Doing the Dutch

Until yesterday, my kitchen lacked a Dutch oven, and I was sad. They looked so glossily beautiful in photos in cooking magazines, and chefs using them always seemed a little too smug and satisfied with life. The technique of braising is prized and praised in Cooksville and while a Dutch oven is not necessarily required in order to braise, its suitability for the purpose put it squarely in the WANT category. But Dutch ovens are spendy, and I just couldn’t pull the trigger on the purchase. Fortunately, big-box retailer Target had a sale this week that placed a shiny red Cuisinart Dutch oven within fiscal reach, and my wife brought it home to me.

My precious…

Where were we? Oh, right, I neded a recipe. I chose “Braised Guinness Stout Short Ribs” from NPR’s “Kitchen Window.” Thus speaketh contributor Howard Yoon:

This is my adaptation of a basic short-ribs dish, but with Guinness beer as the liquid instead of wine or stock. The tomato paste provides the acidity, while the Guinness adds a pleasing malty taste to the meal. Serve this with a side of steel-cut oatmeal and a pint of Guinness, and you have the perfect, cold-weather Irish meal.

I gathered the required ingredients…

…and largely followed Yoon’s instructions, except that I used only three and a half pounds of short ribs instead of the five to six pounds that he calls for. Seriously, the amount I used would have been quite enough for four people and I’m not sure I could even fit five or six pounds of ribs plus veggies in my five-quart pot.

Fast-forward past the prep, the browning of the ribs and the sauteing of the vegetables (using the same Dutch oven, which I love), combining all and allowing it to sit in a 300 oven for just shy of the full two hours recommended. The ribs were not quite fall-off-the-bone tender, but they were in the neighborhood. The recipe didn’t call for salting (or peppering) the ribs before searing, which I wish I had done. I added salt and pepper to the veggie mixture before adding Guinesss, tomato paste, and ribs, but it wasn’t quite enough and didn’t impart enough saltiness to the meat. Finally, I thought there was not enough tomato paste aciidity to balance out the “baseness” of the Guinness, even though the tomato aroma during cooking was both detectable and delightful. I would certainly recommend doubling the amount of tomato paste called for, and will try using wine instead of stout next time around.

Still, I enjoyed it (as did M), partly for the heartiness of the dish, and partly because, well, it was my very first braise. I served it with Israeli couscous, which was delicious with the broth. Indeed, I liked the dish so much that I had it (sans couscous) for breakfast this morning.

I already have a new short rib recipe in mind.

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