This is a wine that will warm you up on a cold day. So it is fitting that you have something that matches with your warm wine sweater. In short? Short ribs! Moist, warm, delicious…with the meat falling off of the bone. 

 

This wonderful dish is layered with flavor that  matches perfectly with this robust tempranillo’s layers of plumb, spice, and dark coffee palate. And the two together are truly a Beautiful Thing….

 

Ingredients

Serves 8

 

For the short ribs:

2 1/2 kg bone-in beef short ribs, cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces
3 tbsp olive oil
3 medium onions, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
5 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 tbsp tomato paste
750 ml dry red wine
10 sprigs thyme
5 sprigs oregano
5 sprigs rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
20 cloves of garlic
4 cups beef or veal stock
  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
   

 For the polenta:

1000 ml water
160 g instant polenta
50 g butter
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1/2 tbsp thyme, chopped
1 tbsp chives, chopped
   

Method

 

Preheat oven to 350°. Season short ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. Working in 2 rounds, brown short ribs on all sides.  If you try to add all the meat at once, it will not brown properly, and will not have the right texture afterwards. Transfer browned short ribs to a plate.

 

Add onions, carrots, and celery to pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until onions are browned. This should take several minutes. Add flour and tomato paste and cook for another 3 minutes. Stir in wine, then add short ribs back to the pot.  Simmer over medium heat until the wine is reduced by half, about 25 minutes. Place cinnamon stick and cloves in a filter paper, or cheese cloth, and add to the pot, along with garlic. Stir in stock. Increase the heat until it comes to a boil, cover, and transfer to oven. Cook until short ribs are tender. Start checking them after two hours. Transfer short ribs to a platter. Check sauce for seasoning. Serve in shallow bowls over polenta with sauce spooned over.

 

Be sure to open the wine ahead of time to allow it to breathe.

 

For the polenta:

You can quickly prepare this while the short ribs are in the oven. In a medium sized sauce pan, bring the water to a boil. Add salt so that the water tastes like the sea. Slowly whisk in polenta. Add butter and fold in herbs. Voilá!