Short Rib Stroganoff

The ribs in this dish are among my husband's favorite food.  He is a voracious carnivore and the rub on them is wonderful.  They can stand on their own, served with whipped potatoes or fries, or you can make the entire recipe with the stroganoff and pasta.  This morning, my husband ate the leftover ribs with eggs...  Like I said, he likes meat.  This recipe is a modification of Tyler Florence's Beef Stroganoff with Buttered Noodles.

The recipe calls for three pounds of boneless beef short ribs.  Sometimes I have trouble finding them and use country style ribs instead, but I think the short ribs are better for the recipe, if you see them at the market.  Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

We are going to rub the ribs down with a paste of garlic, olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme.

I LOVE garlic, so I start by taking a handful of garlic cloves

and roughly chopping them up.  If you think this is going to be too much garlic for you, only use about 4 cloves to my 10.

Put the garlic in a bowl and grind about a tablespoon of fresh black pepper over it.

You want to use a course grinder so you have lots of big chunks.

Next, add a a generous tablespoon of Kosher salt to the garlic mixture.

You want to use Kosher salt because the big crystals have a large surface area.  This makes it excellent for rubs.

Add enough olive oil to the bowl

to make a nice paste.  I used several tablespoons.

Lastly, add the herbs to the mixture.  I one sprig of rosemary and several springs of thyme.

I removed the leaves from the herbs and coarsely chopped them before adding them to the garlic.

Now you are ready to put the rub on the meat.  I always line a jelly roll pan with foil when making these ribs because it makes for easy clean up.

I use my hands to coat the top of each rib with the paste and then put them in the preheated oven.

The ribs will cook for 2 1/2 hours total, but after an hour, I pull them out and cover them with another piece of foil

before cooking for the remaining hour and a half.  If you don't do this, I think they get too dry and I like them tender and moist.  You can pull the foil back off for the last 10 to 15 minutes if you like to make sure the ribs are nicely browned.  Sometimes I do, and sometimes I forget.

While the ribs are cooking, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients for the stroganoff.

Dice two shallots and two cloves of garlic.

Then take 1 1/2 pounds of crimini or white button mushrooms and quarter them.  You could slice them, but lately, I've become enamored with the quartered mushroom because it just seems more substantial in a dish.

Keep chopping until you have a very large pile.

For the rest of the sauce, you will need brandy, whipping cream, Dijon mustard and sour cream.

Prepare and set aside a bowl with 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard.

Also chop and set aside 3 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup of Italian parsley and 2 green onions.

Totally off topic, when I took this picture, I realized that it was one of my favorite times a day, when the sun shining through our leaded windows works its way across our kitchen. 

Funny how you notice things through the lens of your camera that you can completely miss otherwise... 

Back to cooking...  When the ribs have about 15 minutes left to go, add several tablespoons of olive oil to a large saute pan with the mushrooms.  At the same time, bring a sauce pan of salted water to a boil for the egg noodles.

Cook the mushrooms for about five minutes or until nicely browned.

Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and toss to combine, seasoning with salt and pepper. 

Continue to cook for several more minutes and then add 1/4 cup of brandy to deglaze the pan. Use a wooden spoon to scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the saute pan

and then add 2 cups of heavy cream. 

Season again with salt and pepper and simmer until the cream is reduced by half.

Once reduced, remove from the heat and add the sour cream and Dijon mustard.  Stir to combine.

When the ribs come out, they should be nicely browned and tender.

They will fall apart if you press them with the side of a fork. 

Drain the egg noddles and mix with three tablespoons of butter.  Top a pile of buttered egg noodles with stroganoff, two to three ribs and garnish with the Italian parsley and green onions.

Now take just a little bit more of the stroganoff and pour it over the ribs. 

You really can't have too much cream or butter in your diet!  Enjoy, preferably with a nice glass of red wine.

Short Rib Stroganoff
serves: 6  (Recipe also on Tasty Kitchen)

•  10 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped, plus 2 cloves, minced
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 6 T olive oil, divided
  
• 1 spring fresh rosemary, leaves removed and roughly chopped
• 3 springs thyme, leaves removed and roughly chopped
• 3 lbs boneless beef short ribs
• 1 1/2 lbs white button mushrooms, quartered
  
• 2 shallots, diced
  
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 lb egg noddles
• 3 T butter
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix 10 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped with about a tablespoon of freshly ground pepper and a tablespoon of Kosher salt. Add enough olive oil to the bowl to make a thick paste.  Add the chopped rosemary and thyme to the mixture.  Lay the ribs on a jelly rolls pan covered with foil and cover with the garlic rub.  Cook uncovered for an hour and then tent the ribs with foil and continue to cook for another hour and a half, removing the foil and cooking uncovered again for the last 10 minutes.

Add several tablespoons of olive oil to a large saute pan with the mushrooms and cook for about five minutes or until nicely browned.  Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and toss to combine, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Continue to cook for several more minutes and then add 1/4 cup of brandy to deglaze the pan. Use a wooden spoon to scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the saute pan and then add the heavy cream. 
Season again with salt and pepper and simmer until the cream is reduced by half.  Once reduced, remove from the heat and add the sour cream and Dijon mustard.  Stir to combine.

Prepare the egg noodles as directed, drain and mix with three tablespoons of butter.  Top pasta with  stroganoff, two to three ribs and garnish with the Italian parsley and green onions.