SHORT RIBS

Some beautiful short ribs were picked up at Lakewood Meats in Lodi California. These ribs have a great marbling of fat. This will transform into wonderful flavor.They are going to get the Chilebrown treatment. They will be slow roasted in a Dutch oven with a bath of chile's and vegetables. The chiles will be Ancho and some home smoked chipotle en adobo. Some home smoked bacon will be thrown in for good measure. These ribs were cooked for four hours. They were then cooled and refrigerated over night. This allows the flavors to mingle. It also congeals the excess fat for easy removal.

Short Ribs Braised with Chile

1. 3-4 medium dried ancho chiles
2. 1 medium onion chopped
3. 2 carrots chopped
4. 4 garlic cloves chopped
5. 2 tablespoons of chipotles en adobo plus 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce
6. 2 tablespoons tomato paste
7. 2 tablespoons molasses
8. 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
9. 2 cups of water
10. 2 slices of bacon chopped
11. 1 cinnamon stick
12. 6 pounds of short ribs
13. salt & pepper to taste

Soak the Ancho chile's for 20 minutes in some boiling hot water. Remove stem and coarsely chop. Add to food processor with carrots, onions, garlic, tomato paste, chipotle. Pulse until thick paste is achieved. It is okay to add some water to get everything moving. Reserve this mixture.

Salt and pepper the short ribs. Take an enameled cast iron pot and crank up the heat. Add a little oil and brown the ribs. Reserve.

Fry the bacon in the pan you browned the ribs. When they are almost done add the chile vegetable paste. Be careful, it may splatter a little. Cook paste for several minutes. Add the rest of the water, molasses, cumin, salt and pepper. Add the reserved ribs. Place in 350 oven for 3-4 hours. After this time you can cool and refrigerate the meat mixture. If you cannot wait skim as much fat as possible.

The only thing to do is to wait till tomorrow. The fat should be removed and the mixture reheated. This was served with some basmati rice and some beautiful Jumbo Asparagus. This was one flavorful dish. The meat melted in your mouth. It had a little punch from the Chile's. This was one dish that takes a little time. The rewards were great. I think I will reward myself with a nap!