Obama’s Short Ribs

Lord knows I love me some short ribs. I’ve always been too intimidated to cook them, but once I gave it shot, I realized it’s actually no big deal. Especially if you have a great recipe. So I found an excellent one in Marcus Samuelsson’s cookbook, which features recipes of past and present dishes served at his restaurant Red Rooster Harlem, which I happen to love. I also happen to love president Barack Obama, and he, in turn seems to love short ribs as much as I do, and at a visit to Red Rooster he apparently ate this exact dish. No question, of course I was going to cook this. I’m glad I did, it was so, so good, and I hope you follow suit!

Screenshot_20180729-204958_Instagram

What you’ll need:

  • 2 pounds boneless short ribs
  • 2 tbsp grapeseed oil (I actually used coconut oil)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 2 celery ribs, chopped
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, smashed and chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 (1 inch) piece of ginger, peeled and minced
  • 1/2 cup dry red wine
  • 3 cups beef broth
  • 1/2 cup plum sauce
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 bay leaves
  • salt and pepper

Pat the meat dry, season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven and brown the meat on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Put it aside on a plate.

Add onion, carrot, celery, lemongrass, garlic, and ginger to the pot. Season with salt and cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes.

Add the wine and cook, scraping up brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the broth, plum sauce, soy sauce, thyme, parsley, and bay leaves and bring to a simmer, Return the meat to the pot, together with the juices that have accumulated on the plate. Cover and place on middle rack in the oven. Braise for 90 minutes.

Strain the meat from the cooking liquid with fat separator if you have one. (I do not, and I used a regular strainer, I loved the results). Remove the bay leaves and twigs, and blend the remaining liquid with an immersion blender (or regular blender/food processor). Return the sauce to the Dutch oven, add salt and/or pepper if needed, and return the meat into the sauce. Reheat.

Serve with potatoes or egg noodles!

Screenshot_20180729-205528_Instagram

Bon Appétit!

For more information on Chef Samuelsson’s cookbook click here

Author: Gotham Foodie

Hello there, fellow foodies! My name is Erica, I was born and raised in Germany, and moved to the US, New York City to be exact, in July of 1987. I have worked most of my time here in the Big Apple as a bartender, but my true love is food. I cook just about every day, I search for good food everywhere, and pretty much always find it. I don't consider myself a food critic, I don't have the culinary background for that kind of expertise. I do however know good food, good chefs and good restaurants. I report back about my culinary adventures, and I choose to leave out my unsatisfactory experiences. We have enough negativity in our daily lives, I don't want to add to that. All the recipes in my FROM MY KITCHEN and DOTW blogs are cooked and prepared by me. All pictures are taken by me. I don't always eat everything you see in my pictures, but you bet your buns, I do try everything. Last but not least, you should know that I am a huge Top Chef fan. I have never missed an episode of the Bravo TV show. I have at this point visited almost 20 restaurants run by Top Chef contestants, and I'm continuously impressed by their skill, drive and passion. So I will continue to seek them out, and I hope you join me in my journey!

2 thoughts

  1. Hi Erica. It’s a really great recipe. I made this a few months ago from The NY Times and am making it for a dinner party next week. Just one suggestion if I may. Your pics are great but if you brown your beef in batches, maybe two for your vessel it will crust and brown much better. Crowding the pan as in your pic makes the beef steam rather than brown and you get that grey beef look instead. Just a little tip!

    Reply

Leave a Reply