Braised Short Ribswith Horseradish-Cauliflower Puree and Sauteed Vegetables
This is a great dinner that is easy to make and comes through with strong and delicious flavors. It involves easy to get ingredients that you can find at almost any supermarket. This is a great meal for the carb-concious as well, as it does not have many carbohydrates. Any cook can master this dish, it just takes a little practice.
Here are all the ingredients:
For the Braised Short Ribs: Fresh gound pepper, salt (kosher or sea), 3 tbsp olive or canola oil, 4 chuck short ribs, 2×4″, about 3 cups Dry Red Wine (Cabernet Sauvignon), 1 white onion (julienned), 3 cloves of garlic (smacked) , handful of fresh thyme sprigs (whole)
For the Horseradish-Cauliflower Puree: Fresh ground pepper, salt (kosher or sea), about 4 cups whole milk, 1 head of cauliflower, Handful of fresh thyme sprigs (whole), 1 tbsp horseradish, 1tbsp unsalted butter
For the Sauteed Vegetables: 1 tbsp olive or canola oil, 4 squash (julienned), 1 tomato (seeded and julienned), 1 handful of spinach (julienned), 1 clove of garlic (minced), salt and pepper
To start:
Braised Short Ribs: Liberally season the short ribs with salt and pepper. Bring a braising or roasting pan to a medium-high heat and add your oil. Once the oil has heated, begin browing the short ribs. Once you have turned the ribs enough to have browned them on all sides, add the julienned white onion, smacked garlic cloves (Smacked garlic: smacking the garlic with the side of your knife to break it out of it’s skin and release it’s juices), fresh thyme sprigs, and sweat the ingredients a bit, then add your 4 cups of red wine, or enough to almost cover the short ribs. Bring the braising liquid (wine) to a boil then reduce to a low heat and simmer for 2 hours.
Next, the Horseradish Cauliflower Puree: In a stock pot, bring together all the ingredients: your washed, cleaned, and rinsed Cauliflower bulbs, 4 cups of whole milk (reduced fat or low-fat can also be used to lower total fat of dish), handful of fresh thyme, 3 cloves smacked garlic, salt and pepper, and slowly bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. You bring this to a simmer rather a boil because we do not want the milk to scold (burn). Simmer for 1 hour or until the cauliflower has softened throroughly. Puree the cauliflowers and some extra liquid in a food processor or blender to reach a smooth consistency (A little thinner than mashed potatoes). Return to the now empty stock pot to reheat. Once all components of dish are ready, add the tbsp of unsalted butter (Mont-a beurre – french term meaning to mount with butter)to tie the whole puree together (and add great flavor).
Last Step, Sauteed Vegetables: In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp of oil to medium-high heat. Begin sauteeing all ingredients, squash, tomato, spinach, and garlic until soft but with a bite.
To serve, we are going to build the food up on the plate to give it height, depth and complexity. Start out with a base of your Horesradish-Cauliflower Puree on the middle of the plate, then top the puree with the sauteed vegetables, and then top it all with a Braised-Short Rib. Drizzle the Short rib with the reduction of the red-wine and garnish the plate by placing a thyme spring standing up out of the cauliflower puree.
This dish is enjoyable on any night of the week and can surve as a great family meal or romantic dinner. It takes about 2-3 hours to prepare, however a lot of that time is just waiting for the short-ribs to braise and become tender. Enjoy this meal with the same bottle of wine you used to braise the ribs! Until next time.
