- 4 hours ago
Turn your trusty bread pan into a miniature Dutch oven and get cooking! In this video, Chef John teaches you how to make loaf pan short ribs for 2, complete with sautéed onions in a sweetened tomato sauce and a celery-carrot mixture. Slow-cooking the beef short ribs in a makeshift Dutch oven saves you from having to buy a whole new kitchen utensil but also makes them a rich and tender dinner. Once out of the oven, nestle these braised short ribs on top of a bed of mashed potatoes and enjoy!
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with Loaf Pan Short Ribs for Two.
00:08That's right, we're turning our trusty old bread pan into a miniature Dutch oven.
00:13And whether you use this technique because you have a small guest list or an even smaller budget,
00:18these beef short ribs are going to come out just as amazing as the large format traditional version.
00:24And to get started, we will generously season our beef with a combination of kosher salt and some freshly ground
00:30black pepper.
00:32And of course, if you want to sneak a pinch of cayenne in there, go ahead.
00:35I mean, you are after all the Jordan Klepper of Chef John's favorite pepper.
00:39But anyway, we will season those up on all sides before we head to the stove to give them their
00:45traditional browning,
00:47which I like to do over medium-high heat and a little bit of oil.
00:50So, okay, we really don't need that much because there's a lot of fat in beef short ribs,
00:55which is going to render out as these brown.
00:57And in about a minute or two, you're going to have plenty of fat.
01:01And to save time, I'm not going to show you every twist and turn,
01:04but we do want to try to get some nice brown color on every side.
01:08And once that's been accomplished, we'll turn off the heat
01:10and we'll transfer those into a standard 9x5 loaf pan.
01:14And as you can see, three nice big short ribs cut like this are going to fit perfectly.
01:20And that's going to provide us two fairly generous portions.
01:23And that's it once our pan's been beefed.
01:25We'll head back to the stove and set our heat back on medium-high.
01:29And we will transfer a chopped onion into that delicious rendered fat,
01:33along with a nice big pinch of salt.
01:36And then we'll cook these onions for about five or six minutes,
01:39or until they're beautifully browned.
01:41And if you're thinking, these look good right about here,
01:44since they're starting to turn translucent,
01:46and we have some nice golden brown on the edges.
01:49But those are not even close.
01:51Okay, I really want you to take them at least this far,
01:54where almost all the pieces are golden brown,
01:56and a few pieces are getting close to golden black.
01:59And it's those pieces that are the secret to a beautifully colored sauce.
02:04Okay, we don't want a pale tan.
02:06We want a deep, dark, rich, beautiful brown.
02:09All right, so be brave and don't stop too soon.
02:11And once they do reach this point, we will stop and add some tomato paste,
02:15for some color, flavor, and acidity, as well as a spoon of flour,
02:20just to help thicken our cooking liquids up a little bit.
02:22And we'll cook that stirring for about two minutes,
02:25just to cook the rawness out of that tomato paste and flour.
02:28And once that's been accomplished, we'll deglaze with some sherry wine,
02:32or any kind of wine would work.
02:34But I think that a little bit of sweetness in the sherry works perfectly in this recipe.
02:38And if you don't do wine, you can do like half wine vinegar and half water,
02:42and sort of kind of get the same effect.
02:44And what we'll do is let that boil for about one minute,
02:47to reduce slightly, before we transfer in our broth.
02:50And both chicken or beef will work in this.
02:53And we'll go ahead and give that a stir,
02:55and let it cook for about three or four minutes,
02:58or until things reduce and thicken up very slightly,
03:01or at least that's what I'm going to do.
03:04All right, if you did want your sauce nice and thick,
03:06you could simply let this reduce and cook down for a few extra minutes.
03:10But this is already sort of a rich, decadent dish,
03:13so I tend to keep my sauce's texture on the lighter side.
03:17And right about here, it was looking just about perfect to me.
03:21And that's it.
03:22Once we're happy with it, we can turn off the heat,
03:25and reserve it for a few minutes until we need it.
03:27And we'll head back over to finish prepping our loaf pan,
03:30which means placing it on a baking sheet,
03:33just in case we have any drips.
03:35And then over the top, we'll add some cut-up carrot and celery,
03:39which along with the onions,
03:40makes up what we call a mirepoix.
03:42And those aromatic vegetables really do add a ton of flavor to the sauce.
03:46And then we'll follow that with some herb.
03:48And I'm going to do rosemary and some thyme.
03:51And while I'll often use dried herb for this,
03:53it is spring, and I was feeling a little bit fresh.
03:57So I went out and plucked that right from the garden.
03:59And that's it.
04:00We'll grab our pan and braising liquid,
04:02also known as our sauce,
04:04and we'll pour that over the top and spread it out evenly.
04:07And then we will cover this as tightly as possible
04:10with some heavy-duty foil,
04:12making sure all those edges get thoughtfully crimped.
04:15And that's it.
04:16Our loaf pan, which we just turned into a little Dutch oven,
04:19is ready to transfer into a 325-degree oven
04:23for about 3 to 3 1⁄2 hours,
04:26or until our meat is fork tender.
04:28And you'll never guess how we're going to check for that.
04:31Nope, we're going to use a fork,
04:34which should slide in easily,
04:36which, by the way, happens before the meat completely falls apart,
04:39which I think is a common mistake with braised short ribs.
04:42Right?
04:43We're not trying to make shredded beef.
04:45But anyway, that felt perfect to me.
04:47And as you can see, our sauce is looking even more beautiful.
04:51But there's going to be a lot of fat on the surface.
04:54And that's why, time permitting,
04:56I like to use a two-day method for this,
04:58which means we cook the short ribs on day one,
05:00and then remove those to a plate.
05:03And then we'll add another big splash of broth to the pan.
05:06And we'll give it a little stir,
05:08so any trapped fat comes to the top.
05:10And then we'll let that cool,
05:12and we'll wrap it back up.
05:13And we will transfer that into the fridge overnight.
05:16And not only is our sauce going to taste better,
05:18but that fat's going to be super easy to remove.
05:22And of course, we'll also wrap up our short ribs
05:24and pop those in the fridge as well.
05:26And that's it.
05:27The next day, we'll pull our pan out,
05:29and we'll unwrap it,
05:30and we'll remove the fat.
05:32And by the way, it doesn't have to be overnight.
05:34You can just do it for a few hours until it's fully chilled.
05:38And since that fat gets nice and hard when it's cold,
05:40it's very easy to remove and scrape off any goodness attached.
05:44And I have no idea why I'm holding a spoon and a fork.
05:47Whoops.
05:48You only need one or the other.
05:51And while, of course,
05:52you can just try to spoon the fat off the top when it's hot,
05:54I find this method easier and more effective.
05:57In time permitting,
05:59I really think this is the way to go.
06:01And that's it.
06:02Once the top's been defatted,
06:04we will nestle our short ribs back in.
06:06And we'll give those a little bit of a basting to moisten the top
06:10before we pop these back into a 350 degree oven
06:13for about 45 minutes,
06:15or until our meat is heated through and very succulent.
06:19And I guess you could cover them for the reheating,
06:22but I don't,
06:23since I don't mind a little deeper color.
06:25Plus, it will help our sauce reduce and concentrate even further.
06:29But anyway, like I said,
06:30we'll pop those back in for about 45 minutes,
06:33at which point they hopefully look like this.
06:36And before we serve,
06:37we'll go ahead and baste the tops.
06:39And as you can see,
06:40we still have a little bit of fat,
06:42also known as the perfect amount of fat.
06:45And as far as service goes,
06:47I must insist you put these on some mashed potatoes.
06:50I already used to say things like,
06:51put this on rice and noodles if you want.
06:53But you really shouldn't.
06:55Unless you're allergic to mashed potatoes,
06:57that is absolutely what this should be resting upon.
07:00But anyway,
07:01after we add a few of those beautiful carrots,
07:04and plenty of that spectacular sauce,
07:06we'll finish up with a little sprinkling of fresh thyme leaves.
07:09And our loaf pan short ribs for two
07:12is ready to enjoy.
07:14So I'm going to grab a fork and knife and dig in.
07:17And yes, we can remove the bones,
07:18but not that connective tissue that holds the bone on,
07:22which is what I'm cutting through now.
07:24All right, that's going to braise up nice and tender,
07:26and it's probably the most flavorful part of the whole rib.
07:29And while this technique will work great,
07:31no matter how you flavor your meat,
07:32I think that little kiss of sherry wine,
07:34and that little hint of tomato,
07:37along with those aromatic vegetables and herbs we added,
07:39is pretty much the perfect flavor profile for braised short rib.
07:42So normally, I do like you to experiment,
07:45but maybe try it this way first before you do.
07:48Oh, and by the way,
07:49I've been watching a lot of BritBox,
07:51so I can pick up tips on eating continental style,
07:53where the fork is upside down in your left hand,
07:56and the knife stays in your right.
07:58So I've been practicing that,
08:00and while I'm not quite up to Downton Abbey level yet,
08:03it is going pretty well.
08:05But anyway, no matter how you eat this,
08:07if you want incredibly delicious beef short ribs for two,
08:10and you have a loaf pan,
08:12this truly was fantastic,
08:14and I really do hope you give it a try soon.
08:18So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts,
08:21a printable written recipe,
08:23and much for info as usual.
08:25And as always,
08:28enjoy.
08:28enjoy.
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08:30.
08:30.
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