Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

 We stayed home last Christmas day as Skylar was only one month old and we just couldn't manage to get ourselves together to get out of town to see family.  Chuck made these ribs for dinner and we loved them.  We decided to make them for a Sunday dinner on a day that was supposed to be cold and rainy but ended up being sunny and warm.  The best drink pairing is a Zin or Cab.  You can drink the second half of the bottle you used for the ribs or go ahead and open something fancy.  You deserve it.   

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. bone in short ribs
• Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
• Penzeys Spices Northwoods Seasoning
• 1 cup or so of flour
• 4 TB. Oil (we used grape seed because it has a higher smoke point that most oils)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 1/2 cup red wine (Zinfandel or Cabernet work best)
• 1 1/2 cup beef broth
• 2 TB. tomato paste
• 5 whole cloves of garlic
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Season ribs with Tony Chachere's and Northwoods (any combo of seasonings will do if you don't have the Tony's and/or the Northwoods)
3. Dredge ribs in flour
4. Heat the oil in a dutch oven
5. Sear meat on high temperature until brown crust forms (don't crowd the pot so do it in small batches if necessary)
6. Set the ribs aside
7. In the dutch oven saute the onions, carrots, and celery in the remaining oil on medium heat until soft
8. Add red wine to deglaze the pan scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan and let simmer for 3 or 4 minutes
9. Stir in the beef broth and tomato paste then add the garlic
10. Let simmer until liquid is reduced by half stirring frequently
11. Return the ribs to the dutch oven
12. Add rosemary and thyme
13. Put the lid on the dutch oven and bake for 4 hours