Spicy Beef Short Ribs

Over the past few weeks I’ve been keenly testing recipes from The American Veterans Cookbook in order to give a shout out to the culinary contributors who kindly shared their favorites. 50% of author royalties are donated directly to the Armed Forces Veterans Homes Foundation.

What I particularly love about the nature of this collection is that each original recipe belongs to an individual and their own way of cooking. There are no images to guide you on the end result, simply a list of ingredients (some even without measurements) and a basic method so as the authors suggest, each is ripe for experimentation and substitution.

Alas, Angel Egg Puff and Hot Dog Stew didn’t make the final cut and “Wally’s In-Between-Wives Turkey Salad” made me smile but simply couldn’t be adapted for our slow cookers. The Spicy Beef Ribs appealed because just every once in a while I love to eat beef and I enjoyed streamlining the ingredients to include just one chili variety instead of three and adapting the spices for an overnight rub.

The ribs cook slowly over 8 to 10 hours and fall off the bone when done, ready to be served over creamy mashed potato, grits or shredded and piled onto egg noodles or a corn tortilla with crisp lettuce.

Thank you to the un-named member of The Veterans of Foreign Wars who contributed this recipe, it’s rich in every possible way.

Prep Time  10 minutes                            Cooking Time 8-10 hrs on LOW or 4 hrs on HIGH         Servings 6-8

Ingredients
5 lbs beef short ribs, trimmed of fat
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp grapeseed oil or light olive oil
1 onion / 1 cup, finely chopped
3 tbsp chili sauce – your favorite
3 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup beef broth

In a ziploc bag combine the ribs,coriander, cumin, garlic and salt. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours to marinade.

Add the flour to the ziploc bag and shake to coat the beef ribs.

In a skillet, heat the oil on high and brown all the ribs for 1 minute on each side.

Remove the ribs and put into the insert of your slow cooker and shake any remaining flour from the ziploc bag over the ribs.

Put the chopped onion, chili sauce, sugar, red wine and beef broth into skillet you cooked the ribs in and stir to remove the bits from the skillet. Pour this mixture over the ribs in your slow cooker.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours.

Remove the ribs and serve.

 Zen Moment

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget the the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”