall apart tender!

4)If using gremolata, mix parsley, garlic and zest. Serve beef (along with some of the sauce) over your mash potatoes (or polenta). Sprinkle the gremolata over the top. Ahhh... mazing!

I got 2 packs of short ribs (a little over 2 lbs... 10 ribs in all)

brown them in pan with oil and seasoning

add everything to crockpot and turn to high... I recommend 6 hours.

Gremolata

Almost done!

Served over garlic mash potatoes and sprinkled with gremolata on top.

Notice the fork tenderness... if they don't do this, keep them cooking till they do. Every crockpot varies in heat and cooking time. 

This is the 5th recipe I've made from this book. So far all of them have been a hit!