Birds and Braised Ribs

Happy Mother's Day, to all my Mom readers.

Sitting here in my office I'm trying to work, but find myself pleasantly distracted by all the little birds on the feeders outside my window.

I've finally, successfully foiled the squirrels attempts to steal all the seed, by placing the feeder where they can't get it, the seed lasts much longer, and the number of birds coming to feed has increased ten fold.  I have some fabulous tiny little nuthatches, vibrant yellow gold finches and beautiful red cardinals, it seems that every day more and more birds arrive, I wonder whether I will be able to keep up with the demand.

My squirrel proof feeder!

As a lead up to Mothers Day I had a dinner party last night, which provided me with a great excuse to spend a day in the kitchen, and make delicious, naughty, scrummy food that I would otherwise be berated by Edi and Danni for making. 

I haven't had a dinner party (on land) for years now, I've had many on board Daisy, but that is always a challenge both with space to work, and also coping with the intense heat of the Caribbean.  So this dinner party made a very pleasant change for me.

Reducing the sauce for the short ribs

The food was successful even though I had to make two different menus,  Danni doesn't eat meat, so for her appetizer I made a smoked salmon mousse, and for the rest of us a Duck liver mousse, both served with baguette toasts.
For the entree I made Danni panko crusted shrimp with 2 different dipping sauces, lemon grass, and sweet and spicy, and for everyone else braised short ribs served with sauteed asparagus and sweet roasted parsnips.

Short ribs waiting for the sauce

Braised Short Ribs
10 short ribs
large sprig rosemary
5 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs tarragon
2 bay leaves
8 whole cloves
1 large celery stalk, cut into two.
5 carrots, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
5 shallots peeled and cut into quarters
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
10 garlic cloves (less if you're not a garlic lover), peeled and crushed ( I like to leave the garlic cloves whole)
4 tbsp of good Olive Oil
3 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp plain flour
3/4 cup port
4 cups good red wine
5 cups beef stock

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

Season the short ribs with the salt and pepper. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large dutch oven until very hot, add the short ribs and brown on all sides for about 2 minutes each side.  Remove the ribs from the heat and set aside.
Place the rosemary, thyme, tarragon, bay leaves and cloves between the two celery stalks and tie with kitchen twine.

In a large saute pan over a medium-high heat add the other two tbsp of oil, when the oil is hot add the onion and shallots and cook for about 10 minutes until soft and translucent.  Add the garlic, and carrots and cook for a further 5-6 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and stir well, then add the flour and stir to combine.
Add the port and wine, and the celery herb bundle, and continue to cook for another 20 minutes to reduce the sauce.
Add the stock, stir well and cook for another 5 minutes, then pour the sauce over the ribs in the dutch oven making sure to cover all the ribs, if the stock doesn't cover the ribs top up with water.
Bring to a simmer , cover with lid and place in the oven for 3 hours.

Skim the fat off the surface of the sauce,  carefully remove the ribs and set aside.  Bring the sauce back to a slow simmer and cook for another hour, to reduce the sauce by about half.

Return the ribs to the sauce and simmer gently for about 8 - 10 minutes just to reheat, then serve.

I like to serve roasted parsnips and roast potatoes with this dish.