Braised Short Ribs - Paleo Comfort Foods

I am almost on the floor... melting into a pile of goo in anticipation of tasting the braised short ribs that are cooking in the oven right now. I made them a couple of weeks ago and I just could not wait to make them again. The smell in my house is beyond heavenly!

The authors of Paleo Comfort Foods were more than happy to let me share the recipe. So if you are wanting to make something to impress the heck out of someone or maybe have that really special New Year's Eve dinner at home. THIS. IS. IT. The ingredients list looks daunting and all the steps might make your head spin, but it really isn't all that hard and you have 3 hours or so while the meat is getting all tender in the oven to go about your day and get whatever else you need to get done.. well, done.

Please note you will need a rather large dutch oven w/lid that is oven safe. 

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Braised Short Ribs


3-4 lbs of grass-fed beef short ribs
2-3 tsp fresh thyme, minced
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp kosher salt (I used Celtic sea salt)
2 tbsp avocado oil (I had none, so used an appropriate high-heat oil: coconut oil)
1 1/2 cups onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 bay leaves
2 tbsp balsamic vinergar
1 cup marsala wine
3 cups dry red wine (think Two Buck Chuck Cabernet)
4 cups beef stock
2-3 portobello mushrooms, thick-sliced

1. One hour before you begin cooking, remove ribs from the refrigerator and their packaging. Season with thyme, salt and pepper. 
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
3. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium high heat. Place the short ribs meaty sides down in the pan, working in batches if needed to avoid overcrowding. Sear until they are nicely browned on the meaty side (no need to brown the rib side). Transfer the browned ribs to a plate and set aside. 
4. In the same Dutch oven, reduce your heat to medium and add in your onion, carrot, celery, thyme and bay leaves. Stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up all the browned bits in the pot, and continue cooking until the vegetables are softened and translucent. 
5. Add in the balsamic vinegar, marsala, and wine and stir, bringing heat up to a high and letting the mixture come to a boil. Let the liquid boil until it is reduced by half. 
6. Pour in stock and bring liquid back up to a boil.
7. Place the short ribs back in the pan and place the mushrooms on top and cover. 
8. Braise in the oven for 2.5-3.5 hours or until the ribs are fork tender and do not resist at all. 
9. Remove ribs and mushrooms from the Dutch oven. Increase the temperature to 400 degrees F. Place the ribs meat side up on a sheet pan and roast for 10 minutes or until browned. 
10. While the ribs are roasting, remove the mushrooms from the liquid and set aside. Strain the braising liquid through a fine sieve placed over a bowl to retain all the strained liquid. Press down on the solids in the sieve to squeeze all the liquid out. If you want, you can skim off the fat at this point (no way! :)
11. Return liquid back to the Dutch oven and bring up to a boil. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly. 
12. Return the ribs and mushrooms back to the sauce and serve, spooning sauce over ribs. 

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P.S. I am thinking this is a perfect dish to accompany the 21-Day Sugar Detox I will be doing starting January 2nd. Join the Facebook page for the Detox here and to follow my journey here!