Braised Beef Short Ribs from Brasserie Azur
serves four
Ingredients
Beef Short Ribs:
1 liter fresh Florida orange juice
2 Florida oranges
1 liter veal stock
1 oz fresh ginger, ground
10 grams smoked paprika
2 oz honey
1 onion
1 carrot
1 garlic clove
1 bunch of thyme
1 bunch of rosemary
1 leeks
1 piece of celery
Salt and pepper, to taste
Mashed Potatoes:
2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes
¼ liter of milk
4 oz butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
Sautéed Spinach:
8 oz spinach
10 grams of garlic
Salt, to taste
Olive oil, to taste
Method
For the beef short ribs: The day before you want to serve it, season your meat with salt, pepper, ground ginger, and paprika. Brush it all with honey. Put your short ribs in a container and cover the meat with orange juice, letting it marinate for a minimum of 12 hours.
When it comes time to cook, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Clean and cut your carrots, leeks, onion, celery, and garlic cloves. Take your meat out from the marinade and let it dry for a little bit on a towel. In a brassier, pan-sear the meat on a high temperature (one minute on each side) and watch as the meat begins to caramelize. Put your meat on a tray and, in the same brassier, pan-roast your vegetables and top with the meat. Recover it all with the remainder of the marinade and veal stock. Add thyme and rosemary, boil the mixture for two minutes, cover it all with a lid, and cook it in the oven for three hours and 30 minutes.
When the meat is almost done, zest your oranges and blanch them three times. Mix the zest with brown sugar and one cup of water. Cook it all until the zest is a confit, but not caramelized. When your meat is ready, take it out of the juice and divide it into 8 to 10 oz portions. Reduce the liquid in the pan until you get a slightly thick sauce, and drain the rest. Sear your meat until it’s your desired color and deglaze it with the sauce.
For the mashed potatoes: Clean the potatoes and put them in a saucepan with water and salt. Cook for one hour on medium heat. Warm your milk. When the hour is up, peel the potatoes and mash them with a grounder. Add the milk and all of the butter (it’s best if your butter is pre-cut into small cubes and very cold). Add salt, to taste.
For the spinach: Sauté your spinach in olive oil with garlic, salt, and pepper.
Plate the mashed potatoes in the middle of a pasta bowl. Top it with the spinach. Put the meat on the spinach and generously pour the sauce on and around the meat and the mashed potatoes. Decorate the meat with your orange zest confit mixture and serve.