I made this easy Cranberry Apple Cider Braised Beef Short Ribs recipe from Whole and Heavenly Oven. I've tried it with a few modifications and we found it to be delicious; here's my version!
Ingredients
1-1/2 lbs beef short ribs
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoon butter ( or extra virgin olive oil)
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2-in chunks
1 small yellow onion, diced into 1-in chunks
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 cups apple cider
1 cup beef broth
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 large tart and firm apple, (Pink Lady or Honeycrisp work well) cut into 1-in thick slices
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig rosemary
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or potato starch, either is optional to thicken braising liquid)
Prepared potatoes for serving (mashed or roasted)
Instructions
Pat short ribs dry and season all over with salt and pepper.
Over medium heat. Warm Dutch oven, melt butter and then combine carrot, onion, and garlic. Stir to coat . Pour apple cider and beef broth into pan and bring to a simmer.
Nestle short ribs into Dutch oven and arrange cranberries, apple slices, thyme, and rosemary around shortribs. Cover Dutch oven and place in 300F oven and let cook 2 hours or until short ribs are very tender.
Remove short ribs apples, carrots and cranberries from Dutch oven and transfer to a plate. Remove and discard thyme/rosemary sprigs.
To thicken braising liquid: Whisk your flour with a little bit of braising liquid from Dutch oven until smooth. Add flour mixture back to pan, stirring until smooth. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat until thickened. Return short ribs, carrots, cranberries and apples back to Dutch oven. Serve short ribs warm with mashed or roasted potatoes.
My Modifications:
I skip the searing step; here's an article on searing and I find it to be true that searing meat before slow cooking can easily cause overcooking of the outside of meat. These ribs came out very tender without the sear and were evenly cooked!
My other modifications, surprise, I made it without the apple cider, as I was out! Instead, I used enough broth (or stock) to cover the ribs, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, and a 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. It was still tender and delicious!
Enjoy!