Short Ribs in the Crock Pot

With all this talk of vegetarian cooking, it might surprise you to see today's post of beef short ribs. I am not opposed to eating meat, it's good stuff.  The issues are how much of it we eat and how it is sourced.  I used to buy lots of meat on sale, put it in my freezer and then thaw it as I needed to use it.  I haven't completely stopped this practice, but I have severely cut back on it. More and more these days, as my budget allows, I buy less meat but much better quality meat.  Local, organic meat, like these short ribs.

Short ribs are rich, yes dare I say a bit fatty, so you don't need many per portion. Serve this dish with some rice to soak up the broth and add two green sides and you're done.  Some beef and lots of plant based foods to fill the plate.

These ribs are cooked in the Crock Pot. Don't let that fool you into thinking we just throw it all in and they come out looking so browned and beautiful.  Mistake number one with Crock Pot/slow cooker cooking is skipping the browning step with the meat. It's hard to do it when you are cooking a whole chicken, but with most pieces of meat the few minutes it takes to brown your meat on the stove (and yes one more pan to quickly wash) is more than worth it.

Short Ribs in the Crock Pot

Short ribs, enough for 3 per serving
olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1 teaspoon flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
kosher salt and black pepper to taste

In a medium skillet over medium high heat, brown the short ribs in a scant amount of olive oil, using tongs to move the ribs to the crock pot. Discard half of drippings and in the remaining drippings saute the onion for about 2 minutes. Swirl in the tomato paste, red wine, flour, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper. Stir in 1 cup of water and then pour the mixture over the ribs in the crock pot. Cook on high 5-6 hours.