French Laundry Recipe: Braised Prime Beef Short Ribs with Root Vegetables and Sautéed Bone Marrow

Have you ever noticed that the longer the name is for an entrée, the more expensive it is?  Fortunately I made this myself so it didn’t cost an arm and a leg.   This also applies to how many French words are in the name, this recipe has no French words in the title, but it sure encompassed a lot of  French techniques.  After trying a true French recipe tho, I don’t mind paying the arm and a leg at a restaurant for anything with French words in the name anymore because wow, this took a long time and it had a lot of steps.  They pay a lot of attention to the texture of a dish – for example, all the vegetable were blanched separately, then ice bathed, then reincorporated with sauce back into the dish, giving it a crisper texture and a more vibrant color.  Is it worth spending an extra hour prepping for it?  Probably not, but it sure was challenging and thus fun to try.

Ingredients: YES THIS IS A LOT OF STUFF.

For the Marrow:

• 8 pieces of Marrow Bone cut 1.5 inches long
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• kosher salt
• canola oil

For the Short Ribs:

• 8 pieces of bone-in short ribs (~7-8 oz each)
• Red Wine Marinade (see marinade ingredients)
• canola oil
• kosher salt and ground black pepper
• flour for dusting
• 2 to 3 cups of veal stock – I’m omitting the recipe for this, I used a beef broth with a tablespoon of veal demi-glaze.
• 2 to 3 cups of chicken stock – I’m omitting the recipe for this as well, I used pre-made chicken stock.

For the Red Wine Marinade:

• 1 750-ml bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon is recommended)
• 1/2 cup carrots cut into 1-inch mirepoix
• 2/3 cup leeks cut into 1-inch mirepoix, white and pale green parts only
• 1/2 cup onions cut into 1-inch mirepoix
• 3 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 10 sprigs of italian parsley
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 bay leaf

For the Root Vegetables:

• 2 medium carrots
• 2 small parsnips
• 2 small turnips cut into 1/4 inch dice
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 8 baby leeks or small scallions (I used scallions)
• 16 white pearl onions, peeled
• 16 red pearl onions, peeled
• 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup tomato diamonds
• 3 tablespoons chopped italian parsley

For garnish and finishing:

• Canola oil
• gray salt (I just used kosher salt)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

Directions:

This is the exact steps I took to make this and this is my interpretation of this recipe, for the real recipe and more in depth explanation of why things are done certain ways, buy French Laundry Cookbook!

1. First Make the Red Wine Marinade by combining all marinade ingredients in a wide pot and bring to a boil.
2. Set it on fire and let all the alcohol burn off.
3. Set it on fire again and again and again until it won’t catch on fire anymore.  They explain that the alcohol in the wine cooks the exterior of the meat and doesn’t do much for actually marinating.  But if you ever watch Ted Allen’s show on the food network about food myths, he explains that you can never cook off all the alcohol, the most you can burn off is like 30-40%.  [end-science-nerd]
4. Let it cool and combine with short ribs in a big ziplock bag to marinade for 8-24 hours, turning it at least once.  I did about 20.
5. Prepare your marrow bones now by soaking them in ice water for about 20 minutes.
6. Push it out with your fingers after the soak, if it doesn’t come out, soak them in warm water for a minute and it should loosen.
7. Soak the marrow pieces in a bow l of ice water for 12 to 24 hours, change the water every 6 to 8 hours to get rid of the blood that might be in the marrow.  I soaked them until I needed to use them.
8. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
9. Remove the meat from the marinade and set aside.
10. Strain the marinade into a saucepan and reserve the vegetables.  I cut a hole at the bottom of my ziplock bag because I’m S-M-R-T.
11. Bring the marinade to a simmer and clarify it by skimming the gross stuff that rises to the top – this is from all the blood in the raw meat, yucky.  Remove from heat.
12. Heat 1/8 inch of canola oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Season ribs with salt and pepper and dust with flour, pat off excess.
13. Place meat in hot oil and cook for 2-3 minutes on all sides until well browned.
14. Remove meat to a dutch oven or an oven proof pot and make sure it’s only 1 layer.
15. Pour off the excess oil from the pan and return to heat, sautée the vegetables until carmelized.
16. Place the vegetables on top of the ribs evenly.
17. Add the marinade, and the 2-3 cups of chicken and veal stocks, the meat should be covered.  I would use 3 cups, more sauce is good.
18. Bring liquid to a simmer on the stove and cover it with a lid, or a parchment paper lid.  Transfer to oven, bake for about 4 hours or until meat is very tender.
19. Here you can start on your vegetable prep/cooking while the meat is making your house smell really nice.  Cut the carrots and turnips using the oblique cut.  This is where you hold your knife at a 45 degree angle, and turn your vegetable about 90 degrees with every cut, starting from the thin end.  When the carrot or turnip gets too thick, slice it in half or fourths, and continue cutting.  Keep the carrots and turnips separate.  Cut your turnips as well.
20. Blanch the carrots, turnips, and parsnips in boiled salted water that’s sweetened with a bit of sugar until completely tender.  Remove the vegetables and chill in ice water.  When they are completely cooled, drain and set aside.
21. Add the leeks/green onions to the boiling water and blanch until tender.  Remove and chill in ice water, drain when completely cooled and set aside.
22. Repeat blanching with white pearl onions, drain, ice bath, cooled, set aside.
23. Repeat with red pearl onions and add the 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar which helps to keep the red color, drain, ice bath, cooled, set aside.
24. Here you might want to curse the French in some French words because you are sick of cooking by this point and just want to eat some food.  Drink a glass of wine.
25. When your ribs are done, remove the meat from the pot and strain the liquid into a tall narrow container.  Discard the vegetables.  Don’t worry about the meat getting cold at this point.
26. Skim the fat off of the top of the braising liquid in the tall narrow container (tall and narrow so this step is easier), and strain it through a chinois until the chonois is clean.  I don’t have a chinois, I used a normal strainer, oh muddy chunky sauce, woe is me. Reserve 1/3 of the braising liquid.
27. Now you are ready to complete the dish and put everything together, finally.
28. Chop up your tomato diamonds.  Why are they diamonds?  Because they are pretty duh.  I have no idea.  To make tomato diamonds, cut your tomato into fourths.  then remove all seeds and insides so you’re left with the outer layer of the tomato.  Place the skin side down, cut it first into strips.  Then cut it on a 45 degree angle to create diamonds.
29. Add all your cooked vegetables (minus the green onions) into a pot, along with the tomato diamonds, add some braising liquid to just cover the veggies.  Warm them up gently.  Add the chopped parsley.
30. Reduce the braising liquid from step 26 into a saucy consistency (about 2 cups).
31. In a skillet that will hold all the ribs in one layer, heat up 1/8 inch of canola oil over medium high heat.  Place the ribs in the pan and cook until golden brown on all sides, for about 30 seconds on each side.  If your ribs are still warm, they will probably take less time.  Take them out and place in another pan.
32. Add the remaining reserved braising liquid to the pan, bring the liquid and ribs to a simmer, keep warm at ~300 degrees until ready to serve.
33. Cook your bone marrow at this time.  Drain and dry the bone marrow pieces and trim the ends of each to create a flat surface.  Salt and flour, tap off excess.
34. Heat 1/8 inch of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot (not smoking tho).  If the oil is too cold the marrow will melt, if it’s too hot the flour will burn.
35. Cook the marrow pieces 30-45 seconds per end, then lay it down on their sides and roll them to brown.  The outside should be crispy, the inside should be gelatinous.
36. Now you are ready to plate!!  Use a slotted spoon and place vegetables on each serving plate.
37. Place the leeks/green onions in the braising liquid to warm a little.
38. Place the short ribs on top of the vegetables and spoon the reduced sauce over the sides so it lightly coats the meat and drizzles onto the vegetables.
39. Lay a piece of bone marrow over the top of each rib.
40. Sprinkle gray salt (or kosher salt) and the chopped chives over the ribs.
41. Top each with a baby leek/green onion.
42. Eat it with a lot of good wine, and not make another crazy French recipe in a long time.

Was it worth the trouble?  It was very delicious and the red wine marinade wasn’t as strong as I thought it was going to be.  It did however take a span of 2 days to prepare, but I’ve done the same for bread so why not!  It did enlighten me on why exactly French restaurants are so damn expensive, and why French techniques are used (although I’m still perplexed by the practical application of a tomato diamond).  Would I make this again, probably, but I will be taking a lot more shortcuts!!