I have befriended my butcher.


In my latest grocery store obsession, I am now ‘known’ at the meat counter. It’s not because I shop for groceries every day – I usually only grocery shop every week to 10 days (when I make a new meal plan). So, when I do go shopping, I buy about 6 different kinds of meat from the meat counter. That makes me pretty memorable, I suppose.

The last few times, I’ve had the same butcher. He’s a friendly guy. Each time I ask for a certain meat, he asks what I’m cooking. Depending on the meat, he sometimes offers to go ahead and cut it the way I need it to be cut for my recipe. For example, he cut lamb chops into 1-inch pieces for kebabs. Each time I order a whole chicken, he offers to go ahead and cut it for me. Like I said, he’s a friendly guy.

When I ordered short ribs for this recipe, he was especially interested in how I planned to cook them. I told him a bit about my 3 month long experimentation braising short ribs and how I thought I had finally figured out the perfect recipe. He asked me bring it to him the next time I come in.


This is all very strange to me. I mean, I live in 2011 – not 1952. In Austin, a town of 1.7 million – not Waxahachie. It’s Central Market – not the Piggly Wiggly. It’s strange, right?
But, I guess even in a town of 1.7 million, you carve out your niche.

Like I mentioned to the friendly butcher, I’ve been working on this recipe for a while. First, I pureed the veggies. That was okay, but I wanted something with more of a tomato sauce. Next, I tried lots of tomatoes and just a few other veggies. It was a little too tomatoey. This combination is slightly tomatoey, with chunks of well-cooked veggies that soften and thicken the liquids to a nice gravy. Serve over mashed potatoes with a side of sauteed greens. Yum!

Braised Short Ribs

2 T olive oil
4-6 short ribs
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, halved lengthwise and diced
2 celery stalks, halved lengthwise and diced
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/2 bottle dry red wine (about 2 cups)
1 cup beef broth
1 T rosemary, coarsely chopped
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper, to taste
1 T whole grain mustard
Preparation:
Heat oven to 325 degrees.
Heat a dutch oven over medium high heat. Heat olive oil. Brown short ribs on each side, about 3 minutes per side. Remove ribs to a plate. Saute onions, carrots, garlic and celery until onions are softened. Add tomato sauce and wine. Allow to thicken, about 5 minutes.
Add beef broth, rosemary, vinegar, bay leaf, salt and peper. Stir and cook for about 3 minutes. Place short ribs back in dutch oven, bone side up. Cover with lid and cook for at least 3 hours, until tender.
Remove beef from pan, scrape fat off top of liquid. Add mustard over medium heat and thicken for about 5 minutes.
Serve with gravy over a bed of mashed potatoes.