Beef short ribs braised in red wine, cooked low and slow until the meat falls off the bone is the stuff dinner dreams are made of. Bring the restaurant home—or a taste of the Wine Country—in a braised beef short ribs recipe from the girl + the fig.
Fig-Forward
Beef has a bold flavor and Sun-Maid or Orchard Choice Mission Figs do too. The flavor is jammy, deep and sweet. As they cook low-and-slow in the short rib liquid, they soak up all of the sauce, deep into the fruit.
How to Make the Braised Beef Short Ribs Recipe
You’ll start by creating a multi-layer seasoning of dry spices and wet ingredients. Mix garlic with salt, pepper, parsley and thyme. On the liquid side, red wine, oil, tamari, and Worcestershire. All together, they make a rich marinade.
Time is on your side here—you’ll want to marinate the beef short ribs for at least 12 hours so the marinade infuses flavor deep into the meat, seasoning it from the inside out. Remove the ribs from the marinade, scraping excess off, and patting the meat dry. Season with salt and pepper.
Sear the short ribs on all sides until heavily browned. Then, transfer the ribs to a braising pot. Into the skillet that seared meat, add celery, onions, and carrots, cooking until the vegetables caramelize. Add in tomatoes to cook for a few minutes. Deglaze the skillet with red wine and reduce by half.
Transfer the vegetables to the braising pot with stock and simmer. Add in figs, bouquet garni, and oven-roast until the short ribs are fork tender.
Let them cool to room temperature. Transfer the ribs to a serving dish, straining the sauce and reducing by half. Then, place the ribs back into the pan to heat through.
Serving Ideas
Braised beef short ribs deserve a side dish that’s going to bring their A-game to dinner. We’d like to suggest polenta or mashed potatoes to soak up all of the deglazed sauce from the ribs. Another idea here—and we acknowledge, it’s a rich one—would be a cacio e pepe pasta where the Parmesan adds an extra oomph of umami.
California Fig Braised Beef Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 6 short ribs 10 oz. each, boneless
- salt & pepper
- 4 tablespoons blended oil
- 3 celery stalks medium dice
- 2 medium onions medium dice
- 1 carrot peeled, medium dice
- 3 Roma tomatoes rough chop
- 1 cup red wine
- 8 cups veal stock
- 2 cups diced Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Mission Figs
- 1 bouquet garni
Marinade:
- 2 tablespoons sliced garlic
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Mix together garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, ½ cup red wine, ½ cup oil, tamari and Worcestershire.
- Pour over ribs and marinate for at least 12 hours.
- Remove ribs from marinade, scrape excess items off and pat dry. Season with salt & pepper.
- Heat blended oil in a large sauté pan over high heat, sear short ribs on all sides until heavily browned. Remove from pan and place in a braising pot.
- Add celery, onions, carrots to pan used for searing ribs, and cook over medium heat until vegetables are caramelized. Add tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Deglaze with red wine and reduce by half. Add to braising pot with 8 cups of veal stock and bring to a simmer. Add figs, and bouquet garni, cover and place pan in oven and roast for 4 hours, or until ribs are fork tender. Remove ribs from oven, and let them cool to room temperature. Remove ribs from sauce, strain sauce before returning to pan over medium heat. Reduce sauce by half and add ribs back to heat through.