Super Short Ribs

Scott has been talking about ribs for the past couple of weeks so when I saw this recipe for them I knew that I had to try them.

Super Short Ribs Adapted from Taste of Home Simple and Delicious magazine
3 medium onions, cut into wedges
3 to 3 1/2lbs bone-in beef short ribs
1 bay leaf
1 bottle (12 oz) of light beer or nonalcoholic beer
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp beef bouillon granules
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cold water

Directions: Place onions in a 5qt slow cooker; add ribs and bay leaf. Combine the beer, brown sugar, mustard, tomato paste, thyme, bouillon, salt and pepper. Pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove meat and vegetables to a serving platter; keep warm. Discard bay leaf. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer juices to a small saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil. Combine flour and water until smooth. Gradually stir into the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with meat and noodles.

Modifications:

-I didn't make the gravy to cover the ribs.

Here's what I started with:

 Here's how I did it:

#1 I cut the ribs at one of the bones so they would fit into my crockpot.

#2 I quartered 2 large onions and put them in the crockpot.

#3 The ribs went in on top of the onions and I seasoned them with Home Seasoning .

#4 I poured a beer into a bowl.

#5 I added 2 beef bouillon cubes, 2 Tbsps of Dijon mustard, 2 Tbsps of brown sugar, 2 tsp thyme (or the rest of what I had) and I mixed it altogether.

#6 I poured it over the ribs, covered them and set them to cook for 8 hours.

The Finished Product:

Review:

As you can tell from the pictures above, the meat fell off the bones.  I literally  had to dig it out of the bottom of the crockpot.

A couple of things about this dish:  #1 I thought that 3.25lbs looked like A LOT of meat when I brought it home; however, it really wasn't.  Between Scott, me, Kanin and Gracie there really wasn't enough meat to go around.  I think that next time I would buy 4-5lbs instead.

I used beef ribs and there was A LOT of fat on them.  I mean A LOT.  I know that fat gives the meat flavor but we were pulling fat off like crazy.  I don't know if this is just the package of ribs that I picked up or if this is normal.

The flavor was fantastic; however, I think that in my mind when I think of ribs I think of bbq.  Next time, I think I will just cook them with some garlic, onions and a couple of bottles of bbq sauce.  I think that that would be incredible seeing that these ribs were so moist and so tender.

I served them with Brown Rice Vegetable Casserole.

Hope you enjoy!

April