Red Wine & Herb Braised Beef Short Ribs

Posted by thesensitivefoodie on May 2, 2014 in Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Paleo | 9 Comments

I have finally found the ‘new’ me; or I like to think it’s the real me, that is no longer fighting against my body. When I first found out about my food sensitivities I was pretty upset, but happy that I finally started feeling better and knew what was wrong with me. Then I was on a mission to create versions of junk food I used to enjoy, which was fun. But in the past couple of months, I have morphed into this super healthy person, who can’t get enough good nutritious, fresh whole foods. I couldn’t stomach vegetable juices before, I honestly would gag on them, now I juice everyday. I never ate breakfast because they made me feel awful, which makes sense because all traditional breakfast generally has gluten, dairy or eggs, or all 3. Now I prepare the night before chia puddings with fruit and superfood powders, or ultra healthy and delicious smoothies with spinach, fruit, seeds & superfood powders/natural protein like Incha Incha, etc, and I love them! I’m pretty much on a paleo diet, 95% of the time, I still have corn occasional and I have goats or sheeps dairy, and find it is really working for me.

And exercise, this new me, loves to go to the gym! I finally have so much energy I end up going to the gym at about 9pm, just to burn it off before bed. I’ve started seeing a personal trainer once a week, and find myself correcting him when he thinks I have finished, but I still have 2 reps to go, and making myself finish them off, the old me would have gone ‘sweet’ and stopped. And I’m going about 5-6 times a week.

I am the healthiest I have ever been, even when I used to compete in rowing, I was super fit, but I never ate  well, much to the annoyance of my coach. I still have a long way to go with my weight, I’m 11kg down and about 30kg to go to get to my goal weight, but it is a start. And it’s the first time in my life that dieting isn’t a chore, I think I am getting so much nutrients from my food, that I am never really hungry and I am not tempted to eat anything that isn’t good for me. I am finding time a little more allusive with this new routine, so my blogging has really slackened, but feel free to visit me on Instagram @thesensitivefoodie where I post a lot of pics of healthiness and quick recipes between blog posts.

The bad side is, my egg allergy  is getting worse, I think now my system has cleared out, I am super sensitive, and have started to break out in itchy hives from the smallest amount – including wine 😦 It turns out that most wine has traces of egg white that is used as a fining agent. But I have found a few good vegan friendly ones around – thank God! So if you are making this dish for someone with an egg allergy, make sure to check your bottle. It would probably cook out, but I wasn’t willing to take the chance to find out.

Since I am finding following a more paleo diet is really working for me, I ate my short ribs with steamed vegetables and the sauce poured over, but my husband would have had kittens if he didn’t have mash potato with it, and it did look prettier for the pictures 🙂 He loves slow cooked meats, especially beef cheeks, but after this meal, he has now voted short ribs as his new fav. He was raving about this one,  it will be a regular over the colder months at our house, it was really delicious. The sauce is rich, thick, and amazing, and the meat just melts in your mouth. And the smell of it cooking is a killer – I think it could be used as a form of torture, to make people sit and smell this for hours. Even my 2 dogs where whining in the kitchen wanting our left overs 🙂

Suitable for: gluten, dairy, egg, nut & soy free diets. 

Original Recipe – Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients (Print version here)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2kg beef short ribs, ask the butcher to cut them in half, so they are about 5cm long each
• 3 large carrots, roughly sliced, I left the skin on mine
• 3 celery stalks roughly sliced
• 10 eshallots (the small french onions), peeled and cut in half (or 3 onions quartered)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons plain flour (I use yes you can gluten free flour)
• 1 bottle red shiraz or Cab Sav wine (I use vegan friendly wine, because of the egg traces in most wines)
• 1 litre (4 cups) beef stock (make sure it gluten free if making GF)
• 2 small garlic or 1 large garlic head cut in half, crossways so that all the cloves are in half
• 12 sprigs parsley
• 6 sprigs rosemary
• 8 sprigs thyme
• 6 springs oregano
• salt and pepper to season

Directions

1. Heat oil over a medium – high heat in a dutch oven. Season meat with salt and pepper and then brown on all sides in batches. Once all meat is cooked, remove and set aside. Pour out some of the oil, leaving about 4 tablespoons in the pan. Add the chopped carrots, celery & eshallots, and stir, while cooking over a medium heat until the lightly browned.
2. Stir through the tomato paste and plain flour over a medium heat until well combined, about 2 mins. Add the bottle of red wine slowly, and return the beef the pan and stir through. Bring to the boil on the stove top and then reduce to a simmer for about 20 mins (or until liquid has halved). Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees while simmering.
3. Add the beef stock, garlic & herbs to mixture and stir through. Put the lid on the dutch oven and place in the oven for 2 – 2.5hours. I did 2.5 hours, and the meat had completely fallen away from the bone, which I prefered, if you want the bone on, maybe do 2 hours instead.
4. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside. Place a strainer over a large jug and strain through the liquid, stirring through as you go, to get all the liquid and flavour out to create your sauce.
5. Serve with polenta, mashed potatoes, etc and pour over the sauce, sprinkle with thyme leaves and enjoy

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I hope you enjoyed this post. Please feel free to leave any comments, or just say hi below  You can also sign up to receive a updates by email using the links on the right hand side of the Home page, or like the Sensitive Foodie Facebook page, or you can visit me on Instagram @thesensitivefoodie