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Thursday, May 1, 2014

Boneless Beef Chuck Short Ribs -- Slow Cooker/Crock Pot

Happy May Day! What a beautiful May Day it is, too. Our high today reached 70 degrees late in the afternoon. It is a gorgeous bright sunny day with a breeze blowing. I wish it could be like this every day of the year. To celebrate, hubby and I are going to resume our daily walking again that we had stopped for the last few months with the nasty weather and a little health scare thrown in. We are looking forward to getting back to it -- I always feel better and it's my favorite way to reduce stress. Last night, I made Boneless Beef Chuck Short Ribs in my slow cooker for dinner and that is what we are having again this evening since I fixed 3 pounds of them! I fell asleep last night before getting a chance to post them. Here is what I wrote about them and my description from the last time I made them back in January:

"Instead of making a tomato based barbecue sauce, I opted to go with a lighter sauce that has a touch of vinegar and hint of sweetness. It's sort of a twist on North Carolina style barbecue that uses a vinegar based thinner type sauce. Hubby lived in North Carolina for a few years and really developed a taste for that style and flavor. I didn't want to go too vinegary so I added a bit less. This was a very simple recipe to put together. I chose to brown the ribs well and caramelize them to add both color and flavor. Other than some seasonings and spices, the only other added ingredients (besides the ribs) were a bit of onion and the sauce ingredients. I wanted to add a bit of smokiness, so I used smoked paprika as well as ancho chile powder which has more of a smoky flavor than it does spicy like Chipotle. I wanted to use a bit of chili sauce to add to the stock along with the vinegar, but didn't have any so I improvised by mixing a few tablespoons of ketchup (with no HFCS) with a bit of Asian style chili-garlic sauce. I had originally considered using 1/4 cup of that (and no ketchup)...but after taking a tiny taste of it and realizing how hot and spicy it was, I decided to only use 1 tablespoon of it and mix it with a little ketchup for flavor and only a hint of spiciness. They turned out excellent...super tender and very rich tasting. I think you could easily add a few more tablespoons of vinegar (I used red wine vinegar) without it being too much...but I liked them as is. I also added a little Swerve Sweetener for a bit of sweetness to balance the vinegar flavor."

Well, last night I used the exact same recipe when I made them and they turned out fantastic again. The only thing I did differently is remove the 2 cups of juice from the crock pot and poured it into a saucepan and reduced it by about 1/3 to concentrate it and make it more of a rich glaze-type consistency. It was awesome and I'm not much of a gravy or sauce person. Because it is so concentrated after reducing, a little goes a long way. I served yesterday's beef ribs with mashed cauliflower and my grain-free bread and butter. I snapped a few photos below. It was a delicious meal that we are going to enjoy again tonight. Here is a link that will take you to the recipe as well as a few additional photos I took back in January of the various "steps" ---> Boneless Beef Chuck Short Ribs (Slow Cooker/Crock Pot Style). Enjoy!




      

6 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this blog. I appreciate your detail re adding spices/flavours and the step-by-step instructions. I've never been a "natural" (as in: enjoying) kind of cook so this will surely help make this new chapter of wheat-free much more fun and really tasty!


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  2. Hi Jane. Thanks so much. I hope you find lots of ideas here to help you.

    In case you haven't checked out my Pinterest page, it has hundreds of my meals posted in one spot where you can see a little snapshot of them. If there is something that looks good to you, if you click on it, it will take you to it on my blog. It's a super quick way to do a quick scan and overview and also to show you how well you can eat without wheat or sugar.

    Even if you don't have a Pinterest account, you should be able to see and link to everything -- you just can't "pin it" electronically to your Pinterest board. I am almost 2 years into eating wheat free so there are over 550 posts! Here's the link in case it helps you. Welcome to the wheat free world! Let me know if I can help. :-) Link: http://www.pinterest.com/gourmetgirlcook/favorite-recipes-by-gourmet-girl-cooks/

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  3. Thank you these were absolutely delicious! So flavorful. This was a great comfort meal after a long rainy day. Green beans & your White Cheddar Cauliflower Bake completed the meal. So easy.

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  4. Hi Irene,

    I'm so happy you enjoyed them. Your entire meal sounds delicious and quite "comforting". Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed them, too! They are good reheated as well -- I've even shredded up the meat to make shredded beef sandwiches! :-)

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  5. I made your short ribs and cauliflower mash last night for dinner with our neighbors and everyone raved about how delicous everything was! I have been following your blog since reading wheat belly and although I do slip some times I am focusing on being grain and mostly (LOL) sugar free. I have lost 8 lbs in the last month....also with no exercise, hope to get on that sonn however. Thanks for all you do...keep it up.

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  6. Hi Patricia,

    Thanks so much. I'm so happy you enjoyed the ribs and cauliflower mash -- they are some of my favorites. Congratulations on losing 8 pounds! Who knew that it was possible to eat so well and not exercise, never be hungry and still lose weight? It almost sounds to good to be true doesn't it! Thanks again! :-)

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